Le vieux pont (1866)

Hugo, Victor (1802-1885)

Le vieux pont (The Old Bridge)
1866
Pen, ink, wash and watercolor, 31.5 x 49.3 cm
Musée du LouvreParis

From 1834, when he went to the north of France and Belgium – where he returned every year until 1837Hugo noted his impressions in notebooks, drawing and recounting everything at the same time, his imagination pushing him generally to transform the observation of the moment. A probable memory of one of the trips to the Rhine region, this masterful sheet, dedicated to his grandson, where the picturesque rises to a sort of terrible extravagance, presents a theme which frequently recurs in the drawings of the writer from the 1860s. (‘Souvenirs de voyages’, 1992). Figure dans G. Picon, R. Cornaille & G. Herscher, ‘Victor Hugo dessinateur’, Paris, Ed. du Minotaure, 1963, n°291, repr. Figure dans G. Picon, L. Focillon, Ge. Picon & R. Bargiel, ‘Victor Hugo dessins’, Paris, Gallimard, 1985, n°280, repr. Figure dans ‘Victor Hugo au musée : dessins et souvenirs (Besançon 1802Paris 1885)’, cat. exp. Besançon, musée des Beaux-Arts, 28 avril – 13 juin 1985, n° XVII, repr. (Louvre)