L'absinthe (1875-6) - by Edgar Degas The Musee d'Orsay, Paris. Edgar Degas (July 19, 1834 - September 27, 1917) was a French painter and sculptor. Born Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas When Degas exhibited the painting it caused public outrage, not least because he had shown well-known celebrities in private. The woman was the actress Ellen Andr? the man, a bohemian artist named Marcellin D廥boutin. The painting was originally called In a Caf? bsinthe?refers both to a green, poisonously alcoholic drink and the people addicted to it. The picture acquired this title in 1893, when it was exhibited in London. It was assumed that the two figures in a caf?show the disastrous effects of such addiction. The woman was thought to be a street-walking prostitute; the man a derelict alcoholic - he is drinking a hangover cure. This was a controversial subject for a painting, and Degas apparently casual treatment was unconventional and confrontational. 固opham