Woman with a Parasol Gm-24605701

Constantin Guys (French, 1802–1892) Having undertaken the task of seeking and explaining beauty in modernity, Monsieur G., enjoys depicting women in all their finery, their beauty enhanced by every kind of artifice...
--Charles Baudelaire, The Painter of Modern Life, c.1860

A fashionably dressed woman promenades through one of Paris' many parks. Protecting herself from the sun, she holds a small blue parasol and wears a bonnet. Touches of white--her gloves, sleeves, and flowing scarf--offset her blue and purple ensemble. Between her billowy sleeves and her gloves, the woman displays golden jewelry. She demurely reaches down with her left hand to hold up her voluminous dress. This mass of material contrasts sharply with her small head and single foot peaking out from below.

The woman's immense dress would have been supported by an elaborate structure of crinolines or stiffened petticoats. Constantin Guys produced this drawing at the height of fashion for crinolines and full skirts. To suggest many layers of thin fabric, Guys built up layer upon layer of wash and repeating triangles drawn in ink. Guys' attention to contemporary fashion and make-up made him Charles Baudelaire's quintessential painter of modern life. But Baudelaire championed "Monsieur G" not merely for conveying appearances and artifice. For Baudelaire, Guys' watercolors and drawings not only captured his subjects in the present moment, but also imbued them with a look of timelessness, elevating them to the status of historical figures.

We make each of our prints one at a time—just for you.

Our Giclée Prints are printed here in Switzerland, one at a time, on heavy matte German art paper using the finest 12-color Canon archival inks. Some images are panoramic or tall and narrow—please select the 18" x 36" format for these.

Our Premium Museum Frame in Black is custom-made in Lugano, Switzerland, using natural wood moulding in a matte black satin finish. Each includes thick, hand-cut white mat boards and Plexiglass glazing. We tailor and print each image to fit its specific ratio and dimensions within our custom-made frames. The hand-cut mats are extra thick. Each bespoke museum frame ships in a custom box. Rush shipping is available for projects with tight deadlines—this is our specialty, and you will not be disappointed.

Our Antiqued Museum Frame in Gold is a high-quality frame made of solid wood, featuring traditional 19th-century cast plaster moulded details and closed corners. These frames are works of art in themselves, each with a unique patina. The hand-rubbed corners and gold finish evoke the elegance of times past. Your selected image is printed on German art paper with archival inks and mounted to quality art board within the frame. Plexiglass is added for print protection and the back is covered with Kraft paper and a hanger is supplied ready to hang..

Our Stretched Canvas prints are hand-stretched over 1.25" thick pine bars and printed with archival inks on a cotton-poly matte finish canvas. These are best-in-industry Swiss-quality canvases, hand-coated for UV protection.

Wall Murals are printed on a matte-finish, self-adhesive poly/fabric material that mounts easily and is ideal for smooth wall surfaces.

Our Note Cards are amazing—each is printed individually on 100% cotton art paper, comes with a kraft envelope, and is individually sleeved. (Image is scaled to fit the format.)

All of our images are digitized from the original negative or print and printed by our master printer to museum standards.

Questions? Please email service@archivea.com or call/text +41 79 265 8891.

Artwork in this collection is from The J. Paul Getty Museum. Reproduction rights are reserved by the copyright owner and used under license by Archivea GmbH.