Published on the occasion of the exhibition Stones to Stains: The Drawings of Victor Hugo, organized and presented by the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, September 27-December 30, 2018--Page 7

Poet, novelist, playwright and critic Victor Hugo (1802-1885) was a preeminent figure in the social, political and cultural life of 19th-century France. One of the greatest writers of all time, he was also an accomplished draftsman and produced a lesser known but remarkable body of works on paper. Hugo's drawing practice was largely a private endeavor and although over 3,000 sheets by him survive today, they were rarely seen in public during his lifetime. Many were produced during his extended exile on the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey between 1852 and 1870. The sole American museum exhibition devoted to his graphic work to date was organized by the Drawing Center in New York in 1998. The Hammer Museum's exhibition will reconsider Hugo's experimental and enigmatic practice as a visual artist for a new generation of audiences in America.--Hammer Museum

Acknowledgments / Cynthia Burlingham and Allegra Pesenti -- From stones to stains / Florian Rodari -- "Nothing but Shadow and Light": Hugo's drawings in print / Cynthia Burlingham -- Promontory of dream: cosmic landscapes and infinite visions of night in the drawings of Victor Hugo / Allegra Presenti