An Open Carriage 

Constantin Guys made "An Open Carriage" using pen and brown wash on paper. Guys worked as a war correspondent, and this drawing feels like a dispatch from the front lines of fashionable society. The thinness of the lines suggests that he was working quickly, capturing a fleeting moment. The brown wash gives depth to the figures and animals, while the paper itself provides the highlights. The grainy surface and muted tones feel very much of their time, before the advent of photography changed our sense of immediacy. The subject matter is telling. The carriage and horses speak to the economic divide of 19th century Paris. The amount of labor required to keep such a conveyance in motion – from grooms to stable hands to carriage makers – is immense. This drawing may seem like a simple snapshot, but it's really a window into the social structures of its day. By considering the materials and subject of this drawing, we can understand its historical context more fully.