At the turn of the century, the French artist Albert Matignon (1860-1937) became fascinated with opium.

Morphine (1905)

Matignon became somewhat well-known after painting Morphine in 1905. He was one of only a few artists who were bold enough to delve into drug and alcohol-related themes.

Two women passed out in an alcove at an opium den

By 1911, he had seen the seedier side of opiates. That year he exhibited a painting of a ghostly woman smoking in an opium den and called it le vampire de l’opium. The painting captures a young woman, in the final stages of physical and mental decay, still clinging to the opium pipe that was the source of all her troubles.

Le vampire de l’opium (1911)

Joyeux Halloween!