Analysis of Degas' L'Absinthe
...least, to that influence. From about that date his method becomes much broader, one might almost say more brutal, and his color more vivid and daring. While Degas’ subject matter was immediate and modern, he maintained the organized structure characteristic of classicism. Besides stylistic differences, Degas’ subject matter greatly differed from that of the rest of the Impressionist painters of the period. For instance the painting L'Absinthe, (1876), where a melancholic woman lost in her thoughts and a man smoking a pipe sit side by side in a Parisian café, is a far cry from the brightly-colored landscape paintings of Renoir. Influenced by Edouard Manet (1832-1883), Degas began using the city life around him as his subject matter. The high drama and ‘flaneur-perspective’ of Degas’ L’Absinthe´ is also reminiscent of Manet’s In the Conservatory and Che le Pere Lathuille. L’Absinthe depicts the seedier side of café life in 1876. Unlike other artists of the period Degas’ subject is not an ideal woman. She looks like a real woman, rather than a model posing in the studio. Degas’ subject matter is based on precise observation, compared to his contemporaries whom painted in the studio and idealized landscapes; Degas’ subject in L’Absinthe is an unapologetic view of the hidden sadness of Parisian life. The muffled, fragmentary, and almost catatonic state of the sitters in Degas’ work conveys almost through osmosis the effects of the strong drink. Degas provides no glorification or spectacle to enliven the boozily, self-absorbed, woman or her deeply bored partner. The stark contrast between the legitimacy of Edgar Degas’ portrayal of this pop-culture ritual in comparison to his peers is best realized when it is compared to Pablo Picassos’(1881-1973) The Absinthe Drinker (1901) . In place of the dark tones and harsh realities of a drunken stupor are Picasso’s bright colors, and while the murky blurriness of Degas’ rendition conveys intoxication, Picasso’s The Absinthe Drinker has linearity and clarity. Edgar Degas’ L’Absinthe is a keen observation of both humanity and social class. The painting shows interest in places of entertainment and in the figure of ‘flaneur,’ or people watcher. The scene which the audience views depicts a mundane café of the Paris streets that was typically frequented by workers, prostitutes, and bohemian writers and artists. Specifically, the subjects are the actress Ellen Andree and the artist Marcellin Desboutin at the Café de la Nouvelle-Athenes, prime examples of the class of individuals who frequented these cafes and who indulged in the pop-culture drink-of-choice. In this way the painting has the simultaneous quality of being both portrait and narrative genre painting, as Degas presents it as a “scene from life.” Placing these two subjects next to one another who superficially seem to have nothing in common, both in dress and body language, presents the café as a refuge for the lonely and social outcast. It is especially ironic that although the two subjects are almost uncomfortably physically close to one another, mentally they could not be farther away. Characteristic of Degas, the scene is presented from an unusual angle. Implementing this artistic tool emphasizes the viewers’ emotional distance from the subjects in the painting. Degas places the figures off-center with a large intervening area of space in the foreground. The tables, absinthe bottle, and awkward perispectital system block the viewer’s entrance into the pictorial space. It is this mode of arrangement that separates the spectator even more so, both physically and emotionally, from the subjects in the painting. The woman sits completely absorbed in her own thoughts, or lack thereof, and shows complete unawareness of the observer, while her companion looks in the opposite direction immersed in his own contemplation. We view their disconsolate company from the perspective of an onlooker sitting at the café, preparing to take a drag of a cigarette, which allows for maximum personal interpretation. Degas’ candid rendering of the scene, completely stripped of emotion or bias per...