Still Life with Red Cabbages and Onions

Vincent van Gogh

Contemporary-Art.org
Keywords: LifeRedCabbagesOnions

Work Overview

Still Life with Red Cabbages and Onions
1887
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam


Glass of Absinthe and a Carafe (F339) was made by Van Gogh in a café. On the table sits a glass of absinthe, its green-yellow liquid lighter for window's sunlight and in contrast to the brown background. The painting catches a moment in the café from a patron's perspective, with a view of pedestrians walking on the street. Absinthe was popular to Van Gogh and other artists both as a drink, although toxic and in some cases deadly, and because of its unique color, it was also favored as a subject for paintings.[57]


Absinthe may have significantly contributed to Van Gogh's poor health. When he lived in Paris, absinthe was a popular drinks among artists.[58] Paul Signac commented that Van Gogh drank steadily drinks of brandy following drinks of absinthe.[59] By the time Van Gogh left Paris he was in very poor health and known to say to a friend that drinking and smoking left him "seriously sick at heart and in body and nearly an alcoholic."[58] According to author Doris Lanier, author of "Absinthe the Cocaine of the Nineteenth Century": Many of Van Gogh's symptoms following his arrival in Paris are indicative of absinthe poisoning: stomach and nervous system problems, hallucinations and convulsions.