The Absinthe Drinker - Édouard Manet

Gift of Henri M. Petiet

"The Absinthe Drinker" by Édouard Manet (1862) Etching in black on cream laid paper.

Commentary

"The Absinthe Drinker" by Édouard Manet (1862) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. The print-based method rewards close viewing, where line, texture, and contrast do most of the expressive work. Th emes to notice include etching. This piece is held in the source collection's Prints and Drawings collection. Édouard Manet is the artist behind this work. A useful anchor for reading the piece: Édouard Manet French, 1832-1883. The work is cataloged within a France cultural context. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as etching, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Etching in black on cream laid paper) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (Image: 25 × 14.5 cm (9 7/8 × 5 3/4 in.); Plate: 28.8 × 16.1 cm (11 3/8 × 6 3/8 in.); Sheet: 30.8 × 17.5 cm (12 3/16 × 6 15/16 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include etching. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/223857

Sources: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago / Public Records; Art Institute of Chicago Collection Data