Portrait of a House by Victor Hugo

This home, which was entirely decorated by Victor Hugo and was the place where he spent fifteen years in exile on the Island of Guernsey, has undergone a major restoration thanks to the sponsorship of the François Pinault Collection.

This exhibition presents the house through a large selection of works and documents, including drawings by Victor Hugo, photos, paintings, objects and archives. It aims to highlight the singularity of the design and creation of the interior decoration by Victor Hugo, which is, in fact, a veritable self-portrait.

But it also reveals the way in which the house was for him and his family a place for living, writing and commitment, with, for example, the organization of dinners for poor children. Friends and guests were also welcomed by the writer, and this continued even after his death with invitations to numerous artists by Hugo’s descendants. The home was a constant source of fascination for painters and photographers who continued to renew the vision of it, starting with Georges Hugo, a painter and grandson of the poet, and continuing to his great-great-grandson, Jean Baptiste Hugo, a photographer, as well as Joël Laiter, Olivier Mériel and Klavdij Sluban.

Through the leitmotif of a “materials library,’” the exposition provides information on the restoration that is being carried out in the various areas where it has been implemented.

CURATOR: Gérard Audinet, assisted by Alexandrine Achille