The Unsober History of Art

So, I am sitting here with a random collection of information to suit my bias, to present it to you. As a writer who has always known nothing but being obsessed with music, poetry, and self expression, I never felt it strange that every famous or well, infamous artist that we love and adore has had a history of substance use or abuse.

Every single artist who “made it” was either a chain smoker, an alcoholic, or both. Not all of them were abusers, of course. It’s just curious though, how art and drugs go hand-in-hand. To give you an idea in what context I am using the word “drugs”, coffee is included in this mix.

This may not be a very agreeable article, but then again, nothing I write is. I try to put into words things I see and feel and well, it’s okay to disagree.

Let’s dive into the very unsober history of art. First up, we have Picasso! Pablo Picasso has painted various pieces of both men and women, holding up a cigarette or in the act of smoking. Additionally, it is said that he was photographed on various occasions with cigarettes, smoking himself. I mean, art imitates life, does it not? Only a smoker finds the act intriguing enough to capture it through their own art.

Another correlation between art and smoking is the café culture in Paris, Vienna, and Berlin. The epicentres of the artistic movement. Before the health risks became prevalent and people were made more aware, tobacco was a common part of the aforementioned scene and the bohemian culture.

Moving onto alcohol consumption and its permanent place at the art scene. We all know Freddie Mercury, right? Right? The man who keeps a cup of beer on his piano when performing live, to hydrate mid sessions? What a diva!

Let’s go further back and talk about Ernest Hemingway, or even Vincent Van Gogh. “Whiskey is a writer’s night time companion” is something I say. But it’s not just me, Parisian artists felt the same way, whether they say said it in the same words or not.

Let’s not forget wine, the most aesthetic drinks to be ever made. The bottle, the glasses, the taste, the after-taste, the light and breezy after-effects, it all makes you feel like a rich and fancy artist about to create a masterpiece. It gives me a lot of confidence knowing that Frida Kahlo and Janis Joplin may have agreed with me.

Not only is alcohol viewed as both a muse, it was also a method of escaping the existential struggled and societal norms. Something needed to be able to create authentically. However, it is a no brainer that these things are extremely harmful and hence, have lost their immense popularity thanks to education and more awareness. Earlier, it was the romanticisation of the “drunk genius” that contributed to the notion that creativty was linked to suffering. I mean, it’s not all wrong. The worse the state of humanity and the world, the better the art. But, that’s a topic for another day.

Now, my favourite part: coffee. This beautiful substance that may not deserve to be in the same category, yet to me is more or less the same, aesthetically. This drink was the centre of intellectual and artistic life as far back as the 17th century. I think, this may be the only part of this article that is going to be acceptable to an average reader because coffee is also a cultural element in many countries. It is widely drunk until today. Though I do see all these ads and start-ups starting to say things like: “swap your coffee with superpowders” or “it’s just like coffee, but better” or the most common one “this drink will do more for you than coffee ever will”. Respectfully, thank you but no.