Reopening of Victor Hugo Museum in Paris

After 18 months renovation, Victor Hugo’s former home and museum will open to the public on November 5.

The apartment occupied by the Victor Hugo family from 1832 to 1848 at 6, Place des Vosges with the original rich ornamentation is masterfully restored. The exterior of the fine red-brick building has been extensively cleaned and revamped. Next spring a new tree-lined garden will be completed by a café-terrace

7 Novembre 2020 - 19:25

Victor Hugo home, outside view©Paris Musées, Pierre Antoine

Building inauguration

The inauguration of the building is marked by the first retrospective of painter and world traveler François Auguste Biard curated by Vincent Gille of the museum together with Baptiste Henriot, art historian and expert on Biard. Over 145 works of art, many of which have never been on show, will be displayed until March 7, 2020.

Biard, Autoportrait, 1870-1875, oil painting©Chateau de Versailles, RMN-Grand Palais, Christophe Fouin

François Auguste Biard

Self-taught, Biard trained initially at a wall-paper factory in Lyon and studied here briefly at the city’s School of Fine Arts. He moved to Paris in 1835 where he garnered considerable success. With his powers of observation, he excelled in portraits and genre scenes. He added dramatic effects to his classical style paintings. These burlesque-style subjects made him famous. Biard (1799-1882) was a contemporary of Victor Hugo and the husband of Léonie d’Aunet. Her passionate liaison with the writer lasted seven years before King Louis Philippe smothered the adulterous affair and Hugo began writing ‘Les Misérables’.

Biard, View of Glacial Ocean: fishing walrus by Greenlanders, 1844©RMN-Grand Palais, Philippe Bernard

Biard travels

From 1827 to 1828, Biard was hired as a painter-draftsman on a ship which sailed from Egypt to Lebanon and from Turkey to Greece. Then he left for England and Scotland, and Spain. In 1839, The artist-explorer travelled to the Arctic Circle regions, portraying the ice-bound landscapes and inhabitants with poetic flourish. Afterwards Briard joined an expedition to Brazil between 1858 and 1860 where as an ethnographer and naturalist, he collected plants and animals and painted the Indian tribes he met.

Biard, Young Sami resting on a walking stick, 1839©private collection, Photo Art Go

Victor Hugo, A fine draftsman

Victor Hugo himself was an exceptional draughtsman, and a handsome monograph book ‘Victor Hugo: Drawings’, with 350 illustrations in color, has been published by Editions Paris Musées under the direction of Gérard Audinet, to mark the opening of the refurbished museum.

Enfilade of rooms, personal quarters of Victor Hugo©Paris Musées, Pierre Antoine

Maison de Victor Hugo, Paris

6 Place des Vosges, 75004 Paris
Tel : +33 (0) 1 42721016
Rates :
Full rate : €9
Reduced rate : €7
Free of charge for holders of the Paris Musées Pass,
Visitors under 18, the disabled and the person accompanying them,
Free access to the permanent collections

Metro stops: Bastlle, Saint-Paul, Chemin Vert
Bus: 20, 29, 65, 69, 96
Vélib: 27 bd Beaumarchais, two parking places for the disabled
Open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Closed on Mondays and January 1, May 1 and December 25

Mots-clés de l'article : victor hugo

Kunang Helmi-Picard