Portrait of Victor Hugo on Guernsey (1862): Art, History and Details

Portrait of Victor Hugo on Guernsey (1862) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Edmond Bacot (French, 1814–1875).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Victor Hugo, a passionate human rights advocate, was a fierce critic of Napoleon III and the Second Empire and had to live in exile from 1851 to 1870. His novel Les Misérables (inspiration for the 1985 musical) focused on the need for social and political change. Edmond Bacot, a fan and family friend of the author, photographed him twice, the first time in 1852 and, at Hugo’s invitation, in 1862 on the island of Guernsey, the year that Les Misérables was published.

Object facts

• Title: Portrait of Victor Hugo on Guernsey
• Date: 1862
• Creator attribution: Edmond Bacot (French, 1814–1875)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: albumen print from wet collodion negative
• Dimensions: Image: 16 x 11 cm (6 5/16 x 4 5/16 in.); Mounted: 31.7 x 22.3 cm (12 1/2 x 8 3/4 in.); Paper: 18.1 x 13.2 cm (7 1/8 x 5 3/16 in.); Matted: 45.7 x 35.6 cm (18 x 14 in.)
• Collection: Photography
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 2001.52

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.