Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Men and Women Meeting in a Foyer

Constantin Guys
1805-1892

Men and Women Meeting in a Foyer

ca. 1860
7 7/8 x 9 1/2 inches (200 x 245 mm)
Brush and brown wash, on paper.
1988.21

Gift of the Christian Humann Foundation.

Notes
The artist's fame stems from his sketches of Parisian society, for which Baudelaire dubbed him “the Painter of Modern Life” in the pages of Le Figaro (1863). Widely traveled and a regular contributor to the growing corpus of illustrated journals such as Illustrated London News and Punch, he worked swiftly and captured the sense of movement synonymous with modern urban life.
This group of figures appears to be gathered in the foyer of a theater or cabaret, judging from the row of gas lamps along the upper margin. The women wear small bonnets, one a cape, the other a jacket, over voluminous crinolines, a stiff underskirt introduced in 1855 and unfashionable by 1867. They speak to two men in top hats, while a third seems indifferent to their presence; other similarly attired men mill about and walk through the background.
The backing board bears a sticker from Nadar at 48 rue Bassano, Paris. Nadar was the shop of Paul Nadar, son of the photographer Adrien Nadar, and a nephew of famed Felix Nadar (born Gaspard-Felix Tournachon), who was the first in the family to use the pseudonym 'Nadar.' Adrien Nadar was a close friend of Guys.
Associated names
Humann, Christian, 1929-1981, former owner.
Bibliography
Galerie Charpentier, Exposition Rétrospective Constantin Guys: Cinquantenaire, M CM XLIII.
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Department