SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Coincidentally timed with the special exhibition Birth of Impressionism at the de Young Museum, John E. Buchanan, Jr., the director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, announces the acquisition of The Absinthe Drinkers (Les buveurs d’absinthe), 1881, by the French painter Jean-François Raffaëlli (1850–1924). Widely regarded as one of the artist’s most important and accomplished paintings, The Absinthe Drinkers will temporarily grace the entrance of the Birth of Impressionism exhibition this summer before settling into its permanent home in gallery 19 at the Legion of Honor. This painting joins a distinguished group of Raffaëlli’s works on paper already in the Fine Arts Museums’ collection and will greatly enhance the Legion’s presentation of 19th-century French paintings. Says Buchanan of the painting, “The Absinthe Drinkers had a remarkable debut in 1881 and it continue