Hugo, Victor. (1802 - 1885)
Original drawing with watercolor wash entitled, "Paysage Urbain".
(c. 1850). 11.5 x 6.3 cm. A small ink drawing with watercolor wash on paper signed “V. Hugo” depicting a cityscape with a river in the foreground and a looming cathedral.Hugo was widely recognized as a talented visual artist even during his lifetime, usually drawing during bouts of writer's block. His work prefigures both Impressionism and Symbolism: it is highly probable that he would have been familiar with the work of J.M.W. Turner, having spent a good deal of time in England, and only Turner created such Impressionistic work so far in advance of the movement proper. Other aspects of Hugo's work are highly suggestive of the subject matter and mise en scène of the Symbolist Movement, providing a link between the later Goya and figures like Odilon Redon, Edvard Munch, and James Ensor. The present is a particularly beautiful and evocative work, capturing the strangely ethereal density of a provincial city at night. A small jewell that will steal the light from many a flashier stone. Framed and glazed. (5072)
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