Maison Victor Hugo
Dessins de mer et d'océan
Maison de Victor Hugo, 6 Place des Vosges, 75004, 01.42.72.10.16.
Until 5 march 2006.
Victor Hugo drew his navy as it
wove his poetries. With heat, delight and depth. The Master
of the literature was an impassioned draughtsman, handling the brush
with a true talent. More than 3500 drawings, gouaches,
watercolours, charcoals, inks, are listed in the work of the father of
the Misérables, making of him a visual artist with whole
share. Presented in its house museum of the Place des Vosges,
this exhibition is devoted to the sea. Entitled "This immense
dream of the ocean, landscapes of seas and other subjects marine", it
gathers 70 original drawings coupled to texts of the author, of which
certain resulting from famous Travailleurs of the Sea. The
majority of them were seized during the exile of the writer in the
island of Guernesey, between 1851 and 1870. This sad period when
France was prohibited to him will see born several masterpieces of
works of which Contemplations, les Misérables and Workers of the
Sea. This last work will be delivered to the editor with 30
original drawings, testimonies on the sharp one of this ocean unchained
which captivated the long periods of loneliness of Hugo, in front of
the sea on this insulated island. Few characters live these
drawings of which some dilute the real figuration with the benefit of a
spontaneous impressionism. Feverish waves or calms, howling
scums, the spectacle forces admiration by the evocative power whose one
guesses the undeniable influence on the colorful mind of the artist.