The House of Victor Hugo celebrates its 120th anniversary with an exhibition from 10 May to 3 September 2023.

Through more than 230 works, it is an opportunity to look at these collections and the way they have been completed over the years…

A unique place

MAISON DE VICTOR HUGO is a unique place to discover the great man and to become familiar with his work.

It was Paul Meurice, his faithful friend, who had the innovative idea of creating this museum on Victor Hugo’s centenary in 1902. The project was supported by the Hugo family.

The Maison de Victor Hugo is not only the first monographic museum, but also the first literary museum.

The incredibly rich collections include drawings by Victor Hugo, memorabilia and furniture sometimes created by Hugo himself, works illustrating his writings, photographs, paintings, sculptures, prints, manuscripts, archives and a library, the diversity, quality, and the spirit of which are shown here.

Exhibition – anniversary

An exhibition in four parts

More than 230 works are displayed on the two floors of the museum. In four parts, the museum pays tribute to Paul Meurice and to the descendants of Victor Hugo.

The journalist, novelist, and playwright Paul Meurice (1818-1905) met Victor Hugo in 1836 and became one of his closest friends.

Hugo in images

Paul Meurice was the master of illustrated editions of Victor Hugo’s writings. To form the initial core of the collection, he gathered preparatory drawings or paintings, numerous test prints of the engravings and a virtually complete collection of these editions.

To give this collection more strength and to compensate for the dispersion of the works inspired by Hugo throughout the 19th century, he also commissioned works from famous artists of the time.

Three of the writer’s most emblematic works, Notre-Dame de Paris, Les Burgraves and Les Misérables, are on display.

Notre-Dame de Paris was published in 1831. It was a huge success, and the novel immediately attracted the attention of painters. Illustrated editions and adaptations followed one another throughout the 19th century until today.

LES BURGRAVES was first performed at the Comédie-Française in March 1843. It seems to reflect a new inflection in Hugo’s theatre.

LES MISÉRABLES, published in 1862 in Brussels and Paris. The success was enormous, and the work remains Victor Hugo’s most famous. It has never ceased to inspire illustrators, painters, and sculptors… Film adaptations and musicals have followed one another around the world.

The museum holds over 10,000 prints. This collection, centered around Victor Hugo, bears witness to the great diversity and enormous production of the press and illustrated publishing in the 19th century, as well as the creations of great artists.

Openness to the works of the 20th and 21st centuries

The work of two artists bear witness to this openness to the works of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The Austrian artist Arnulf Rainer, a major figure on the contemporary art scene, built his work based on expressionism and informal art.

In 1998, he began to work with drawings by Victor Hugo, following this principle. He enlarges details, reverses certain images, accompanies, and transforms Hugo’s gesture.

Victor Hugo remains a constant source of inspiration for the artist Julius Baltazar.

In these abstract paintings, Julius Baltazar stands on the edge of allusion through titles that evoke Les Travailleurs de la mer, suggesting an abstract marine landscape, streaked with ink lines that are like a metaphor for writing.

Jean Hugo’s major contribution

The anniversary exhibition highlights the essential role of Victor Hugo’s great-grandson. Jean Hugo is one of the major donors to the museum, either in his own name or in association with family members.

Jean Hugo played a decisive role in building up the collection of manuscripts that had been left out of Paul Meurice’s project.

Thanks to him, from 1950 to 1981, a considerable number of letters, archives, and manuscripts from the various members of the Hugo family entered the museum, leading to other important donations. There are more than three hundred letters from Hugo to members of his family and hundreds of replies.

Exclusive interview

with

Gérard Audinet

This exhibition is directed by Gérard Audinet, the current director of the Maison de Victor Hugo. There have been seven directors since its opening in 1903.

Could you explain your inspiration for this anniversary exhibition?

Our wish for this exhibition is twofold. Firstly, to show the great diversity of our collection and to show how it has happily complemented each other over time. The public can see how the works of Victor Hugo have inspired artists from their creation to the present day.

As far as the tour is concerned, we wanted each section to have a different atmosphere, in order to bring out the richness and diversity of the works.

It’s important to us to show that a museum is not static, but continues to evolve and grow, while remaining true to the vision set out by Paul Meurice, the museum’s founder. The way in which he originally conceived it, illustrating all aspects of Victor Hugo – the writer, the artist and the man – meant that it was destined to be a real museum and not just a place of memory closed to remembrance.

MAISON DE VICTOR HUGO

6 Pl. des Vosges, 75004 Paris

For more information:

https://www.maisonsvictorhugo.paris.fr