Art Of The Day Weekly
#407 - from 19 November 2015 to 25 November 2015
Camille Corot, Marietta, the Roman odalisque, 1843, oil on paper, 29 x 44 cm. Petit Palais, musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris © Petit Palais / Roger-Viollet.
Hugo and love
PARIS - We all know he had a weakness –to put it mildly- for women! He had many affairs that were often passionate and even scandalous. He shared the favours of a courtesan – Alice Ozy - with his son and was accused of committing adultery with Léonie d’Aunet (known for her adventurous trip to Spitsbergen), which led to a brief stay in prison. Nevertheless, in spite of this aura, Victor Hugo was particularly chaste in his writings – in a century which really was not -, and just as much in his drawings. In order to bring back to life his erotic appetite, the exhibition had to go fish in other sources: some beautiful odalisques by Corot or Deveria, pompous nudes (Cabanel), marbles by Rodin and Pradier, daring water colours by Félicien-Rops and a few photos of ladies languidly reclining by Félix Moulin or Vallou de Villeneuve.
• Eros Hugo, entre pudeur et excès at the Maison de Victor Hugo, from 19 November 2015 to 21 February 2016.