Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo ★★★★ Royal Academy of Arts | Mar 21 - Jun 29, 2025


If previously you've only thought of Victor Hugo as a writer, this exhibition demonstrates that there is a great deal more to the celebrated creator of Les Misérables. As well as being a highly successful author, and a politician of deep conviction, Hugo was also a talented and intriguing artist, and this opportunity to see some forty of his almost two thousand drawings is a not-to-be-missed occasion. Divided into four sections (Writing & Drawing, Observation & Imagination, Fantasy & Reality, Ocean) the exhibition shows that Hugo's originality and dramatic sense were not confined to his novels and poetry. With its cunning perspective and tantalising implications, a work such as The Town of Vianden Seen Through a Spider's Web (1871) recalls a tale by Edgar Allan Poe, while The Shade of the Manchineel Tree (Notes from a Trip to the Pyrenees and Spain) (1856) with its eerie skull, has an equally wonderful Gothic feel. The enigmatic Mushroom (1850) which almost prefigures the destruction of a nuclear explosion is utterly haunting, and the octopus inks with their ominous science-fiction quality are quite unforgettable. These darker works are balanced, however, by the humour displayed in such caricatures as The Art Lover (1834), and by the artist's almost child-like fascination with castles. This becomes the stuff of fairy tales. And then, we have the curious psychological explorations. There is an almost Rorschach quality to pieces like Tache on Folded Paper, Retouched with a Pen (1850-57). All in all, Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo gives the viewer much to explore and consider. This is a superb small exhibition that thoughtfully displays the work of a multi-talented artist who possessed an extraordinary and intriguing imagination.

Rated: ★★★★

Reviewed by J.C.
Image: Victor Hugo, The cheerful castle, c. 1847. Maisons de Victor Hugo, Paris / Guernsey. Photo: CCØ Paris Musées / Maison de Victor Hugo

When, Where, Getting there:
Map & Location: Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD, UK

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