“Astonishing Things” is the title of exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London following Victor Hugo’s engagement with painting, from early caricatures and travel plans to his dramatic landscapes and his experiments with removal.

Victor Hugo (1802–1885) was a leading public figure in 19th -century France. His books Les misérables (The miserables) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Our Lady of Dartays) printed all over the world. As a poet and as a politician, during his almost twenty -year exile on the Channel islands he came to symbolize the ideals of French democracy: equality and freedom.

“Privately found his refuge in painting. Hugo’s visions of ink for fantastic castles, monsters and seafood landscapes are as poetic as his writings. His works inspired romantic and symbolic poets, as well as many artists, including surrealists. Vincent Van Gogh described them as “amazing things” It is emphasized in the description of the exhibition, entitled the phrase of the Dutch painter.

During the decade of 1830Hugo began to create satirical caricatureswhich he was privately shared with friends and his family. He also kept travel diaries to which he added sketches and wrote about the places he visited, paying special attention to the architectural details, especially the castles and churches.

THE natural world and the ocean particularly It was a inspiration For his writings and plans especially in his exile.

Visitors to the exhibition also discover that Hugo campaign against the death penalty almost two centuries ago. His 1854 ECCE Lex plan is part of his campaign to save a doomed assassin called John Tapner.

In the report that is a collaboration of Royal Academy of Arts in London with Victor Hugo Museum in Paris and National Library of France There are 70 works, including Hugo’s best paper, which are rarely exposed to the public and last appeared in the United Kingdom more than 50 years ago.

Immediate connections to his literary works are rare, most of Hugo’s enchanting designs are not illustrations but deeply personal, exploratory visions, the Royal Academy of Arts said. He often gave these projects to close friends and relatives and others were donated to the France National Library.

The exhibition also explores the Hugo style, highlighting its flexibility with thin pencils to wet inks.

The exhibition “Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo” It was inaugurated on March 19 and will run until June 29, 2025.