Some Pimps, Known as Green Backs, on their Bellies in the Grass, Drinking Absinthe - Alphonse Allais

A pioneering work of monochromatic conceptual art from 1884, featuring a solid green field with a satirical title by French humorist Alphonse Allais.

This work is a plate from the 1884 album 'Album primo-avrilesque', created by the French writer and humorist Alphonse Allais. The image consists of a solid green rectangle framed by decorative black borders, accompanied by the French title: 'Des souteneurs, encore dans la force de l'age et le ventre dans l'herbe, boivent de l'absinthe'.

Allais was a central figure in the Incoherents movement, a short-lived Parisian group that favoured absurdity, satire, and the rejection of traditional artistic values. This piece is an early example of monochromatic art, predating similar experiments by Kazimir Malevich or Yves Klein by several decades. By presenting a field of flat colour as a narrative scene, Allais mocks the pretension of contemporary academic painting and the public's desire for descriptive titles. The humour lies in the gap between the mundane, literal green block and the elaborate, suggestive title provided by the artist.

The work functions as a conceptual joke, challenging the viewer to find the figures described in the text within the featureless green space. It is a significant item for those interested in the history of avant-garde art, minimalism, and the development of satire in the late nineteenth century. The print retains its original ornamental frame, which contrasts with the radical simplicity of the central block, further emphasising the ironic nature of the composition. This piece remains a curious footnote in the history of modernism, demonstrating how early conceptual artists used humour to dismantle the conventions of the gallery space.