Hugo décorateur

The "Hugo Decorator" exhibition invites visitors to dive into an unexpected facet of Victor Hugo’s creativity at the Maison de Victor Hugo, nestled in the heart of Place des Vosges in Paris. From November 13, 2025, to April 26, 2026, this two-floor journey reveals how the poet transformed his interiors into total works, where every object, wall, or piece of furniture becomes a fragment of living poetry. Between graphic imagination and obsession with forms, Hugo's decorative universe emerges as an extension of his fertile mind, blending fantasy, memory, and spatial invention. An irresistible invitation for art and history enthusiasts looking to reinvent everyday life through the gaze of a master.

From Early Decorative Dreams to Parisian Apartments Before Exile The "Hugo Decorator" exhibition journey at the Maison de Victor Hugo unfolds fluidly over the museum's two levels, guiding visitors through the poet’s inhabited homes. From the entrance, the initial dreams captivate: drawings where Hugo sketches decorative objects, turning a simple knickknack into poetic allegory. These light strokes, imbued with graphic sensitivity, open onto the Parisian interiors before exile, from Rue de Vaugirard to the apartments at Place Royale. There, piles of objects, exotic relics, or found furniture form a symbolic language where each element tells a story of ambition and desire. The Chinese salon, Maison de Victor Hugo, Place des Vosges As visitors proceed through the first floor rooms, the narrative deepens into the decor of love, woven with Juliette Drouet, companion and muse who shared this passion for chinoiserie and trinkets. Leather chests adorned with studs, dismantled then reinvented for Hauteville II, his house in Guernsey, evoke these intimate exchanges. The family dimension then enters, with velvet-covered frames or shutters painted by Charles Hugo, the eldest son. These personal touches humanize the space, making it a living place where art is born from daily tenderness. Every object, wall, or piece of furniture becomes a fragment of living poetry.

Polychrome Panels, Hybrid Furniture, and Reimagined Objects by the Poet’s Hand At the heart of "Hugo Decorator" at the Maison de Victor Hugo stand works embodying the poet’s inventive genius, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. The carved and painted panels for Hauteville II captivate by their boldness: created from 1863 under Hugo’s direction with workers from the Putron company, they play with shadows and intertwined monograms, blending Chinese-inspired motifs and personal references. A Chinese figure enjoying a fish is a playful nod to Suzanne, Juliette Drouet’s cook. These surfaces, once part of Juliette’s home walls, vibrate with a graphic energy that merges engraving and color. The furniture, designed by Hugo himself, reveals an early designer’s mind. He dismantles old buffets or mirrors, recomposing them with artisans’ help to create hybrid ensembles, revisited Gothic or Renaissance styles. Alongside, an Ottoman banner evokes Parisian ceilings before 1848, where exoticism and symbolism weave into an airy carpet of stories. Victor Hugo, Carved and Painted Panel of Chinese Inspiration, circa 1863–1864, carved and painted wood CC0 Paris Museums / Maisons de Victor Hugo Paris-Guernsey From June 29, 1863, Victor Hugo directed the décor of Hauteville II with workers from the Putron firm, including Tom Gor and Peter Mauger. These polychrome carved and painted wooden panels of Chinese inspiration were intended to showcase Juliette’s precious porcelains. After her death in 1883, the panels were transferred to Paris and sold to Paul Meurice in 1902–1903 for the museum's creation. Reassembled in the “Chinese salon” with help from Siegfried Bing, they form a spectacular ensemble, described as “the fake made with the real,” according to the famous expression.

Immersive Reconstructions of Hauteville House and Dialogue Between Past and Present The scenography of "Hugo Decorator" at the Maison de Victor Hugo excels in the art of resurrecting the elusive, turning absences into tangible presences. Immersive reconstructions, like the Chinese salon with its Chinese-inspired panels reinstalled in the museum apartment, recreate rich atmospheres where light and shadows dance on engraved surfaces. These elements, sometimes cut to fit the Parisian space, retain their emotional charge, evoking the interiors of Hauteville II as imagined for Juliette. The heart of the journey beats to the rhythm of Hauteville House, this reinvented exiled home rebuilt from the ground up since May 1856. Old photographs, paired with contemporary shots by Jean-Baptiste Hugo, the poet’s great-great-grandson, weave a dialogue between past and present. The North Tower, formerly a billiard room turned into a storage of objects after the children left, symbolizes the antechamber of Hugo’s unconscious: “floating objects” accumulated without precise destination, awaiting their creative rebirth. This narrative flow makes the visitor a companion explorer, guided intuitively through a mix of wonder and introspection. Studded leather travel chest, studded leather on wood CC0 Paris Museums / Maisons de Victor Hugo Paris-Guernsey