Beyond his careers as a statesman and a celebrated novelist—writing such classics as "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame" and "Les Misérables"—Hugo was an innovative draftsman, although he kept his drawing practice private. He made many of his drawings, including this one, during his almost twenty-year exile from France on Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, following Napoleon III’s 1851 coup-d’état, which he vocally opposed. On this sheet, Hugo obtained the outline of the castle using a cut-paper stencil, transforming it with his pen and layers of moody wash and atmospheric gouache to evoke a memory from the Vosges Mountains of eastern France.
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Title:Souvenir of a Castle in Vosges
Artist:Victor Hugo (French, Besançon 1802–1885 Paris)
Date:1857
Medium:Brush and iron gall washes, pen and iron gall ink, white gouache; outline of castle obtained by using a paper stencil
Dimensions:sheet: 18 1/2 x 12 3/16 in. (47 x 31 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Purchase, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, Donald Young Foundation Gift, Harry G. Sperling Fund, and Mr. and Mrs. David M. Tobey Gift, 2012
Accession Number:2012.17
Signature: At lower left: “Victor Hugo/Guernesey 1857”
Inscription: At bottom center: “Souvenir d’un burg des Vosges.” (Memory of a castle in the Vosges)
Vendor: Eric Gillis
Galerie Charpentier. "L'Aquarelle Romantique et Contemporaine," 1944.
Maison de Victor Hugo. "Dessins de Victor Hugo," June 1971–October 1971.
Musée Victor Hugo. "Dessins de Victor Hugo," November 1971–January 1972.
Victoria and Albert Museum. "Drawings by Victor Hugo," 1974.
Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux Arts de la Ville de Paris. "Soleil d'Encre: Manuscripts et Dessins de Victor Hugo," October 3, 1985–January 5, 1986.
Bibliothèque nationale de France. "Victor Hugo, l'homme océan," March 20, 2002–June 23, 2002.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," August 27–November 18, 2013.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paper Chase: Two Decades of Collecting Drawings and Prints," December 9, 2014–March 16, 2015.
Hammer Museum. "Stones and Stains: The Drawings of Victor Hugo," September 23, 2018–December 30, 2018.
Benjamin Péret Minotaure "Ruines: ruine des ruines". Albert Skira, nos. 12-13, Paris, May 1939, p. 58, ill.
Galerie Charpentier L'Aquarelle romantique et contemporaine. Paris, 1944, cat. no. 160, ill.
Gaëtan Picon, Roger Cornaille, Georges Herscher Victor Hugo dessinateur. Paris, 1963, cat. no. 127, pp. 89, 121, ill.
Pierre Georgel, Maison de Victor Hugo Dessins de Victor Hugo. Paris, 1971, cat. no. 108, pp. 170-171, ill.
Pierre Georgel, Victoria and Albert Museum Drawings by Victor Hugo. London, 1974, cat. no. 53, ill.
Jacqueline Lafargue Victor Hugo: dessins et lavis. Paris, 1983, p. 121, ill.
Judith Petit, Roger Pierrot, Marie-Laure Prévost, Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux Arts de la Ville de Paris Soleil d'encre: manuscripts et dessins du Victor Hugo. Paris, 1985, cat. no. 181, pp. 136-149, ill.
Marie-Laure Prévost, Bibliothèque nationale de France Victor Hugo, l'homme océan. Paris, 2002, cat. no. 163, p. 205, ill.
Constance C. McPhee et al. "Recent Acquisitions, A Selection: 2010-2012." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 70, no. 2, Fall 2012, pp. 58-59, ill.
Cynthia Burlingham, Allegra Pesenti, Florian Rodari, Hammer Museum Stones to Stains: The Drawings of Victor Hugo. DelMonico Books, Los Angeles, CA, 2018, pp. 84, ill.
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