Absinthe Drinkers

This painting contains an element of social criticism, similar to that in Zola’s L’Assommoir” denouncing the destruction caused by alcoholism. The last two customers at the caf� are seated in the right-hand part of the painting, with the gray reflection of the street behind them. The couple is surrounded by emptiness. The actress Ellen Andr�e and the engraver Marcellin Desboutin served as models, but the painting goes beyond a mere portrait. They become the symbol of a nameless destiny.

Degas simply referred to this painting as In the Caf�, the present title was added later.