Astonishing things : the drawings of Victor Hugo /
"Novelist, poet and politician Victor Hugo was a towering figure of 19th-century French society, both in the realm of politics and popular culture. His speeches, poems, prose and other writings became rallying points for the French Republic's ideals of equality and freedom. While living in...
| Other Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
London :
Royal Academy of Arts,
[2025]
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | "Novelist, poet and politician Victor Hugo was a towering figure of 19th-century French society, both in the realm of politics and popular culture. His speeches, poems, prose and other writings became rallying points for the French Republic's ideals of equality and freedom. While living in exile from 1851 to 1870, he wrote some of his most famous works and simultaneously pursued his passion for drawing. Hugo created over 4,000 drawings during his lifetime, 3,000 of which survive today. His ink-and-wash visions of imaginary castles, monsters, tortured figures and seascapes may be less well known than his writings, but they inspired Romantic and Symbolist poets and several generations of artists up to the Surrealists of the 1920s; Vincent van Gogh once compared them to 'astonishing things.' This richly illustrated book-published by the Royal Academy of Arts in collaboration with Maison de Victor Hugo and the Bibliothèque nationale de France-includes reproductions of many of Hugo's finest works on paper, from early caricatures and travel drawings to dramatic landscapes and experiments in abstraction. Born in Besançon, France, Victor Hugo (1802-85) wrote novels, plays, poetry, essays and more in a literary career spanning 60 years. In 1848 he was elected to the National Assembly of the Second Republic, launching a tumultuous political career in which he advocated for an end to slavery, capital punishment and absolute monarchy. He is best known for his novels The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables"-- "Victor Hugo (1802-1885) was a leading public figure in 19th-century France. His books Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame were printed worldwide. As both a poet and a politician, during his nearly twenty-year exile in the Channel Islands, he came to symbolise the ideals of the French republic: equality and freedom. In private, his refuge was drawing. Hugo's ink and wash visions of imaginary castles, monsters and seascapes are as poetic as his writing. His works inspired Romantic and Symbolist poets, and many artists including the Surrealists. Vincent van Gogh compared them to "astonishing things". This exhibition follows Hugo's preoccupation with drawing, from his early caricatures and travel drawings to his dramatic landscapes and his experiments with abstraction. It features some of his finest works on paper, which are rarely on public display and were last seen in the UK over 50 years ago."--Royal Academy of Arts website. |
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| Item Description: | "First published on the occasion of the exhibition Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 21 March - 29 June 2025. Exhibition organised by the Royal Academy of Arts in collaboration with Paris Musées--Maisons de Victor Hugo and the Bibliothèque nationale de France." |
| Physical Description: | 169 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 164-165) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781915815118 1915815118 |