Constantin Guys (born Ernest-Adolphe Guys de Saint-Hélène, December 3, 1802 – December 13, 1892) was a French

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

correspondent, water color painter and illustrator for British and French newspapers.

Biography

Guys was born and baptized in

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; zea, label= Zeelandic, Vlissienge), historically known in English as Flushing, is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river ...

, 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 Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...

in 1795 and was stationed in Vlissingen from 1800 until 1806, 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 George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

. His career as an artist didn't start until he was about 40. 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".

Robert de Montesquiou Marie Joseph Robert Anatole, comte de Montesquiou-Fézensac (7 March 1855, Paris – 11 December 1921, Menton) was a French aesthete, Symbolist poet, painter, art collector, art interpreter, and dandy. He is reputed to have been the inspira ...

wrote a review 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. His subjects were

Second French Empire The Second French Empire (; officially the French Empire, ), was the 18-year Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 14 January 1852 to 27 October 1870, between the Second and the Third Republic of France. Historians in the 1930 ...

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 The Pavillon de Marsan or Marsan Pavilion was built in the 1660s as the northern end of the Tuileries Palace in Paris, and reconstructed in the 1870s after the Tuileries burned down at the end of the Paris Commune. Following the completion of th ...

du musée du Louvre, ''L'Illustration'' n°4123, 10/06/1922. * ''Promenade en carosse'', 1863 ca., plume, encre, aquarel sur papier beige, 255 x 339 mm, Museo Cantonale d'Arte de

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

Museo Cantonale d'Arte, Lugano: Constantin Ernest Adolphe Guys
/ref> 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

Sources

Artcyclopedia article on Constantin Guys

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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guys, Constantin 1802 births 1892 deaths 19th-century French painters 19th-century war artists French male painters French war artists French war correspondents French watercolourists French philhellenes in the Greek War of Independence People from Vlissingen 19th-century French male artists

Biography

Works

References

Further reading

Sources