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| Constantin Guys Young Woman with Blue & Black Dress c. 1863 Metropolitan Museum |
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| Constantin Guys Parisian Woman seen from the Back 1850s Metropolitan Museum |
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| Constantin Guys Woman with Parasol c. 1860-65 Getty |
Constantin Guys (1802-1892) was the favorite living artist of Charles Baudelaire, whose reputation as an art critic was (and remains) formidable. Baudelaire could have chosen Manet or Delacroix instead, but it turns out that they too were huge fans of the cosmopolitan Guys. He was born in the Netherlands and traveled the world in his youth as journalist-illustrator, later settling for long periods in Paris and in London. Both magazines and collectors were keen for his seemingly casual drawings. More than Delacroix, even more than Manet, Guys was perceived as a guide to the new rootless urban superficial fashionable life in the streets. On the other hand, he never became a full-fledged art star, courted by museums, as many of the orthodox easel-style Romantics and Impressionists would be. Thus, Manet and Delacroix are still highly admired, while Guys seems chiefly to be remembered for the sake of Baudelaire.
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| Constantin Guys Woman in Tiered Gown 19th century Metropolitan Museum |
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| Constantin Guys Two Grisettes 19th century Metropolitan Museum (gift of Louisine Havemeyer) |
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| Constantin Guys Two Women with Fans 19th century Metropolitan Museum (gift of Louisine Havemeyer) |
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| Constantin Guys Leaving the Theatre 19th century Metropolitan Museum |
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| Constantin Guys Women in Carriage 19th century Morgan Library |
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| Constantin Guys Coachmen 19th century National Gallery of Art (U.S.) |
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| Constantin Guys The Brighton Coach 19th century National Gallery of Art (U.S.) |
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| Constantin Guys A Carriage in London c. 1848-56 Metropolitan Museum |
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| Constantin Guys Promenade in the Bois 19th century National Gallery of Art (U.S.) |
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| Constantin Guys Officers in a Brothel 19th century National Gallery of Art (U.S.) |
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| Constantin Guys Women Dancing in a Brothel c. 1865 Metropolitan Museum |