Born 1802, in Vlissingen (Flushing), the Netherlands, to French parents; died 1892, in Paris.
Painter, watercolourist, draughtsman. Military subjects, genre scenes.
Constantin Ernest Adolphe Hyacinthe Guys was born in The Netherlands the same year as Victor Hugo. He was of French descent (his father was a chief naval administrator at Vlissingen) and died utterly destitute in 1892 at the age of 90 in a sordid hospice, la maison Dubois in St-Denis. Guys lived an extremely restless life about which few documents survive. Having set off, alongside Lord Byron, to fight for Greece in its war for independence from Turkey (maybe also out of a passion for horses), Guys became a war correspondent for one of the few broadsheets of the time to accept independent artists' work, the Illustrated London News. He thus ended up being either a spectator or a participant at several important historical events, notably the 1848 Revolution and the Crimean War. He made numerous trips to the Orient, to England, Italy, Spain and Germany, but none of his biographers has yet attempted to catalogue his travels precisely - not even Baudelaire, whose major, critically lauded study appeared in December 1863 in Figaro under the title: 'Un Peintre de la Vie Moderne' (A Painter of Modern Life).Guys was particularly publicity-shy, to the extent that he begged Baudelaire to refer to him in his article by just his initials (under a few, rare pictures, the majority being neither signed nor dated). Guys attributed to his pictures nothing more than a certain documentary value, sometimes noting them down in his great, sloping handwriting and leaving the woodcarvers the task of freely interpreting them (and nearly always diluting their character in the process). For example, in a letter enclosed with a watercolour of Sebastopol he recommended that they 'leave the uniforms exactly as I have drawn them; they have to be just so. But make any changes you like to the surroundings; the setting for this could just as well be snowy, if you prefer.'
Guys became famous due to the enthusiasm of Baudelaire, Manet (who painted his portrait in oils), Edmond and Jules Goncourt, Gustave Geffroy and Roger Marx. Even although fake copies of his work were already in circulation during his lifetime, his wash drawings - so sought after today - had very little market value at the time. The curator of the Carnavalet Museum saw Guys enter his office one afternoon looking just as the Goncourt brothers described him in their diary: 'A small man with an energetic face, the look of a Napoleonic soldier, limpimg along, constantly digressing and flitting from idea to idea.' Guys was in desperate need of money, but the curator could lay his hands on just 200 francs. For that amount the curator obtained 300 of the most beautiful, fully rounded pictures to be exhibited in any museum for some time to come. Guys wrote to his friend, the photographer Felix Nadar: 'I hear that you should like me to set aside a few pictures for you. I have a huge amount at home. I'm sure that these sketches are worthless. If you would like a few hundred I should be happy to send them over to you.' (Several pages have Nadar's embossed or ink stamps at the bottom.)
Although a few paintings have been attributed to him - of horse-drawn carriages, which were a popular fad at the time - it appears that Guys never actually painted in oils. Ink washes or watercolours were his preferred means of expression. Baudelaire portrayed him at work, hunched over dozens of sketches at once, making minute pencil marks, enhancing gentle, scarcely coloured daubs, then outlining contours with a quill or a brush, deepening certain shadows here, bringing out patches of light there - and all this from memory, in his room, never by motif or from life. Baudelaire writes: 'As a man of the world, that is, a man of the entire world, Constantin Guys doesn't like to be called an 'artist'. The artist scarcely inhabits, if at all, the moral and political world. An inhabitant of the Bréda quartier has no idea what's going on in the suburb of St-Germain. It has to be said that most artists are, with a couple of exceptions, specialised brutes: pure labourers.'
Those pages which Baudelaire devoted to Guys' favourite subjects are worth a second read: 'Annals of War', 'Military Pomp and Solemnity', 'Dandies', 'Women', 'Girls', and 'Carriages'. There are constant references to Guys' knack of seeing the whole and of distilling from the present time and fashion that which captures its poetry and essence: 'Each era has its own bearing, its own look and mannerisms'. Baudelaire was correct in his forecast that Guys' pictures would become, in a few years, 'precious archives of civilised life, as are all pictures by those sublime artists who, in only painting the familiar and the pretty, are nevertheless serious historians in their own way'.
With clarity and foresight, Baudelaire realised just how much Guys' talent raised him above the likes of Devéria, Gavarni, Monnier, Eugène Lami or Alfred de Dreux, who had occasionally inspired him early on. He was sensitive, as they were, to the slightest tremors and shades of the present, and, through a great variety of settings, he was able to draw out the essence of a movement or a character. Moreover, his compositions being governed 'by light', he was able to focus on the grand scale, on the grand rhythms, the grand values. Details, whilst respected, always ranked below style. His studies of certain 'groupings' - prostitutes transformed into flower girls, lionesses and emancipated beauties, sailors, veterans standing to attention, wandering musicians, processions of soldiers or carriages, regular brothel-goers, drinkers at the Closerie des Lilas or dancers at the Bal Mabille - these were studies, above all, of luminous, noisy environments. The proportions which he granted, so naturally, to the slightest incident, the faintest silhouette, the humblest setting, bring to mind Daumier, Goya, and even sometimes Rembrandt.
Towards the end of his career, Guys seemed to use colour extremely discreetly, which is helpful in approximately dating his watercolours. Previously vivid, strident and sometimes even a little shrill, the citrus yellows, raspberry pinks and midnight blues gave way to a more modest role for colour, just as facial and clothing details lessened in importance. Everything now tended towards unity, simplification and, even in the most minuscule of subjects, the monumental. At this point, Constantin Guys lost his minor-artist tag, and his body of work is arguably one of the 19th century's most vehement, dynamic and fresh.
After his death, his works were available for viewing at collective exhibitions: Treasury of French-Swiss Collections ( Trésor des Collections Romandes) at the Rath Museum in Geneva (1954); From Cézanne to Matisse ( De Cézanne à Matisse) at the Musée du Petit Palais in Paris (1955); From Cézanne to Picasso ( De Cézanne à Picasso) at the Palais Athénée in Geneva (1967); and the 'Men of Worth': Henri Fantin-Latour, Odilon Redon and their Contemporaries ( "Hommes de valeur". Henri Fantin-Latour, Odilon Redon en tijdgenoten) at the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands (2002). Some solo exhibitions have also been organised: at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (1937); at the Marlborough Fine Art Gallery in London (1956); and The Art of Constantin Guys ( Les Dessins de Constantin Guys) at the Musée de la Vie Romantique in Paris (2002).
Auction Records
Paris, 1 Feb 1898: Officers and Courtesans (pen and watercolour wash) FRF 25
Paris, 24 Feb 1919: Phaeton (watercolour) FRF 1,070
Paris, 8-9 April 1919: Outing in a Tilbury (watercolour) FRF 810
Paris, 12 April 1919: Military Staff (pen drawing) FRF 115
Paris, 16-17 Dec 1919: Outing in the Woods, FRF 1,750
Paris, 29 Feb 1920: Parisian Women of 1850 (pen) FRF 1,420
Paris, 31 March 1920: Outing in the Woods (pen) FRF 1,430; Girls and Soldiers (Indian ink) FRF 720; Two Women in Blue (heightened pen) FRF 920; Promenade Gallery (pen) FRF 400
Paris, 2-4 June 1920: Two Grisettes (watercolour) FRF 900; Lioness (watercolour) FRF 2,580; L'Avenue de l'Impératrice, Allée des Cavaliers (wash) FRF 1,120; Gala Carriage at the Bois de Boulogne (watercolour) FRF 1,800; Woman with a Black Bodice and Blue Skirt (watercolour) FRF 1,220
Paris, 9 Dec 1920: Awaiting the Queen (watercolour) FRF 1,550; Ladies of the Night (watercolour) FRF 1,395
Paris, 16 March 1921: The Emperor (heightened drawing) FRF 1,900; Souvenir of the Orient (heightened drawing) FRF 2,650
Paris, 30 June 1921: Team of Horses (watercolour) FRF 1,500; Public Ball (Indian ink) FRF 1,020
Paris, 10 Nov 1922: The Empress in her Daumont Carriage (watercolour) FRF 1,500
Paris, 7 and 8 Feb 1923: Emperor Napoleon III in St-Cloud Park (pen and wash) FRF 2,900; At Cape Kerson (pen and wash) FRF 1,420; Scenes of Constantinople (two pencils heightened with watercolour) FRF 1,605
Paris, 5 June 1923: At the Bal Mabille (pen heightened with watercolour) FRF 850; Horse and Carriage (pen and wash) FRF 465; A Second Empire Woman of Fashion (wash) FRF 600
Paris, 31 Oct 1923: On the Watch (watercolour) FRF 2,100
Paris, 7 April 1924: La Loge (watercolour) FRF 3,550
Paris, 22 May 1924: In the Woods (drawing in Indian ink) FRF 2,800
Paris, 30 May 1924: Team of Horses at the Bois de Boulogne (drawing heightened with watercolour) FRF 1,600
Paris, 11 June 1924: Woman Hitching Up her Skirt (watercolour) FRF 3,160; Woman in a Cloak (watercolour) FRF 1,960; Woman of Fashion (wash) FRF 4,780
London, 6 May 1925: The Promenade (watercolour) GBP 21
London, 11 Nov 1925: Empress Eugenie's Coach (drawing) GBP 7
Paris, 3 Dec 1925: Barouche in the Woods (pen and wash) FRF 2,000
Paris, 21 Dec 1925: Woman of Fashion (watercolour) FRF 3,200
Paris, 25 May 1926: Barouche; In the Woods (pencil and watercolour) FRF 6,400
Paris, 2 June 1926: Horsemen in the Woods (drawing) FRF 1,950
Paris, 8 Dec 1926: Two Hussars (watercolour) FRF 3,000
Paris, 3 March 1927: Woman Gripping her Skirt (heightened drawing) FRF 6,000; Concert in the Café (Indian ink) FRF 7,100; Seated Woman (heightened drawing) FRF 4,500
Paris, 4 and 5 March 1927: The Encounter (watercolour wash) FRF 6,220
Paris, 1-3 June 1927: Oriental Types (watercolour) FRF 14,200
Paris, 16-17 June 1927: Lady with a Muff (watercolour) FRF 8,100; Inspection and Procession at the Plateau des Bruyères at St-Omer (watercolour) FRF 10,500; At the Court Ball (watercolour) FRF 10,200
Paris, 25 June 1927: Two Young Women, Second Empire (watercolour) FRF 13,500
Paris, 3 Dec 1927: At the Concert Musard (drawing and wash) FRF 3,200
Paris, 27 Dec 1927: State Coach (pen) FRF 4,200; Halted Mail-coach (pen and watercolour) FRF 7,600; Royal Coach (watercolour) FRF 9,200; At the Races (pen and watercolour) FRF 15,000; In a Park, a Barouche Waiting at the Foot of a Staircase (watercolour) FRF 53,000
Paris, 23 Jan 1928: At the Bar (heightened Indian ink wash) FRF 5,000
Paris, 1 March 1928: Courtesans with Muffs (watercolour) FRF 10,100
Paris, 15 Nov 1928: Young Woman Standing (drawing) FRF 11,800; Young Spanish Women (drawing) FRF 7,600
Paris, 16 March 1929: Victoria (drawing) FRF 6,200
London, 9 May 1929: Woman in a Park (watercolour) GBP 72; Outing in the Woods (watercolour) GBP 140
Paris, 10-11 June 1929: Romantic Visit, FRF 7,200
London, 26 Nov 1929: Group of People (drawing) GBP 75
London, 11 March 1931: Courtesans (heightened drawing) FRF 5,820
London, 14 Dec 1931: A Party (heightened wash) FRF 1,000
London, 27 Feb 1932: Gentlemen and Ladies on Horseback (Indian ink wash) FRF 2,000
London, 17 Nov 1932: Proscenium, FRF 1,320
London, 24 Nov 1932: Outing in a Barouche (watercolour) FRF 4,800
London, 2 June 1933: A Beautiful Girl (Indian ink wash) FRF 1,550
London, 8 May 1934: Outing in the Woods, FRF 3,400
London, 10 May 1935: Three Women at the Salon (Indian ink wash) FRF 820
London, 28 June 1935: The Flirt (watercolour) FRF 3,000
London, 2 July 1935: Carriage named 'Le Petit Duc' (Indian ink wash/pen outline) FRF 1,660
London, 11 Dec 1935: Court Boxes at the Opera: Empress Eugenie, Madame de Metternich and Ladies in Waiting (watercolour) FRF 3,150
London, 17 Feb 1937: Couple of Young Bourgeois (Indian ink and watercolour) FRF 2,200
London, 12 March 1937: Small, Horse-drawn Coupé with Coachman and Footman (pen and wash) FRF 1,530
London, 19 March 1937: Woman Driving a Duc Carriage (pen, Indian ink and watercolour wash) FRF 1,750
New York, 29 April 1937: Woman in Spanish Dress (drawing) USD 150
Paris, 4 June 1937: Girl in Blue (watercolour) FRF 2,500
Paris, 9 June 1938: Woman Lifting her Skirt (watercolour) FRF 6,100
Paris, 5 Dec 1940: Dancer Resting (watercolour) FRF 6,000; Barouche (watercolour) FRF 30,100; Halted Mail-coach (watercolour) FRF 24,100
Paris, 4 Dec 1941: Guardroom at Nuremberg (watercolour) FRF 35,000
Paris, 20 March 1944: Two Courtesans (Indian ink wash, with a lead pencil sketch on the back) FRF 6,000; Courtesan with a Yellow Scarf (watercolour) FRF 41,000
New York, 30 March 1944: Barouche (drawing) USD 270
New York, 10-13 May 1944: Woman with a Feathered Hat, USD 800
Paris, 8 Dec 1944: Cavalry Regiment (wash) FRF 21,100
Paris, 8 Feb 1945: In the Woods (watercolour wash) FRF 75,000
Paris, 5 March 1945: The Conversation (wash) FRF 30,000
Paris, Oct 1945-July 1946: Courtesan from Behind (watercolour) FRF 32,000; Start of the Race (watercolour) FRF 65,000
Paris, 3 Dec 1957: Manolas (watercolour) FRF 510,000
London, 11 Dec 1957: Woman of Fashion Driving a Team of Horses (pen and bistre wash) GBP 110
New York, 13 May 1959: In the Foyer (pen and Indian ink wash) USD 2,700
Paris, 1 Dec 1959: Papal Coach (drawing with watercolour) FRF 330,000
Paris, 29 March 1960: Girls (pen and wash) FRF 2,500
Paris, 17 June 1960: Barouche and Horseman in the Woods (wash and Indian ink) FRF 4,250
London, 7 July 1960: Young Woman in a Blue-black Dress (watercolour) GBP 720
New York, 30 Nov 1960: At the Bois de Boulogne (pencil and watercolour) USD 400
Paris, 9 Dec 1960: Woman Rider and Dandy at Hyde Park (watercolour) FRF 13,000
Paris, 9 March 1961: Outing in a Barouche (pen and wash) FRF 3,000
New York, 23 March 1961: At the Ball (ink and watercolour) USD 1,400
Paris, 3 Dec 1964: Young Woman with a Fan (watercolour) FRF 24,000
Paris, 10 Dec 1966: Barouche (watercolour) FRF 25,000
London, 3 July 1969: Terrace; Portrait of a Woman (verso) (watercolour, pen and wash, pencil) GBP 2,200
New York, 13 May 1970: Pierreuse (watercolour) USD 2,000
New York, 5 May 1971: Washerwoman (watercolour) USD 2,200
Paris, 27 May 1972: Family Outing (watercolour) FRF 14,600
London, 4 April 1974: They Rush to the Rendezvous, GBP 3,800
Paris, 5 June 1974: The Visit (pen and wash) FRF 5,000
New York, 27 Feb 1976: Woman from Behind (watercolour, 11½ × 9 ins/29 × 23 cm) USD 1,000
London, 9 April 1976: Two Women of Fashion (drawing, 13 × 9 ins/33 × 23 cm) GBP 280
Paris, 22 Nov 1977: At the Salon (watercolour, 8 × 12 ins/20.5 × 30.5 cm) FRF 12,000
Paris, 22 March 1979: Young Women of Fashion in a Barouche (sepia wash/outlines in pen and ink, 5½ × 7¾ ins/14 × 19.5 cm) FRF 17,000
Paris, 10 Dec 1981: Gentleman and Ladies on Horseback in the Woods (sepia, 9½ × 14¼ ins/24 × 36.5 cm) FRF 28,000
Paris, 10 Dec 1981: Courtesan with a Yellow Scarf (watercolour and pen, 10¼ × 7¾ ins/26 × 19.5 cm) FRF 32,000
Paris, 22 Feb 1984: Procession (watercolour, 7 × 11½ ins/18 × 29 cm) FRF 26,000
Paris, 22 Feb 1984: Procession (watercolour, 7 × 11½ ins/18 × 29 cm) FRF 26,000
New York, 1 March 1984: Woman in a Blue Crinoline (pen and coloured wash, 10 × 8½ ins/25.7 × 21.9 cm) USD 2,800
Paris, 14 Dec 1987: Two Women in Bonnets (watercolour and pen, 8 × 7¼ ins/20.5 × 18.5 cm) FRF 30,000
Paris, 14 Dec 1987: Two Women in Bonnets (watercolour and pen, 8 × 7¼ ins/20.5 × 18.5 cm) FRF 30,000
Paris, 22 March 1988: Barouche (pen and Indian ink wash, 7¼ × 10¾ ins/18.5 × 27.5 cm) FRF 16,000
Paris, 30 June 1989: Barouche (pen and Indian ink heightened with watercolour, 8 × 13 ins/20.2 × 33 cm) FRF 41,000
Le Touquet, 12 Nov 1989: Courtesan (Indian ink wash, 7½ × 5 ins/19 × 13 cm) FRF 10,000
Versailles, 19 Nov 1989: General and his Staff (wash, 9 × 12½ ins/23 × 32 cm) FRF 36,500
Paris, 22 Nov 1989: Outing in the Woods (ink wash and watercolour, 10 × 15¼ ins/25.5 × 39 cm) FRF 90,000
Monaco, 15 June 1990: At the Exhibition (ink and wash, 4½ × 7 ins/11.3 × 17.5 cm) FRF 24,420
New York, 19 July 1990: Portrait of a Lady (watercolour and ink/paper, 11½ × 16½ ins/29.5 × 42 cm) USD 660
Paris, 29 Nov 1990: Carriage Ride (Indian ink wash and watercolour, 10 × 15½ ins/25.5 × 39.5 cm) FRF 42,000
Paris, 24 Jan 1991: Young Woman with a Muff (watercolour, 7¾ × 6 ins/19.5 × 15.1 cm) FRF 25,000
Paris, 3 April 1992: Young Woman at the Cabaret Raising her Skirt (watercolour and wash, 9 × 7¼ ins/23 × 18.4 cm) FRF 30,500
Paris, 22 May 1992: At the Ball (coloured ink wash, 11 × 7¾ ins/28 × 20 cm) FRF 74,500
Monaco, 2 July 1993: The Bal de l'Opéra (watercolour and pen, 11 × 7¾ ins/28 × 19.8 cm) FRF 111,000
London, 1 Oct 1993: Three Cavalry Officers (brown and blue wash/blue paper, 6½ × 6½ ins/16.5 × 16.5 cm) GBP 1,150
New York, 15 Oct 1993: Cavalrymen (watercolour and ink/paper/paper, 4¼ × 7¼ ins/10.8 × 18.3 cm) USD 3,450
Montreal, 23-24 Nov 1993: Barouche (wash, 6¾ × 10¼ ins/17 × 26 cm) CAD 3,800
Paris, 25 Nov 1993: Brothel Interior (grey wash and lead pencil, 8¼ × 7 ins/21 × 17.7 cm) FRF 6,500
Paris, 25 March 1994: Two Spanish Women on an Outing (watercolour and Indian ink, 10¾ × 8½ ins/27.5 × 21.5 cm) FRF 35,000
New York, 20 July 1994: Handsome Team of Horses (watercolour/paper/paper, 6½ × 13¼ ins/16.5 × 33.7 cm) USD 4,025
Amsterdam, 7 Nov 1995: Box at the Opera (ink and wash, 3¾ × 3 ins/9.5 × 7.5 cm) NLG 2,360
Paris, 15 Dec 1995: Barouche (Indian ink heightened with blue watercolour, 8 × 13 ins/20.2 × 33 cm) FRF 53,000
Paris, 22 May 1996: Soldier and Woman of Fashion (wash and Indian ink, drawing, 6¾ × 5 ins/17 × 13 cm) FRF 8,200
New York, 23 May 1996: Rushing to the Rendezvous (pencil and ink/brown paper, 9½ × 7 ins/24.1 × 17.8 cm) USD 4,600
London, 31 Oct 1996: The Box (pen, pastel and black ink, 5¾ × 10¼ ins/14.5 × 26 cm) GBP 2,300
Paris, 10 March 1997: Outing in a Barouche (watercolour wash, 8¼ × 11¾ ins/21 × 30 cm) FRF 8,000
Paris, 11 June 1997: Gala Carriage in a London Street (pen and Indian ink wash, 8¾ × 6¾ ins/22.5 × 17 cm) FRF 26,000
Zurich, 18 Nov 1997: HM Queen Victoria Arriving at Buckingham Palace (watercolour, 9 × 15 ins/22 × 38 cm) CHF 8,000
Paris, 18 May 1999: The Cabriolet (watercolour, colour ink, 5 × 9 ins/13 × 23 cm) FRF 22,000
Paris, 31 March 2000: Entrance to the Concert (watercolour and pen, 9 × 7 ins/22 × 18 cm) FRF 130,000
Paris, 22 Nov 2000: Two Girls Dancing in a Tavern (pen, black ink, grey wash, black crayon, 11 × 17 ins/28 × 44 cm) FRF 27,000
London, 27 April 2001: Couple in a Box at the Theatre (watercolour over pencil, 10 × 9 ins/26 × 23 cm) GBP 4,500
London, 10 July 2001: Elegant Company at a Ball. Two Elegant Couples Walking in Winter (pencil, pen, ink, watercolour, a pair, 11 × 7 ins/27 × 19 cm) GBP 9,000
London, 7 Feb 2002: Woman on the Balcony of a Lodge (c. 1865, 7 × 7 ins/18 × 17 cm) GBP 3,200
Paris, 22 March 2002: Gala Sedan in London (watercolour, pen, ink, crayon, 7 × 10 ins/18 × 26 cm) EUR 5,800
Paris, 24 March 2003: Meeting during a Walk (watercolour, pen, ink, 9 × 14 ins/22 × 35 cm) EUR 6,000
Paris, 24 March 2003: Barouche (watercolour, pen, ink over crayon, 8 × 12 ins/20 × 30 cm) EUR 7,500
Paris, 19 March 2004: Figures in a Lodge (pen, brown ink, violet wash, 9 × 13 ins/24 × 34 cm) EUR 3,200
Bibliography
Geffroy, Gustave: Constantin Guys, l'historien du Second Empire, Gallimard, Paris, 1906.
Geffroy, Gustave: Constantin Guys: L'Historien du Second Empire, Les Editions G. Cres et C., Paris, 1915.
Baudelaire, Charles/Charvet, P.E. (introduction): Constantin Guys, le peintre de la vie moderne, Kieffer, Paris, 1923.
Browse, Lillian (ed.)/Hall, Clifford (introduction): Constantin Guys, Ariel Books on the Arts published for the Shenval press by Faber and Faber Ltd, London, 1945.
Jamar-Rolin, L.: ‘La Vie de Guys et la Chronologie de son Oeuvre: Faits et Propositions’ in Gazette des Beaux-arts, vol xliii, July 1956.
Streiff, Bruno: Catalogue des dessins de Constantin Guys, Mermod, Lausanne, 1957.
Baudelaire, Charles: ‘The Painter of Modern Life’ in Baudelaire: Selected Writings on Art and Artists, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1972 ( translated from the original French published in 1863).
Smith, K.W.: The Crimean War Drawings of Constantin Guys, exhibition catalogue, Ohio Museum of Art, Cleveland, 1978.
Piersanti, Gilda (introduction and notes): Constantin Guys: Il Pillore della Vita Moderna, Palazzo Braschi, Rome, 1980.
Oliver Mills, Kathryn: ‘'Le Peintre de la Vie Moderne' Reconsidered: The Albatross Takes Flight’ in Romance Quarterly, 2000.
Les Dessins de Constantin Guys, exhibition catalogue, musée de la Vie romantique, Paris musées, Paris, 2002.
Exposition Constantin Guys: Fleurs du Mal, Paris Museés, Paris, 2003.
