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| Edgar Degas, "L'Absinthe" (1876). Musée D'Orsay, Paris. Click here for image URL |
By the late 19th Century, absinthe was becoming a common drink throughout the outcasts of Paris. The scene is set to the right rather than centrally, and the characters' minds seem to be far away from that situation. The absinthe glass is set right in front of the distracted lady. Of course, absinthe is not what we taste nowadays. At the time, it was actually hallucinogenic, as much as we've been told. The drink started to raise problems of social isolation.
Degas was a fan of photography, and the canvas is set almost to look like a photograph - a still moment, maybe from the corner of an eye. A snap, a quick view, without focussing on the posers as the subject matter, but really the environment as a whole. It is as if the viewer is sitting on the table looking at them, or even joining them in the isolation of the self.
