Van
Gogh’s love affair with absinthe is considered to be he most famed in
history.
It is rumored that not only did Van Gogh enjoy absinthe to the
extreme, but that he also devoured the oils and turpentines used in his
paintings. Speculation about the odd lighting effects in Van Gogh’s
work is sometimes attributed to a case of epilepsy. Accurate medical
diagnoses of Van Gogh’s various conditions is unavailable, but Van Gogh
scholars tend to agree that he displayed, not only in his work but
also in his letters, all the signs of a full-blown absinthe alcoholic.
What we can say for sure about Van Gogh is limited to this: that he was
as exceptionally troubled as he was brilliant. 
One
of the English language’s most quotable writers, Wilde was a professed
alcoholic and devotee of absinthe. Wilde’s stage plays, poems, and
short stories gained him celebrity status not only in his native Ireland
but also in Continental Europe. From his post as foremost writer of
his day, Wilde referred often to absinthe as a boost to the creative
process. one of Wilde’s most famous quips about absinthe speaks to his
love of tragic irony, and goes as follows: “After the first glass of
absinthe you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you
see things as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are,
and that is the most horrible thing in the world.”
Charles
Cros was a renaissance man: painter, poet, physicist, chemist,
musician, and inventor. The Frenchman is said to have invented an early
model of the phonograph, though he lacked the funds to secure a patent
or production facility. Cros’ use of absinthe is notorious. He
regularly drank up to 20 absinthes a day, and was known to regulars at
Paris’ legendary absinthe cafés as a bon vivant, partying long
into the next day. Whether Cros’ work was heightened or hindered by
absinthe is somewhat irrelevant, due to the many accomplishments he
enjoyed in his life. 
The
man who all but defined artistic decadence, Baudelaire’s best known
work includes a poem entitled “Get Drunk!” that mentions the use of
absinthe. Baudelaire’s main accomplishments are in the fields of poetry
and art criticism, but he also wrote thoroughly emotional political
tracts, dramas, and novellas. Baudelaire’s life was an extravagant one:
he lived well beyond his means and drank far beyond the capacity of
his body and pocketbook. For Baudelaire, trips to the poorhouse were
followed up by trips to the café. He eventually died, young even by
19th Century standards, due to a combination of seizure and the ravages
done to the writer’s body by his regular use of laudanum, opium, and
drink. 
Art-school
staple, poet Verlaine is said to have drank himself to death and
damned his drink of choice, beloved absinthe, from the death-bed.
Verlaine’s troubled sexuality and substance abuse are the stuff of
legend – in a rare meeting of the minds, Verlaine and fellow poet Arthur
Rimbaud shared a bed for some time – and his devotion to absinthe was
apparently unconditional, as he wrote extensively about the virtues of
the drink. Through the lean and mean times of his later years, Verlaine
kicked all other habits but absinthe. In a twist befitting the content
of his work, Verlaine damned the very drink that many claim did him in
– while sneaking kisses of la fee verte from his death-bed. Arthur Rimbaud (1855-1891)
The
young, talented poet Rimbaud fell in love with fellow poet Verlaine
soon after his arrival in Paris. Rimbaud also developed a parallel
fondness for Verlaine’s drink of choice: absinthe. His artistic life
ended as abruptly as his relationship with Verlaine. The story goes
that Verlaine, in a fit of madness, shot the young Rimbaud, and the two
parted ways forever after. Verlaine went in and out of poorhouses
while Rimbaud gave up writing, absinthe, and the bohemian life for the
military.
Guy de Maupassant (1850 – 1893)
Considered
by scholars to be the father of the modern short story, Guy de
Maupassant was a French writer known for efficient prose and a style
that championed brevity above all, much like a later writer and absinthe
devotee, Ernest Hemingway. In de Maupassant’s “A Queer Night in
Paris,” the writer describes the sensations associated with absinthe in
the streets of Paris.
Alfred Jarry (1873-1907)
An eccentric author with exotic tastes, Jarry’s landmark work is the French absurdist play, Ubu Roi.
Jarry’s use of absinthe and its relationship to his work is renowned:
Jarry is said to have been one of, we can only presume, very few
absinthe devotees of the time who drank the stuff straight, foregoing the traditional combination with water and sugar. Jarry’s Ubu Roi,
and its foul feature, the character Pere Ubu, have long been used to
solidify arguments that regular absinthe use will drive a person to
insanity. Jarry saw it another way. His professed goal was to use
absinthe to “fuse together the dream and reality, art and lifestyle.”
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)
Hemingway
and absinthe make for a direct correlation in the minds of readers in
the 20th Century and today. Absinthe features prominently in much of
Hemingway’s work, including: For Whom The Bell Tolls, where the protagonist turns to absinthe as a substitute for the poor quality of the local liquors; The Sun Also Rises,
about a sojourn to Spain in which Pernod is the drink of choice for
the traveling party; and the short story, “Hills Like White Elephants,”
where abortion is considered over drinks of absinthe at a train depot.
Hemingway’s famed use of absinthe comes as a bit of a puzzle, due to
the fact that it was banned in much of the Western world when he was in
his teenage years, but the likely case is that he was able to stock up
on trips to Cuba and Spain, where he famously participated in the
running of the bulls.
Marilyn Manson (1969 -
A
uniquely American celebrity, Marilyn Manson is by far today’s most
famous absinthe devotee. The musician and artist known for his
grotesque stage persona – inspired, in part, by Jarry’s Pere Ubu
character – has claimed absinthe, in addition to the exhaustive use of
illicit drugs, to be an influence on his creative process. Manson’s
love for absinthe is so strong that, thanks to the recently loosened
restrictions on the production and distribution of the drink, he has
gone on to develop his own brand, Mansinthe. Manson’s brand of absinthe
is available in the United States, and in 2008 Mansinthe won the Gold
Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.