Edgar Degas: I can see that you are lonesome just like me

“I can see that you are lonesome just like meAnd it being late, you’d like some companyWell I turn around to look at you, and you look back at meThe guy you’re with, he’s up and split, the chair next to you’s freeAnd I hope that you don’t fall in love with me…”

(Tom Waits, I hope that I don’t fall in love with you)

Edgar Degas, L’Absinthe, 1876

Muted colour palette of greys, beige and browns instantly conveys the drab and depressing mood of the café. The café portrayed is the Café de la Nouvelle Athènes; a famous meeting place for the Impressionists and many other artists and composers such as Erik Satie and Ravel. The angle from which the man and the woman sitting in the café are seen also adds to the mood of the painting; it’s almost like a film scene and we are in the place of the camera, we see the lonesome pair as if we are sitting at the table across of them, we are the voyeurs observing them, trying to untangle the tale of their lonesomeness and detachment. The model for the pipe-smoking man with a hat and a beard was Marcellin Desboutin, a fellow artist, and indeed he has a bohemian, untamed look to him. The woman is dressed in a more fashionable way and the model for her was the actress Ellen Andreé who posed for other Impressionist artists as well.

They both look lonely and despite being physically close, they seem emotionally distant from one another. They are both silently staring into the distance. The man is smoking a pipe, only a half of which is painted because Degas used the very popular Japanese ukiyo-e style method of strange angles and perspectives and the result is a more intimate, direct and natural scene. They don’t look like they are posing, they look like they were caught in their natural habitat. There is a glass of absinthe on the table in front of the lady, but she seems to be thinking of something other than her drink. They both look tired; tired from life in general and perhaps tired from the night before. In contrast to Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s vibrant, lively and garish scenes from cafés and cabarets, this painting has a grey, party is over, hangover mood. The grey morning after which doesn’t have the flashy lights and vibrant colours that the evening parties have. I spent a lot of time gazing at this painting lately and two songs kept coming to my mind, especially the lyrics, Tom Waits’ “I hope I don’t fall in love with you” and Johnny Cash’s song “She used to love me a lot”. First the lyrics to Tom Waits’ song:

“Well I hope that I don’t fall in love with you‘Cause falling in love just makes me blueWell the music plays and you display your heart for me to seeI had a beer and now I hear you calling out for meAnd I hope that I don’t fall in love with you

(…)Well if you sit down with this old clown, take that frown and break itBefore the evening’s gone away, I think that we could make itAnd I hope that I don’t fall in love with you

Well the night does funny things inside a manThese old tomcat feelings you don’t understandWell I turn around to look at you, you light a cigaretteI wish I had the guts to bum one, but we’ve never metAnd I hope that I don’t fall in love with you…”

And now very similar lyrics of Johnny Cash’s song “She used to love me a lot”:

“I saw her through the window todayShe was sittin’ in the Silver Spoon cafeI started to keep goingBut something made me stopShe used to love me a lot

She looked lonely and I knew the cureOld memories would win her heart for sureI thought I’d walk on inAnd I give it my best shotShe used to love me a lot

I sat down beside her and she smiledShe said where have you been it’s been awhileShe was glad to see meI could almost read her thoughtsShe used to love me a lot…“