THE GREEN FAIRY OF ART AND LITERATURE. Switzerland has the dual distinction of being the first country to commercially manufacture absinthe in the 1790s and among the first in Europe and North America to ban it one century later. During the intervening period, the “green fairy” was mythicized in the works and by the drinking habits of artists and writers living in France, including van Gogh, Manet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso, Baudelaire, Hemingway, Rimbaud, and Wilde.
During the early years of the twentieth century, absinthe drinking lost its mystique and was linked to violent crimes and social disorder. This led to bans on its manufacture in much of Europe (excluding the United Kingdom) and the United States. In the 1990s, the hazards of absinthe were reevaluated, and the potent liquor was returned to the shelves worldwide.
Absinthe is a spirit containing 50–75 percent alcohol, anise (imparting its flavor), fennel, and the leaves of wormwood (Artemisia absinthum). The wormwood leaves contain thujone, absinthe’s chief behaviorally active constituent, and its characteristic green color is the result of chlorophyll in the herbs. The method used to prepare the drink generally involves pouring ice-cold water over a sugar cube into a glass that contains the spirit.
Purported effects of absinthe on behavior, including increased clarity of thinking and enhanced creativity or hallucinations and madness, have been the subject of continued controversy and debate. In a 2008 report, chemical analysis revealed that, contrary to expectations, the thujone content of early twentieth century “pre-ban” absinthe was about the same as absinthe produced after 1988, when the European Union lifted its ban. Absinthe’s behavioral effects could also be attributed to its high alcohol content: Absinthe containing 70 percent alcohol is 140 proof, whereas most gins, vodkas, and whiskeys are only 80–100 proof. Because there are now no legal or industrial standards or definitions as to what constitutes “absinthe,” its content varies widely worldwide.
SEE ALSO Alcohol (c. 10,000 BCE).
This 1896 lithograph advertising Absinthe Robette, drawn by the Belgian artist Henri Privat-Livemont (1861– 1936), is considered among the most iconic Art Nouveau images.