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Constantin Guys

A Grisette

Maker

Constantin Guys (French, 1802-1892)

Title

A Grisette

Year

ca. 1859

Medium

  • Pen and ink with ink and watercolor washes on wove paper

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Pen and ink with ink and watercolor washes on wove paper

Materials

ink, watercolor

Supports

  • White wove paper

Dimensions

17.5 x 22.5 cm (6 7/8 x 8 7/8 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke

Object Number

21.344

Type

  • Drawings and Watercolors

Publications

  • Books

Selection V: French Watercolors and Drawings, ca. 1800-1910

French watercolors and drawings from the Museum's collection, ca. 1800-1910

Exhibition History

From Dürer to Van Gogh
Gifts from Eliza Greene Radeke and Helen Metcalf Danforth
Jun 05, 2008 – Oct 26, 2008

Label copy

Constantin Guys captured the changing urban environment in the decades before the Impressionists took the bourgeoisie as their primary subject matter. The term "grisette" originally referred to the dress made of gray fabric worn by lower-class working women in early 19th-century Paris. Later in the century, the term came to embody a young, pretty, independent, and flirtatious working woman who was often a participant in the bohemian lifestyle of the Latin Quarter. The young woman depicted here, having moved far beyond the plain gray dress after which she was named, wears a fancy, full skirt that proclaims her new social identity, free from the confines of birthplace or family origins.

Master Drawing from the Museum and a Private Collection
Jun 19, 1946 – Oct 27, 1946

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Constantin Guys (French, 1802-1892)
A Grisette, ca. 1859
Pen and ink with ink and watercolor washes on wove paper
17.5 x 22.5 cm (6 7/8 x 8 7/8 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke 21.344

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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