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The Absinth Drinker, 1907

  • wash, chalk, India ink (ink), watercolour, gouache, paper
  • 1050 x 770 mm
  • Inv. 2015-IX

Public Domain

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Léon Spilliaert painted La Buveuse d’absinthe (The Absinth Drinker) in 1907, during the most creative period of his career, between 1899 and 1912. It was after returning to Ostend, his native town, in 1904, following a brief stay in Paris, that Spilliaert made his famous series of fifteen self-portraits, in which solitude and psychological conflict are depicted in a highly personal manner. Stylistically La Buveuse d’absinthe falls into this series of paintings. Contrary to habit, Spilliaert painted a frontal view of the woman, probably because he was struck by her hallucinatory state. The result is a rather mortifying portrait that shows the destructive power of addiction on a young socialite, a habituée of Ostend nightlife. The work sets itself apart from most of the self-portraits through the extreme stylisation of the physiognomy of the face. What stands out most are the model’s dilated pupils in the sunken blackness of her eye sockets. The way in which the model is framed is another unusual aspect of the painting. The subject fills practically the whole pictorial space, making any reference to time or space impossible. The singularity of the work also comes from the harmony between palette and technique. The typical alternation of light and dark is combined with flat colours and parts that are painted and drawn. It is this perfect interaction between colour and technique and between shape and background that gives La Buveuse d’absinthe its intense and timeless atmosphere.

Artist

Léon Spilliaert RKD VIAF Wikidata
Ostend 1881 - Brussels 1946
draftsmen (artists)AAT

Title The Absinth Drinker
Date 1907
Period 20th century
Medium and support wash AAT
Collection print room
Object type watercolour AAT
gouache AAT
ink drawing
lavis (technique) AAT
Inventory number 2015-IX
Acquisition credit long-term loan
Koning Boudewijnstichting
Brussels
2015
Current whereabouts Work currently not on display
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/2015-IX
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/145/manifest.json
Art & Architecture Thesaurus 300189808 figures (representations) AAT
300055865 symbolism (artistic concept) AAT
Keywords Iconclass 25G41 flowers Iconclass
31A532 hair-cutting Iconclass
31A72 female sex; woman Iconclass
31AA2212 eyes - AA - female human figure Iconclass
31AA235 sitting figure - AA - female human figure Iconclass
31B53 addiction Iconclass
31B531 alcoholism Iconclass
31D15 adult woman Iconclass
41C71 alcoholic drinks Iconclass
41C715(ABSINTH) other alcoholic drinks (ABSINTH) Iconclass
41D221(HAT) head-gear: hat Iconclass
41D222(SCARF) neck-gear ~ clothing (SCARF) Iconclass
41D2654 bow (ornamental part of clothing) Iconclass
41D2661 necklace Iconclass
School / Style Symbolism (artistic concept) AAT
Spilliaert : Le regard de l'âme / Anne Adriaens-Pannier. - Gand : Ludion, 2006 (p. 82, nr. 104)
Léon Spilliaert of de schoonheid van een wijs hart = Léon Spilliaert ou la beauté de l'intelligence de coeur (tentoonstelling Antwerpen, Ronny Van de Velde, 15 november 1998 - 10 januari 1999) / Anne Adriaens-Pannier. - Antwerpen : Pandora, 1998 ; Antwerpen : Ronny Van de Velde, 1998 (p. 67)
Léon Spilliaert : Het literair en kritisch portret van een kunstenaar (tentoonstelling 'Ontmoetingen met Spilliaert', Oostende, Het Spilliaert Huis, 07.05 - 09.10.2016) / Anne Adriaens-Pannier. - Brugge : Uitgeverij Van de Wiele, 2016 ; Oostende : Het Spilliaert Huis, 2016 (p. 38)
Léon Spilliaert (Exhibition London, Royal Academy of Arts, 23.02.2020 - 25.05.2020 ; Paris, Musée d'Orsay, 15.06.2020 - 13.09.2020) / Anne Adriaens-Pannier, Adrian Locke, Leïla Jarbouai, Noémie Goldman, Will Stone, Anna Testar, Luc Tuymans. - London : Royal Academy of Arts, 2020 (p. 108)
Léon Spilliaert (1881-1946) : Lumière et solitude (exposition Paris, Musée d'Orsay, 13.10.2020 - 10.01.2021 ; London, Royal Academy of Arts, 23.02.2020 - 25.05.2020) / Anne Adriaens-Pannier, Leïla Jarbouai, Noémie Goldman, Sébastien Mullier, Will Stone, Anna Testar. - Paris : Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux-Grand Palais, 2020 (p. 25)
Gare du Nord : Belgische en Nederlandse kunstenaars in Parijs (1850-1950) / Eric Min. - Kalmthout : Pelckmans, 2021
Léon Spilliaert : Avec la mer du Nord .... (exposition Lausanne, Fondation de l'Hermitage, 27.01 - 29.05.2023) / Sylvie Wuhrmann, Aurélie Couvreur, Anne Adriaens-Pannier, Noémie Goldman, Anna Testar. - Lausanne : Fondation de l'Hermitage, 2023 (p.75)
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