Constantin Guys
{{Short description|French painter (1802–1892)}}
File:Félix Nadar 1820-1910 Constantin Guys.jpg]]
Constantin Guys (born Ernest-Adolphe Guys de Saint-Hélène, December 3, 1802 – December 13, 1892) was a French Crimean War correspondent, water color painter and illustrator for British and French newspapers.
Biography
Guys was born and baptized in Vlissingen, the son of François Lazare Guys and his second wife, Elisabeth Bétin. His father had been appointed civilian chief of the French Navy in Rochefort in 1796 and was stationed in Vlissingen from 1800 until 1805, after which the family moved to Calais. At the age of 20, Constantin served in the cavalry, but only a little later toured in Greece with Lord Byron. His career as an artist didn't start until he was about 40.Henri Frantz (1905), [https://books.google.com/books?id=RXvm6doOQD0C&pg=RA4-PA109 A forgotten artist: Constantin Guys], in The International Studio, Vol. 97, pp. 107-112. [https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/studio1905a/0123/image,info]
Baudelaire called him the "painter of modern life," and wrote a long essay on Guys in which he extensively praised his works, under the pseudonym "Monsieur G".Baudelaire, Charles, Le Peintre de la vie moderne, 1863. Robert de Montesquiou wrote a review"Fragments sur Constantin Guys", Le Gaulois, 18 April 1895. of Guys that acknowledged Baudelaire's essay, compared Guys favorably to Whistler, and emphasized his portrayal of details of women's clothing, and horse carriages.Munhall, Edgar, Whistler and Montesquiou. The Butterfly and the Bat, The Frick Collection/Flammarion, New York, 1995, p. 128. His subjects were Second French Empire life. In the Dutch novel "Au pair" by W. F. Hermans, one of the main characters is fascinated by Constantin Guys. Guys died in Paris, aged 90.
Works
- Les Champs Élysées, 1922, Pavillon de Marsan du musée du Louvre, L'Illustration n°4123, 10/06/1922.
- Promenade en carosse, ca.1863, pen and ink with watercolor, Museo Cantonale d'Arte de Lugano[http://www.e-mca.ti.ch/lugano/eMuseumPlus?service=direct/1/ResultDetailView/result.inline.lightbox.t2.collection_lightbox.$TspTitleLink.link&sp=13&sp=Sartist&sp=SfilterDefinition&sp=0&sp=1&sp=3&sp=SdetailView&sp=25&sp=Sdetail&sp=0&sp=T&sp=0&sp=Slightbox_3x4&sp=0&sp=T&sp=0 Museo Cantonale d'Arte, Lugano: Constantin Ernest Adolphe Guys]
File:Constantin Guys - Man on Horseback - Google Art Project.jpg|Man on Horseback
File:Constantin-Guys-rencontre-la-promenade.jpg|Meeting on the Promenade
Constantin-Ernest-Adolphe-Hyacinthe Guys 001.jpg|The Loge at the Opera
File:Constantin Guys - Young Spanish Girl - Google Art Project.jpg|Young Spanish Woman
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Constantin Guys, 1802-1892. [Exhibition] June–July 1956. London: Marlborough Fine Art, Ltd.
- Geffroy, Gustave (1920). Constantin Guys, l'historien du Second Empire. Paris: G.Crès. ([https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1520223m read online])
- Koella, Rudolf (1989). Constantin Guys. [Winterthur] : Kunstmuseum Winterthur.
- Roger-Marx, Claude (1954). Constantin Guys, 1802-1892. Paris: Braun.
- Smith, Karen, W. (1978). Constantin Guys. Crimean War Drawings 1854-1856. Cleveland (Ohio): Cleveland Museum of Art.
Sources
- [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/guys_constantin.html Artcyclopedia article on Constantin Guys]
- [http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC?vrsn=149&OP=contains&locID=22396_largo&srchtp=name&ca=1&c=1&AI=U14651981&NA=Constantin+Guys&ste=13&tbst=prp&tab=2&docNum=K1681154772&bConts=34#sourceCitation Merriam-Webster's Biographical Dictionary. Merriam-Webster Incorporated, 1995. in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007. Document Number: K1681154772. Online. November 6, 2007]
{{commons category|Constantin Guys}}
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Category:19th-century French painters
Category:19th-century French war artists
Category:French war correspondents
Category:French watercolourists
Category:French philhellenes in the Greek War of Independence