Mixed media abstract painting on canvas by Gilles Rieu, dated 2004 and inscribed The last day and St. Augustine on the verso with full date 02/19/2004. Bold composition featuring a black, white, and red palette with layered textures, gestural script, and abstract figural elements. Prominent “6781” numeric motif and expressive faces and figures throughout. Signed and extensively inscribed on the reverse by the artist with a drawing. Painted edges with additional script details.
Unframed, stretched canvas. Work shows visible wear consistent with handling, including edge wear, surface scuffs, and minor imperfections to the canvas and stretcher. This item is in pre-owned, previously displayed condition with wear and surface markings. Please reference all photos for full details.
Art: 14" x 11" x 1 1/4". Weight: 0.9 lbs
This item is originally from the collection of liquor icon Michel Roux. One of Mr. Roux’s signature spirits at Crillon was absinthe, the anise-flavored spirit known for its popularity among 19th-century artists like van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec. It was banned by the United States in 1912 amid concerns that wormwood, one of its ingredients, which contained thujone, caused hallucinations. In 2000, Mr. Roux introduced a legal absinthe, Absente, which used a sister botanical, Southern wormwood, with only trace amounts of thujone.
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