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In a cafe, also called La absenta

Edgar Degas Between 1875 and 1876.

Degas is one of the first impressionists who begins to paint scenes that do not occur in nature or on the street but in social places such as theaters, bars, in the privacy of the backstage or even in their own rooms.

This painter came from a rich family of bankers and although he had to study a traditional career, his connection with color was more.
Degas is well known for his scenes of the dancers of the Opera Garnier and his studies of horse racing, but it is in paintings such as The Absinthe where he shows his inclination towards the contents of the urban every day and his mastery to suggest the dark reality What is hidden in this scene is sublime. We see a woman drinking, alone, because she is not talking to the man on her left, she is absorbed in her thoughts ... the melancholy is evident.

This painting not only moves for its harshness to reflect so well the problem of loneliness and vices, but its composition reminds us of a film shot with different layers, ranging from the reflection of both characters in the rear mirror to us, which As spectators, we are sitting at a table in front of this scene. Everything happens in a café in the Plaza Pigalle and the models of Degas were an actress and recording artist, both were known at the time and given the impact of the Degas painting, he had to clarify that they were not alcoholics, but just posed for painting.

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