[The Guardian] Castles in the sky: the fantastical drawings of author Victor Hugo – in pictures

Castles in the sky: the fantastical drawings of author Victor Hugo – in pictures

Although better known for his sprawling Romantic novels The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables, celebrated French author Victor Hugo spent much of his time drawing. A collection of about 70 of his sketches will soon be on display at the Royal Academy in London, in an exhibition bringing together caricatures, travel drawings and landscapes. Several of the drawings feature castles and ruins. “Hugo was inspired by ‘burgs’ – castles, fortresses or walled towns – that he saw when travelling along the Rhine, but he often drew fantastical castles that fuse memory and imagination,” says the exhibition’s curator Sarah Lea. “Hugo’s castle drawings range in tone from sinister and sublime to highly romantic and exquisitely detailed.”

• Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo is at the Royal Academy of Arts, London W1, 21 March to 29 June

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