I had no idea how popular absinthe was amongst the bohemian crowd…including Oscar Wilde, who compared it to a “sunset.” Now that is just wild, especially considering that it can cause hallucinations (which apparently might have been the reason why Van Gogh had cut off his ear). I thought it was an very interesting story about the drink, and how it is becoming more popular with it now being legal in some countries, including the US. I think it is interesting how many artists and authors have been under the influence while creating their masterpieces. The author Wilkie Collins claimed that when he wrote his great British Victorian masterpiece, The Moonstone, he was under the influence of liquid opium.
One of the other things I’ve read is that Aleister Crowley was also a big fan of the stuff. Anyway, yeah I didn’t know for sure what the genuine way to drink the stuff was, but I was confirmed when I saw that it involves water and sugar. As for the hallucinations, you have to remember that some people didn’t eat when they drank this 100+ proof stuff. That’s enough to make any one see stuff.
I think that it is interesting Van Gogh’s absinthe addiction was included here. I also think this is interesting considering the latest theories on Van Gogh’s death propagated by Van Gogh biographers Stephen Naifeh and Gregory White Smith. They argue that rather than his death being a suicide, he was killed accidentally by teens fooling around with a shotgun and he said it was a suicide in order to protect them.
I had no idea how popular absinthe was amongst the bohemian crowd…including Oscar Wilde, who compared it to a “sunset.” Now that is just wild, especially considering that it can cause hallucinations (which apparently might have been the reason why Van Gogh had cut off his ear). I thought it was an very interesting story about the drink, and how it is becoming more popular with it now being legal in some countries, including the US. I think it is interesting how many artists and authors have been under the influence while creating their masterpieces. The author Wilkie Collins claimed that when he wrote his great British Victorian masterpiece, The Moonstone, he was under the influence of liquid opium.
But be careful…many great works were completed while being under the influence of life…without additives.
One of the other things I’ve read is that Aleister Crowley was also a big fan of the stuff. Anyway, yeah I didn’t know for sure what the genuine way to drink the stuff was, but I was confirmed when I saw that it involves water and sugar. As for the hallucinations, you have to remember that some people didn’t eat when they drank this 100+ proof stuff. That’s enough to make any one see stuff.
I think that it is interesting Van Gogh’s absinthe addiction was included here. I also think this is interesting considering the latest theories on Van Gogh’s death propagated by Van Gogh biographers Stephen Naifeh and Gregory White Smith. They argue that rather than his death being a suicide, he was killed accidentally by teens fooling around with a shotgun and he said it was a suicide in order to protect them.