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Edgar Degas - The Absinthe Drinker 1876 In a cafe, a fashionable meeting place, a man and a woman, although sitting
side-by-side, are locked in silent isolation, their eyes empty and sad, with drooping features and a general air of desolation.
The painting can be seen as a denunciation of the dangers of absinthe, a violent, harmful liquor which was later prohibited.
Parallels have been drawn with Zola's novel L'Assommoir ... - art-Degas.com