The absinthe drinker

Édouard Manet painted The Absinthe Drinker around 1859, depicting a solitary figure wrapped in a dark cloak, standing beside a glass of the notorious green liquor. The painting was rejected by the Paris Salon of 1859, with only Delacroix voting in its favor.

Manet modeled the figure on a ragpicker named Collardet who frequented the Louvre neighborhood. The dark brown and black tones reflect his study of Spanish masters like Velázquez. This early work anticipated Manet's career-long provocations against academic conventions. The painting now resides at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen.