Absinthe Art

The man had known the obscure night of the soul,

and lay even now in the valley of humiliation…

But for a little while he had forgotten.

– Ernest Downson (1867-1900), “Absinthia Taetra”

This painting is “Les buveurs d’absinthe (Les Declasses)”, by Jean-Francois Raffaeli. It is an oil on canvas, painted in 1881. The painting sold for $2,994,500 to the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.

If the sky opens on our heads,
We put absinthe to our lips.

– Octave Fere & Jules Cuvain, “Les Buveurs d’Absinthe” (1864)

This painting is “Le buveur d’absinthe”, by Jean d’Esparbes (1898-1968).