Eros Hugo

Victor Hugo was at the same time reserved and excessive: reserved when he glorified idyllic, “pure” and almost “chaste” love, from Cosette to Déa, and when he voluntarily rejected, in his posthumous work, poems written for his mistresses that were sometimes very risqué. He was excessive, meanwhile, when he gave free reign to the vital force of the god Eros. The exhibition aims to follow this theme chronologically through his life and work. To do this, collections of Hugo’s works will be displayed alongside corresponding collections from the same era (on noir fiction, orientalism, the world of courtesans and actresses, prostitution, the illustrations of bacchantes, satyrs etc.). At the same time, brief, suggestive evocations of 19th century eroticism at certain points show that Hugo never got involved in such matters. The exhibition will display works by Boulanger, Cabanel, Chassériau, Corot, Courbet, Daumier, Delacroix, Vivant Denon, Achille Devéria, Gavarni, Constantin Guys, Ingres, Victor Hugo, Pradier, Rodin and others. CURATOR: Vincent Gille, Head of Documentary Studies at Victor Hugo’s House#ErosHugo