Cafe Table with Absinthe by Vincent Van Gogh Number

Café Table with Absinthe by Vincent Van Gogh, oil on canvas 1887, is a still life painting of a glass of absinthe and transparent carafe of water set on a white tablecloth against a background of cafe windows looking onto a sunny street with pedestrians. Absinthe was a beverage popular among painters, poets and other denizens of the bohemian world of Parisian nightlife during this period. Painted well into Van Gogh’s lengthy period in Paris, the painting builds its warm, sunny motif in thinly painted, short brushstrokes of various thickness, similar to the technique of Tolouse-Lautrec. Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890) was a Dutch painter of the Post-Impressionist movement known for bold, expressive drawing, swirling brushstrokes and bold, heightened colours. In early adulthood Van Gogh worked as an art dealer, teacher and pastor before taking up the full time study of drawing and painting in his late twenties. Influenced by Rembrandt, the 19th century Realists and Barbizon school, Van Gogh’s early paintings featured studies of workers and peasants in sombre earth tones. Moving to France in 1886, Van Gogh met with the startling innovations of the Impressionist painters and began to apply their approach to colour and subject matter, which continued into the mature style for which the artist is most renowned. Van Gogh produced many hundreds of drawings and paintings including portraits, landscapes, still life and flower paintings, and numerous self-portraits that became a dominating influence on the modern art of the 20th century and made him one of the most popular artists of all time.