Detail of In a Cafe: The Absinthe Drinker by Degas in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2023

Title: In a Café (The Absinthe Drinker)

Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)

Date: 1875–76

Geography: Country of Origin France

Culture: French

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 36 1/4 × 26 15/16 in. (92 × 68.5 cm)
Framed: 45 7/8 × 36 7/16 in. (116.5 × 92.5 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Musée d'Orsay, Paris (RF 1984)

Degas drew inspiration for the setting of this painting from the Café de la Nouvelle-Athènes, where he often met Manet and other artists in their circle, including Marcellin Desboutin, seen here at right. His framing of the composition places the viewer at a nearby table looking toward the pair of drinkers, whose indifference to one another and their surroundings imparts a sense of modern urban alienation. The actress Ellen Andrée posed for the weary-looking female figure, giving her a slumped posture and downturned expression. Degas intended to include the work in the second Impressionist exhibition, in 1876, but ultimately showed it the following year.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/845054