Victor Marie Hugo (1802-1885) was not only one of France's greatest poet, novelist and dramatist, but also a prolific artist, painter, watercolourist, draughtsman and caricaturist.
Victor Hugo produced more than 4000 drawings. Originally pursued as a casual hobby, drawing became more important to Hugo shortly before his exile, when he made the decision to stop writing in order to devote himself to politics. Drawing became his exclusive creative outlet during the period 1848-1851.
Hugo worked only on paper, and on a small scale; usually in dark brown or black pen-and-ink wash, sometimes with touches of white, and rarely with color. The surviving drawings are surprisingly accomplished and "modern" in their style and execution, foreshadowing the experimental techniques of Surrealism🎨 and Abstract Expressionism.
He kept his artwork out of the public eye, fearing it would overshadow his literary work. However, he enjoyed sharing his drawings with his family and friends, often in the form of ornately handmade calling cards, many of which were given as gifts to visitors when he was in political exile.
Some of his work was shown to, and appreciated by, contemporary artists such as Van Gogh🎨 and Delacroix🎨; the latter expressed the opinion that if Hugo had decided to become a painter instead of a writer, he would have outshone the artists of their century.
Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) Buste de Victor Hugo
Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) Buste de Victor Hugo
Auguste Rodin | Portrait of Victor Hugo
Auguste Rodin🎨 | Marble bust of Victor Hugo
Auguste Rodin🎨 | Monument to Victor Hugo (First Project), 1890
Auguste Rodin | Victor Hugo De Face
Emile Bayard | Cosette sweeping Les miserables, 1862
Honoré Daumier (1808-1879) Victor Hugo, 1849
Photogravure of Victor Hugo, 1883
Victor Hugo by Étienne Carjat, 1876
Victor Hugo by Étienne Carjat, 1876
Victor-Marie Hugo è stato uno scrittore, poeta, drammaturgo e politico francese, considerato il padre del Romanticismo in Francia.
Non bisogna dimenticare, nella vasta produzione di Victor Hugo, i suoi disegni: egli è un autodidatta e non esita a sperimentare nuove tecniche e nuovi ingredienti, dall'inchiostro al caffè, al carbone, usando anche fiammiferi e piume al posto dei pennelli.
Generalmente le sue opere sono di media taglia e servono nella maggior parte dei casi a illustrare i suoi scritti, oppure come regali da inviare agli amici in ricorrenze speciali. Quest'arte è per lui principalmente un passatempo.
Inizialmente i suoi lavori sono nettamente realistici, salvo poi acquisire una dimensione più fantastica con l'esilio e il suo confronto "mistico" con il mare.
Questa sua tendenza gli varrà molte lodi: Charles Baudelaire ebbe a dire:
«Je n'ai pas trouvé chez les exposants du Salon la magnifique imagination qui coule dans les dessins de Victor Hugo comme le mystère dans le ciel. Je parle de ses dessins à l'encre de Chine, car il est trop évident qu'en poésie, notre poète est le roi des paysagistes».
(IT)
«Non ho trovato presso gli espositori del Salone la magnifica immaginazione che cola dai disegni di Victor Hugo come il mistero dal cielo. Parlo dei suoi disegni a china, perché è fin troppo evidente che, in poesia, il nostro poeta è il re dei paesaggisti».
Victor Hugo, c.1884
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