Essays on Absinthe

When I was a child, my mother said to me, 'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general. If you become a monk, you'll end up as the Pope.' Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso. (McNeese, 2006, p.105) Pablo Ruiz y Picasso (1881-1973) is one of the main representatives of the 20th century art, and the co-founder along with Georges Braque of Cubism. With significant contribution to the formation and development of modern and contemporary art, Picasso is one of the most prominent artists of the previous century, an artistic mastermind who managed to ...

Édouard Manet’s paintings were just as controversial as he was himself. This is clearly seen through some of his very famous paintings which include The Absinthe Drinker/The Philosopher (1859) and The Luncheon on the Grass (1863) which were rejected by the Salon at the Louvre. His other controversial and rather shocking painting is Olympia which also received its share of criticism. Through these paintings, it is clear that he was a man who went about provoking the people’s minds and therefore sparking arguments and different perceptions.

The Absinthe Drinker/ The Philosopher (1859) and The Luncheon on the ...

Among the most celebrated artists of the Impressionist movement, Edgar Degas was also one of the most prolific, leaving behind a wide range of both two-dimensional and three-dimensional works (Pioch, 2002). In a Café or L’ Absinthe was created in 1873, it measures 36 1/4 x 26 3/4 inches and is a characteristic painting by Degas (Pioch, 2002). The artist used oil on canvas for the creation of the work, which depicts an objective scene from a Parisian Café of the end of the 19th century, the time Degas lived and worked (Musée d’ Orsay, 2006).

Lines do not follow the clarity ...