In the left corner of Pablo Picasso's Absinthe Drinker, the frame of the mirror and the semi-abstract reflections in it are very important detail, reminiscent of the presence of some other inhabitants of the institution, scurrying about before the eyes of the heroine, while she herself froze in immobility and does not notice anyone.
Single woman
In early 1901, Pablo Picasso turns to the image of a woman drinking a glass of absinthe, which leads him to create a whole series of three works. The first was "Absinthe" (private collection), where a woman of the southern type, most likely not a Parisian, who entered a cafe from a winter street, Picasso gives a somewhat predatory and wary look.
Pablo Picasso
Absinthe
1901
Cardboard, oil. 67.3x52
Private collection
Bridgeman/Fotodom
The left hand is put to her ear (she listens to something), the right hand puts a piece of sugar in a glass of absinthe. The style is intense, betraying an acquaintance with the art of Vincent van Gogh. In the same year, Picasso again turns to this image, choosing a completely different type of heroine. A woman, this time from a northern warehouse (everyone is drawn to Paris), is shown against a yellow, as if electrified background, where the contours of dancing, closely interwoven figures are visible.
Pablo Picasso
Absinthe
1901
Paper, gouache, pastel
State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
This scene of the second plan, apparently, does not take place in a real cafe, but in the inflamed mind of a woman (an absinthe-induced hallucination). Thus, a glass of absinthe in the foreground becomes the key to understanding the plot. However, this composition did not fully satisfy the artist. He had to take one more step to achieve incredible conciseness and unexpected pictorial expressiveness. The new composition was undoubtedly associated with The Cafe at Arles by Paul Gauguin, then in the gallery of Ambroise Vollard.
Acquaintance with this work reveals several details at once - a blue siphon in the foreground and a brownish-red background of the wall, a dark-haired woman's hairstyle, one-color dark clothes. The picture is unusual in gesticulation. One hand of the "Absinthe Drinker" supports her chin - this detail is transferred from the previous pastel, and the other frantically grabs her shoulder, so that the whole figure seems to have shrunk into a ball. The woman is cornered literally and metaphorically. Physiognomically, she does not resemble the two former "amateurs". Her face shows hardness and stubbornness. Gesture right hand, wrapping around the shoulder, Picasso, in all likelihood, borrowed from his Spanish contemporary Santiago Rusinol, who reproduced a similar gesture in The Morphine Drinker (1894, Cau Ferrat Museum, Sitges), showing the suffering of a woman going crazy.
Absinthe is a strong alcoholic drink made using wormwood, which has a greenish color and a strength of up to (70 - 75) °. Absinthe is sometimes called wormwood.
The history of spirits infused with wormwood began in antiquity.
Pliny the Elder (23 - 79 AD) mentioned wine with wormwood extract for astringency. IN Ancient Greece the winner in the chariot race drank from a goblet wine infused with wormwood and absorbed its extract. This wine was supposed to remind the winner that fame has not only a pleasant, but also a bitter, bitter side.
The ancient Greeks also used wormwood tincture for medicinal purposes, and in medieval England a hot wormwood beer called "purl" was common.
Absinthe became a particularly popular drink in France in the second half of the 19th century. There were even special cafes and clubs for absinthe fans. From 1875 to 1913 in France, the consumption of absinthe per capita increased 15 times, for example, in 1913 the French drank about 40 million liters of absinthe. In 1837, absinthe appears in America in New Orleans under the trade names "Green Opal" ("Green Opal") and " Milky Way" ("Milky Way"). Absinthe became fashionable and even received another name - "Green Fairy", as it was believed that absinthe gives rise to bizarre images in the mind.
Pablo Picasso Drinking Absinthe 1901 New York
Absinthe gained particular popularity among the creative bohemia of that time. As is known, creative people they love everything extraordinary and unusual, which is probably why they were attracted by the ritual of absinthe consumption, and perhaps the unusual taste and color of the drink and its stimulating effect. But one way or another, but it was believed that absinthe awakens a new perception of the world, brings with it creative inspiration, extraordinary feelings and sensations. There was even a rumor that after drinking a glass of absinthe, women are much more desirable. Absinthe was drunk and praised, artists immortalized it in paintings, writers and poets - in their works, calling absinthe "Green Muse".
Pablo Picasso Absinthe 1902
In all Parisian cafes from Latin Quarter to Montmartre, the time from 5 to 7 pm began to be called "l" heure verte "(green time), when an almost sacred "absinthe ritual" took place. Numerous lovers and lovers of absinthe poured water drop by drop into a glass with this emerald bitter "nectar" a perforated spoon with a lump of sugar, from which the drink instantly turned milky yellow-green, and this cloudy mixture with a strong anise flavor was sipped with pleasure. and the drink seemed like a real "green serpent".
Pablo Picasso Absinthe 1901 Hermitage
Absinthe was consumed by the artists Édouard Manet
Edouard Manet,
“Absinthe lover”
For chanting the image of the moral fall of man, Edouard Manet was scolded by everyone - from Couture to Baudelaire. The painting “The Absinthe Drinker” was not perceived as the artist expected.
Vincent Van Gogh
“Still life with absinthe”
In 1887, the genius and absintheist Toulouse-Lautrec created a portrait of another genius and no less famous admirer of Van Gogh's Green Fairy drink. In the same year, Vincent van Gogh himself immortalized on the canvas a decanter of water and a glass with a greenish-yellow liquid, which gave the creator an unusual vision of the world in yellow, horrified by hallucinations. Absinthe destroyed the consciousness of Van Gogh, but the more he felt broken and sick, the more, according to him, he became an artist.
Edgar Degas,
"Absinthe"
A glass of absinthe - in front of the actress, cabaret star Ellen Andre. A glass of hangover cure in front of artist Marcel Debutin. Degas's painting caused a flurry of negative responses, contemporaries of the great artist saw vulgarity and immorality in the canvas. The painting is now in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
Pablo Picasso, poets Guillaume Apollinaire, Paul Verlaine, Ernest Dawson, Arthur Rimbaud, the author of surrealist plays Alfred Jary, writers Edgar Poe, Maupassant, as well as Oscar Wilde and many others.
In 1859, Edouard Manet created his famous painting "The Absinthe Drinker", which is stored today in the Copenhagen New Carlsberg Glyptothek (the owner of the largest Danish beer company Carlsberg, a well-known collector and philanthropist).
In 1865, a similar work, included in world classics, was painted by the Belgian artist Felicien Rops, and in 1876 the great Degas embodied the same theme in his canvas Absinthe. Van Gogh in 1887 painted a still life with a decanter and a glass of absinthe. Baudelaire, Verlaine, Zola, Toulouse-Lautrec, Modigliani and Victor Hugo did not bypass absinthe with their attention, usually starting and ending the day with a glass of the “green fairy” in one of the Montparnasse cafes. They say that Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, unable to endure even a short separation from his favorite drink, carried it with him in a special flask embedded in the handle of a cane.
Picasso has THREE paintings dedicated to the absinthe lover. They have different names, but they were all written in 1901. The Absinthe Drinker painting is now in the Hermitage.
Pablo Picasso Absinthe Drinker 1901 Hermitage
One day in the spring of 1914, Picasso made wax sculpture glasses of absinthe. Rejecting the usual forms, the artist opened one of its walls so that absinthe could pour like a fountain into the pool, and the glass itself was molded in the shape of a severely deformed human head: opening wall - an eye with a heavy impending eyelid, which is repeated on the opposite closed side of the "face", a large nose and a huge upper lip, well emphasizing the movement of absinthe to the basin of the lower lip. The conical base of the glass is the neck. The top of the head is open and provided with a kind of "hat" in the form of a perforated silver spoon with a bronze piece of sugar. From the model of this sculpture, six bronze castings were made, which Picasso painted in different ways. Most likely, the artist was trying to somehow explain the effect of this drink directly on the brain of the drinker.
Pablo Picasso Absinthe glass 1914
Technique: Paper, charcoal, pastel, gouache
Dimensions: 65.2 x 49.6 cm
The painting was created in 1901. Picasso used the following technique when creating: paper, pastel, charcoal and gouache. On this moment"Absinthe" is in the collection State Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
In the picture, we see a man who, slowly, drinks his strength-giving drink. The languishing gaze of the hero of the picture, the turmoil and noise from the crowd of merry people merge into one whole, whose shape and color become difficult to make out. Smoke and noise - all this, it seems, is close, but, on the other hand, it is somewhere so far away, it does not excite the soul at all. There was one interlocutor in the form of a glass and a drink filling it. Perhaps the person in the picture is sad, longing for something, perhaps he just relaxed from the daily hustle and bustle. With every sip he is carried away somewhere, thoughts become light, and he forgets about everything ...
Absinthe has gained particular popularity among creative bohemians. As we all know, all creative people love something unusual and extraordinary, maybe that's why they were attracted by the ritual of absinthe consumption, and perhaps the unusual taste itself, the greenish color of the drink, as well as its stimulating effect. But be that as it may, it was believed that absinthe awakens in a person a new perception of the world, brings creative inspiration, as well as extraordinary sensations and feelings.
Pablo Picasso caught the "blooming" period of absinthe, he, like many other eminent artists, captured the inalienability of this drink from Everyday life many people. In addition to the painting "Absinthe", in 1901, on this topic, he also created such famous paintings like "Absinthe Drinker" and "Absinthe Drinker". All these creations belong to the "Blue Period".
What was the popularity of absinthe at that time? Why did many creators mention this drink in their masterpieces?
There was even a rumor that after drinking one glass of absinthe, a woman becomes much more desirable and attractive. This drink was drunk and praised, and artists immortalized it in their paintings, poets and writers in their works. All of them, without exception, called absinthe "Green Muse".
So, lovers of the "Green Muse" - this is a whole series in art from Manet and Toulouse-Lautrec to Gauguin, Van Gogh, Degas and Picasso. They all drank absinthe, loved this drink, wrote about its lovers. Agree that there was some kind of bewitching mystery in all this.
2. "First Communion". 1896
Technique: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 118 x 166 cm
Collection: Barcelona, Picasso Museum
The painting "First Communion" was created by the 15-year-old Picasso on the advice of his father for the Exhibition of Fine Arts in Barcelona in 1896. At this time, Pablo studied at the School of Fine Arts of La Lonja. One of his teachers, Garnelo Alda (1866-1944), a highly successful Spanish painter, specialized in "high" academic painting. historical genre, which involved, among other things, the creation of paintings on religious and mythological subjects. In his workshop, a lot of items necessary for such work were collected: church robes, chalices, candlesticks, original “decorations” imitating an altar, a church porch. Since Garnelo Alda was a colleague of Don José Ruiz (and of Andalusian origin), young artist was allowed to use this studio. The painting was not awarded a prize at the exhibition, no one bought it, but nevertheless Pablo received an order from a convent in Barcelona for several paintings of religious content. Unfortunately, these works perished during the anti-militarist and anti-clerical uprising in Catalonia in July 1909. During this period, about 50 churches and monasteries were burned, including the monastery where Picasso's paintings were kept.
Picasso was never a devout, religious person (at least in the traditional sense of the word). Nevertheless, in his student drawings of 1895-1896 there are quite a lot of scenes from the life of Jesus (the meal at Emmaus, The Last Supper, Crucifixion, etc.), the Annunciation, many images of saints - St. Sebastian, St. Peter, St. Anthony of Padua. Such an active and ambitious young artist could not but be interested in the means of expression and iconographic schemes used by the great masters of the past: this kind of “food” for his personal creative growth, digested almost beyond recognition, gradually formed the artistic personality of Picasso. Many years later, the author of many articles and books about the master, Pierre Dax (b. 1922), who knew Picasso for more than a quarter of a century, asked him if he regretted that he painted pictures like the First Communion. And Picasso answered him: "Make no mistake, for me then it was very important."
3. "Lover of absinthe." 1901
Technique: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 73 x 54 cm
Collection: St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum
In french art early 20th century interest in "vicious" characters was great, Picasso has many predecessors, especially the influence of Toulouse-Lautrec should be noted. In many works of painting, the theme of absinthe sounds, a drink that has become a kind of fetish of Paris at the turn of the century. This strong wormwood tincture, the “green fairy”, was attributed special qualities: people who allegedly got hooked on it suffer not from simple alcoholism, but from its special “sublime” form, and plunge into the world of hallucinations and fantasies. So thematically, Picasso is still moving within the framework of the “mainstream” of the era. However, in the images created by the young artist, there is a heightened drama. So, in this canvas, the hypertrophied right hand is especially striking, with which the woman, immersed in her thoughts, seems to be trying to grab and protect herself.
“The Absinthe Drinker”, kept in the Hermitage, was painted later, in the autumn of 1901. The painting has another name - “Aperitif”. The source of its current name was an entry in the Kahnweiler archive, where the canvas is designated as “Woman with a glass of absinthe” (La femme au verre d`abssinthe). It was from Kanweiler that our compatriot Sergei Ivanovich Shchukin bought this work. He met Picasso back in 1905 or 1906, but did not immediately accept his work. For the first time he bought a painting by the artist in 1909, and by 1914 he had 51 works by the master in his collection. Perhaps no other private collector has managed to collect so many works. After the revolution, S. I. Shchukin emigrated, and his collection, nationalized in 1918, was divided between the Hermitage and the Pushkin Museum.
4. "Girl on the ball." 1905
Technique: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 147 x 95 cm
Collection: Moscow, State Museum fine arts them. A.S. Pushkin
Art historians always talk about this picture: the lightness and flexibility of an acrobat girl balancing on a ball is opposed to the massiveness and stability of the cube on which the athlete-hero sits. It is also generally accepted that Picasso is predominantly a master of form, this is his main artistic interest, the most important problem that he solves in his work. Therefore, it is especially amusing, knowing what this interest led to later, to see with what a touching and virtuoso statement of the obvious Picasso began his journey. Delicate pearl, pink, blue tones, a new feeling of air, space allow us to consider "Girl on the Ball" one of the masterpieces of the "pink period".
The painting ended up in Russia thanks to the industrialist Ivan Abramovich Morozov. Prior to this, the canvas had been in the collection of Gertrude Stein, from where it moved to the Kahnweiler Gallery. It was from him that Morozov bought the work in 1913, paying 16,000 francs for it (in 1906, Picasso was happy when Vollard bought 30 paintings from him for 2,000 francs - the fate of the artist is so changeable). The personal collection of I. A. Morozov (as well as the collection of S. I. Shchukin) was nationalized in 1918.
5. "Flower Woman (Francoise Gilot)". 1946
Technique: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 146 x 89 cm
Collection: Private collection
Picasso has known the young artist Françoise for several years, they have an affair, and Picasso is constantly striving to close the distance. Finally, he persuades Françoise to move in with him, and in May 1946 she settles on the street of the Great Augustins. Picasso is inspired, he reacts with a series of portraits of Françoise - it is in this spring that the image of Françoise as a "flower woman" is born, which will then be played out in many paintings. It's interesting that green color Françoise's "hair" in this portrait was provoked by Matisse. Shortly before this, Picasso took her to meet the master, and he immediately imagined what his own portrait of Francoise could be like. Picasso was furious - someone dared to imagine that HIS model could write!
6. "Flying dove (dove of peace)". 1952
Technique: Lithography
Dimensions: 54.9 x 76.2 cm
Collection: Private collection
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Picasso made a series of lithographs depicting doves, which became a symbol of the peace movement - these images were placed on a number of posters of the World Peace Congresses held in postwar period in Europe. All these works were widely known as Picasso's "peace doves". Meanwhile, Picasso painted his pigeons not so much for the defenders of the world, but based on his own personal relationship to these birds. He kept pigeons all his life, having received an inoculation of love for them as a child - his father kept a dovecote and painted his birds, he was an animal painter. Little Pablo played with pigeons almost from infancy.
7. "Yellow picador". 1889
Technique: Wood, oil
Dimensions: 24 x 19 cm
Collection: Private collection
Little Pablo began to show a love for drawing from the age of three. In Malaga, where early childhood Picasso, the boy is already trying to paint in oils. "Yellow Picador" is considered one of the first paintings by Picasso, which the boy painted at the age of 8 under the impression of a bullfight. Bullfighting remained his passion all his life.
8. "Nude, green leaves and bust". 1932
Technique: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 162 x 130 cm
Collection: UK, London, Tate Gallery
The painting was sold at Christie's in 2010 for $106.5 million and became the most expensive painting by Picasso and the second most expensive in the world after Edvard Munch's "The Scream" ($119.9 million).
The picture was painted in one day, March 8, 1932, in preparation for a large exhibition of Picasso on the occasion of his 50th birthday. The year before, there was an exhibition of Matisse (on the occasion of the 60th anniversary), with whom Picasso competed all his life. In addition to this work, in 1930-1932, Picasso painted several more paintings with Marie-Therese, which became recognized masterpieces not only of the surrealist period, but of his entire work in general. The period of his most sensual and forbidden love was reflected in magnificent canvases - Reading, Sleeping, Girl in front of a mirror.
9. "Kiss". 1969
Technique: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 130 x 96 cm
Collection: Private collection
The painting was painted during the preparation of a large exhibition of Picasso in Avignon. He is working extremely hard and fruitfully this year. His other famous Kiss, in blue tones, is now kept in the Picasso Museum in Paris. The one made in the genre couple portrait, and this green painting- from the category genre painting. Lovers in nature, among the trees. A man in a straw hat, a frequent character in paintings late period, this time depicted in a vest. And we know many historical photos, where Picasso is captured in this form. June 23, 2010 in New York at an auction, Christie's was sold for $18.0 million.
10. "Bathers". 1918
Technique: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 27 x 22 cm
Collection: Paris, Picasso Museum
Written in Biarritz, in the summer of 1918, during honeymoon with Olga Khokhlova. A friend and creative partner of the Cubist period, Georges Braque went to the front. Picasso's circle of contacts expanded, in addition to the Parisian bohemia, Picasso revolves in a theatrical environment, arranging a ballet for the Diaghilev troupe. Acquaintance with Olga Khokhlova, a ballerina of the troupe, led to marriage.
OLD CUSTOMS
Drinking absinthe has become a custom in its own way, or even a ritual, the French drank one serving at the end of their daily life and switched to an evening mood, in general it was an evening meal. It was believed that it improves appetite, it could be called a good strong aperitif with its wormwood property, which aroused the stomach to appetite. Nobody drank during the meal, and it is not possible to combine it with food because of its sharp herbal taste. The time between five and seven o'clock in the evening was called the green hour (“l”heure verte”), which could even be smelled in the streets of France. In any case, the time for drinking was established for a reason, it kept people from abusing absinthe. If you noticed that a person is abusing, then it was contemptuous and not prestigious. All of the fact that absinthe caused alcoholism, even gave it the name "absentism". Absinthe lovers were ashamed to drink a lot in public, so many ran from one cafe to another.
ABSINTH AND CREATIVE PEOPLE
SALVADOR DALI
Salvador Dali is a genius, a heritage of Spain and world culture, the founder of surrealism. He also loved absinthe, but thank God he didn’t get sick of it. Here is his drink related poster. Most likely, the poster characterizes the look of Dali during the French colonial wars and what killed these soldiers, absinthe, moths with syphilis.
VINCENT VAN GOGH
great artist Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh regularly drank absinthe containing the thujone component and its overdose leads to a change in color perception: a person sees everything in yellow tones. Maybe that's why he singled out in his paintings great value yellow Or did he just like the color yellow?
Self-portrait and Still Life with Absinthe.
PICASSO
Spanish artist, founder of cubism. His personality is so complex that it does not fit into the framework of conventional ideas. I also liked absinthe.
"The Absinthe Drinker" 1901
EDWARD MANE
For the fact that Edouard Manet portrayed a drunkard, the salon rejected the picture, and after that he was criticized for a long time not only for this, but for the fact that in this picture there was an incorrect perspective of the table “Feeling of a flying glass” and the shadows of the figures were not in place.
EDGAR DEGA
This picture also received a lot of criticism. And it was caused by the fact that their image was disgusting. The woman is stooped, with a lowered look, her legs are extended in addition to just a number of absinthe. A man with a tired and turned look somewhere into the distance, thinks about his hangover, and just to his side is a cold, tonic drink for a hangover "Mazagran" (Water, Cognac, Sugar, Ground Coffee). The drink was invented by the French in 1840 in Algeria, during an ambush from an army of thousands of Algerians, in order to keep themselves in hand in such a tense environment. They drank it not through a coffee cup, but through a glass for mulled wine, the fact is that where they kept the ambush there were no other dishes, so it became a kind of tradition. And what about the picture, then they gave it to her good feedback, like she had a "Moral" of those times "Absinthe Times". The painting is now in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
VICTOR OLIVA
The Czech modernist became addicted to absinthe in Paris. Notable work"Drinking absinthe" Oliva created in 1901. The picture can be seen in the cafe "Slavia". By the way, the film received good reviews from critics. She was not called the personification of drunkenness or drug addiction.
CHARLES CROSS
Charles Cross was a very talented and versatile person. He was an inventor, a poet, and an artist. Known as the inventor of the color camera. Often used absinthe almost 30 times a day. Was known in many Parisian absinthe cafes.
PAUL MARIE VERLAIN
Poet of Paris, suffered from absenteeism. Because of his illness for absinthe, he beat his wife, shot his girlfriend and threatened relatives. He was a contradiction to himself, in one word she was "Dependent".
ERNEST HEMINGWAY
The poet absinthe drinker, drank absinthe even after its prohibition in many countries of the world. Illegally smuggled absinthe into the US. “Green dope”, “Death at noon”, “For whom the bell tolls” there is absinthe, but rather in the form of a hero who participates in the works.
ALISTER CROWLEY
An ardent defender of absinthe. Absinthe he called art and in his work he wrote many of his works on this topic. The Green Goddess is a famous work where he defends and justifies absinthe. Here is one example: “Separate the part of yourself that “exists” and perceives from the other part that acts and suffers in the outside world.”
Although absinthe was popular, great people paid special tribute to it with their creativity, it still did not get along in society. I think all because of his narcotic properties, he lost respectability in society and the society itself began to accuse him of murders, schizophrenia and alcoholism. Therefore, in our time, this drink is like a kind of old legend, without much popularity than in those centuries. Famous people do not talk about him, no one writes about him, and no one personifies him in his paintings.
Those who coped with the absinthe disease received inspiration - they wrote bestsellers, painted popular paintings. So what to call absinthe bad or good drink no, it depends on the person. Analyzing why he became so in demand among creative people I can say one thing. All famous writers and the artists loved something narcotic, intoxicating, something that opened up their imagination for their work. Therefore, absinthe got used well in the 19th century during the “Paphos, glamor and secular society when art was revered as otherwise bohemian.
He is like an unbridled phoenix that crashed and reborn again,
and of course revived with less thujone content, making it safe to consume. But there is a brand in Sweden “King of spirits. Gold." which contains 100 g per liter, who knows, maybe you can see the green fairy in our time.
TRADITIONAL ABSINTH DRINKING
FRENCH.
This is the only The right way use of the Green Fairy. Pour a small portion of the drink (40 ml) into a glass, put a special absinthe spoon on top, and a sugar cube on it. Before drinking absinthe, pour cold water over sugar, ice water until the drink begins to cloudy, the French call this effect "Louche" (cloudy). Diluted alcohol stops holding essential oils and those form an emulsion with water, precipitate and an aroma appears.
CZECH.
Absinthe is poured into a small glass, an absinthe spoon is placed on top, and a piece of sugar soaked in the drink is placed on top of it. Sugar is set on fire and waited until it caramelizes, that is, it melts, turns into caramel and seeps into absinthe. Then the contents of the glass should be diluted with water to taste and drink. This method can hardly be called classic - it is most likely a tribute to fashion and modern bar culture.
RUSSIAN.
I don’t know why they call it the Russian way, but that’s how it is called in all literary sources. The syrup is prepared in advance: you need to dilute sugar in water to taste, and then add the resulting syrup to absinthe (again to taste) and drink. Also, pure absinthe can first be set on fire, and then extinguished and poured into a glass of syrup.
EXTREME.
This is how absinthe is often served in nightclubs. We need rocks, that is, a glass with thick straight walls, a cognac glass, a napkin and a straw. Sprite is poured into rocks, and absinthe is poured into cognac. The cognac glass is placed on the rocks, the absinthe is set on fire, after which the cognac needs to be scrolled so that the drink and the glass are heated evenly. After that, the absinthe is poured into the sprite and the rock is covered with a cognac glass - the flame goes out. Before this, you need to prepare a napkin, in the center of which you need to make a hole and thread the short part of the tube there. After the flame is extinguished, the brandy must be placed upside down on a straw. Drink absinthe with sprite and breathe in the vapors left in the cognac through a straw or vice versa.
You are poison, mixed with ambrosia
Your delicate aroma intoxicates me!
You are a poet, I listened in amazement
You are crucified on the cross by your dream!
With you again I'm drowning in the hazy fog
Vulnerable with repentance, consumed by emptiness
Love I pray - light up a radiant star
In the gloomy abyss, above the leaden darkness!
Charles Baudelaire
Absinthe is difficult to name simply alcoholic drink. Even though he does not have
such centuries of history, as, for example, wine, absinthe has earned the right to be called
separate unique phenomenon in world culture.
Portrait of Picasso by Juan Gris (1912)
At times belle epoch The Green Fairy is a nickname given for its characteristic color.
- was a favorite drink of bohemia in Paris. Drinking absinthe was peculiar
ritual, symbolizing the transition into the evening.
Glass of absinthe 1910
The effect of drinking absinthe can be the most diverse: calm relaxation,
unusual vivacity, euphoria, sudden laughter, aggression, hallucinations, impaired
vision, changing colors.
Pablo Picasso The Absinthe Drinker 1901
The "Green Fairy" (or, according to Paul Verlaine, the "Green Witch") was sung among others
Arthur Rimbaud, Oscar Wilde and Ernest Hemingway, immortalized on their canvases Edgar
Degas, Edouard Manet, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Vincent van Gogh and others
Edgar Degas Absinthe (In a cafe) 1873
Édouard Manet The Absinthe Drinker 1859
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Drinking Absinthe at Grenelle 1886
Vincent van Gogh Still Life with Absinthe 1887
Jean-Francois Raffaelli Drinking Absinthe 1881
But still, when it comes to the relationship of this drink to painting, one hardly comes to mind.
Not the first to come is Pablo Picasso's Absinthe Drinker.
The young Spaniard was fortunate enough to live in Paris at a time when it was possible to
fully enjoy all the delights of bohemian life, including trips to brothels in the company
the same semi-poor artists and the unhindered use of absinthe.
But Picasso will move to the French capital only in 1904, but for now he constantly
runs between Paris and Barcelona, working like hell and suffering from lack of money
and disorder. "Absinthe drinker" is born precisely in this period,
which, for all intents and purposes, cannot be called happy. In 1903, Picasso will write
"Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto", whose hero is depicted at a table in front of
a glass of absinthe.
Pablo Picasso Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto 1903
In 1912, the artist will again perpetuate his favorite drink in
cubist work "Perno bottle and glass".
Pablo Picasso Cafe Table
And finally, in 1914, a year before the "green fairy" was banned in France,
Picasso creates the glass of absinthe sculpture.
Pablo Picasso Glass of absinthe 1914 Bronze, Clay
Before the legalization of the drink in European countries the artist did not survive.
"Absinthe Drinker" does not differ in the original plot. Lonely people at the table
cafes before and after Picasso were depicted by many painters. However, in the execution
Spanish artist this trivial scene takes on an imprint deep drama.
In the pictures " blue period"(" Blue period "is considered the first in the work
Picasso. The young artist came to conquer Paris in 1901 and in the same year lost
his close friend Carlos Casamegas, who committed suicide.
Gloomy painting with tragic characters.) Picasso will repeatedly portray
people similar to the heroine of this canvas
Pablo Picasso Harlequin and his Girlfriend (Itinerant Gymnasts) 1901
Pablo Picasso Absinthe
on the other hand, it gives the impression of a compressed spring. The surrounding space is
would squeeze her from all sides, and she wraps herself around herself with unnaturally long
fingers, as if he wants to take up as little space as possible. This effect of "invisibility"
only reinforces the feeling of rejection, loneliness among the crowd, which at least once
experienced by most people in their lives.
