Absinthe and the Arts
Green Spirit Has Been Associated With Artists and Decadence
Originating in Switzerland in the 18th century, absinthe is a bitter, usually green spirit distilled from wormwood, fennel and anise. It probably began life as a medicine; indeed, its use among French soldiers as a malaria treatment in the 1840s likely contributed to its blossoming popularity, as soldiers returning from battle retained their taste for the drink and partook at bars and cafés that began serving it to cater to the demand. Absinthe became so popular in the mid-19th century that in France, 5pm became known as l’heure verte, or the green hour.
Absinthe's Attraction for Artists
Exactly how and why absinthe became inextricably linked with the literary and artistic movements of the time is not clear. The most common reason cited is the drink’s supposed hallucinogenic properties, which many believe must have spurred creativity. However, absinthe, aside from its high alcohol content, contains nothing which would specifically trigger hallucinations. There has been speculation that various poisonous substances may have been added to absinthe to enhance its green hue, and that this unknown substance may account for its hallucinatory reputation, but evidence of this is inconclusive.
Other factors that may have influenced its artistic associations are its intense green color (though some absinthes are colorless) and the rather romantic ritual surrounding its preparation, whereby the drink is served in a bulge-bottomed glass, then diluted with water poured over a sugar cube perched upon a purpose-made slotted absinthe spoon (although in the 19th century, absinthe was usually served in a regular glass). Whatever the reason, the association between absinthe and the arts is firmly established in the public mind.
Absinthe and the Visual Arts
Many painters and illustrators living in France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were enthusiastic absinthe drinkers, and some used images of the drink in their work. The artists most associated with absinthe during this period were Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet, and Vincent van Gogh.
Toulouse-Lautrec, in particular, painted many works featuring absinthe, including a portrait of van Gogh, and was said to traverse Paris with a hollow cane filled with the green spirit, as well as a pet cormorant who also took a nip on occasion. Degas painted a work later called L’Absinthe, and one of Manet’s paintings was titled The Absinthe Drinker, an early work that was rejected by the Salon and generally derided as morally repugnant.
Van Gogh, who was known to drink copious amounts of absinthe, famously cut off his ear under its influence, though his long history of mental problems likely stemmed from much earlier in his life. Other artists who were known absinthe drinkers include Paul Gauguin and Pablo Picasso, who completed at least three works featuring the drink.
Absinthe and the Literati
Absinthe’s literary influence around this same period is perhaps even more marked than its effects in the field of painting. French writers and poets like Arthur Rimbaud, Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine and Guy de Maupassant all partook, and some wrote about their experiences or attributed their creativity to the fabled green fairy. Ernest Hemingway was also a fan, as was Oscar Wilde, who often referred to absinthe in his work, and who once wrote, “After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.”
Absinthe Banned
Perhaps because of its association with decadent artistic types, absinthe was targeted by various temperance groups at the turn of the 20th century, who invariably argued that absinthe drinkers were crazed degenerates and that the popularity of the drink was soon to cause the downfall of civilization.
Belgium and Brazil were the first to ban absinthe outright, in 1906, followed by Switzerland in 1907, the Netherlands in 1909, and the United States in 1912. In France, where winemakers got in on the act, demonizing absinthe in order to eliminate some competition, the green spirit became illegal in 1915. Some countries, notably Britain and Spain, never banned it, though its banning in other nations led to a healthy trade in illegal importing and manufacturing, as well as to the consumption of pastis, an anise-flavored spirit that lacked wormwood.
Most countries reversed their bans in the 1990s and 2000s, and absinthe, largely due to its romantic associations with hedonism and artistic innovation, has enjoyed something of a revival in the modern era.
Additional Source:
Conrad, Barnaby (1997). Absinthe: History in a Bottle. Chronicle Books. ISBN: 0811816508.
Absinthe Drinker by Viktor Oliva
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L'Absinthe by Edgar Degas
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