Introduction People love to see paintings. The word painting would immediately bring up the names of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and others. The word painting will also make us wonder whether the painting was done during the Renaissance period, the Middle Ages, or another period. A painting would also prod us to determine if the painter was an impressionist, an anti –impressionist, or another type of painter. However, one thing is sure. Some paintings are immortalized and their values skyrocket. On the other hand, some paintings gather dust and are forgotten because they do not appeal to the discriminating taste of many art enthusiasts. Body The painting entitled Absinthe, L’ was done by Edgar Degas as an oil painting it shows the powerful alcoholic drink named Absinthe. The painting was done in 1876. This painting was very popular in France until it was finally prohibited to be displayed by the French government in 1915. The painting shows two persons silently beside each other looking far away. Edgar Degas’ main purpose in creating this work of art is to show that drinking is bad for the health. The artist, Edgar Degas, creates a woman characterized by a sloped shoulder brought about by the side effects of drinking more than one’s limit. The woman in the painting is the actress Ellen Andree. The male friend sitting beside the actress is her bohemian artist acquaintance name Marcellin Desboutin. Marcellin Desboutin lived from 1823 to 1902. The setting of the painting was the Café de la Nouvelle in Athens, Greece. Edgar Degas deviated from the usual story that it the men who are prone to drink intoxicating liquor. Whereas, the female-only drink non –intoxicating drinks. Here, he shows the female as the drunkard and the male as the intoxicating drink avoider. This painting precipitated the rumor that many females during Edgar Degas’ time and especially after the Paris commune drink intoxicating liquor to intentionally incite their working-class acquaintances to transform into violent persons during their upheaval. This Edgar Degas painting became so popular before it was finally banned from public exhibition. Many painters copied this Edgar Degas painting. The painter H. Daumier was inspirational in coming up with his version of the Absinthe drinker painting entitled Le Premier Verre, le Sixieme vere, Le Sixieme Verre in 1863. Another painter, J –F Raffaelli’s painting in 1881 was entitled The Absinthe Drinkers of 1881. One theory goes that Edgar Degas was portrayed as a person with conservative political attitudes. In a conversation with another oil painter, Edgar Devas stated his deep sentiment that “ It has been the ambition of my life to paint on walls; — but you have got to remember that a house changes hands, and consequently one’s work is apt to be destroyed. (Vollard 69)”. Edgar had feared that many of his paintings, including the Absinthe Drinker, discussed above, would change hands many times as they would be sold by one buyer to another. He surmised that his paintings would soon reach the hands of art dealers and sold at higher prices. Thus, Edgar Degas wished that the value of his paintings would not increase so they would not be sold by dealers to the highest bidders.