Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo

Photo: royalacademy.org.uk

The Royal Academy of Arts has collaborated with the Maison de Victor Hugo and Bibliothèque Nationale de France to put on an exhibition of rarely seen works by one of France's most famous writers.

Victor Hugo was a 19th-century poet and politician who gained worldwide fame for his books Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. His works would go on to inspire the Romantic and Symbolist poets, the Surrealist artists, and even Vincent van Gogh, who described them as "astonishing things".

In private Hugo loved to draw - conjuring up imaginative ink and wash visions of castles, monsters and seascapes using everything from ink blots to coffee grounds. The exhibition features many of his finest creations, from early caricatures and dramatic landscapes to his experiments with abstraction.

Nowadays these dreamlike drawings are rarely shown in public, and were last seen in this country more than 50 years ago - giving visitors an opportunity to appreciate the multifarious talents of their creator.

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How to get to the Royal Academy of Arts

Buses that stop near the Royal Academy of Arts are 14, 19, 22 and 38

Bus fares to Royal Academy of Arts

Bus fares	Cash	Oyster & Contactless		Travelcard
		Single fare	Daily cap	One day
				Any­time	Off-peak
All zones	n/a	£1.75	£5.25	£6

The closest station to the Royal Academy of Arts is Piccadilly Circus Bakerloo Piccadilly in zone 1. Plan your journey from Bank, Charing Cross, Earl’s Court, Euston, King’s Cross St. Pancras, Liverpool Street, London Bridge, Marylebone, Paddington, Victoria, Waterloo or another station:

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Train fares to Royal Academy of Arts

Train fares	Cash	Oyster & Contactless				Travelcard
	Single fare	Single fare		Daily cap		One day
		Peak	Off-peak	Peak	Off-peak	Any­time	Off-peak
Zone 1	£7	£2.90	£2.80	£8.90	£8.90	£16.60(zone 1-4)	£16.60(zone 1-6)
Zone 1-2	£7	£3.50	£2.90	£8.90	£8.90
Zone 1-3	£7	£3.80	£3.10	£10.50	£10.50
Zone 1-4	£7	£4.60	£3.40	£12.80	£12.80
Zone 1-5	£7	£5.20	£3.60	£15.30	£15.30	£23.60(zone 1-6)
Zone 1-6	£7	£5.80*	£3.80*	£16.30	£16.30
* Journeys between zone 1 and Heathrow are always charged at the peak rate. Prices are correct as of 2nd March 2025

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