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an old picture of a picture of a building with smoke coming out of itpainting of an old building with a clock tower in the backgrounda picture of a picture of a building in a picture framean old picture of a building with a clock tower in the backgrounda picture of a painting of a building on the walla picture of a picture of a clock in a box
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VICHY ENCHERES

50 - Victor HUGO (1802–1885). “Souvenir d’une démolition” Pen and…
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Estimate €12,000 - €15,000
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Description
Victor HUGO (1802–1885). “Souvenir d’une démolition” Pen and brown ink drawing, brown wash with light highlights in gouache and watercolour, signed and dated “Victor Hugo 1864” in the lower right-hand corner. Sheet: 7 x 12.8 cm; Including frame: 21 x 25.6 cm Accompanied by an original letter from Victor Hugo dated 1955. Provenance: Pierre Lefèvre-Vacquerie; Gustave Simon, 1848–1928; Marguerite Simon, daughter of the above; Georges Van den Plas; Maurice Guyot, 1884–1974 (https://vichy-encheres.com/2026/06/26/victor-hugo/) Related work: Victor Hugo, *Complete Works*, chronological edition edited by Jean Massin, Paris, 1967, vol. XVIII, graphic works, no. 348. This drawing depicts the same manor house as that featured in a notebook by Victor Hugo held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France under reference NAF 13459, f. 81v. Begun on 24 May 1864, this notebook corresponds to the first phase of the writing of *Les Travailleurs de la mer* and contains numerous notes relating to the novel, as well as maps of the reefs around Guernsey. Its final pages also contain drawings dated July 1865, produced during Victor Hugo’s trip to Brussels. The presence, within the same notebook, of notes relating to *Les Travailleurs de la mer* and drawings of Brussels suggests that the manor house may have inspired the novel’s imagination, although this cannot be stated with certainty. The hypothesis that the house was observed in Brussels is reinforced by the stepped gables visible on the building to the left of the manor house, which are characteristic of the region’s architecture. The provenance of the drawing links it directly to Victor Hugo’s circle. A letter from Georges Van den Plas, dated 25 April 1955, states that the work had been given to his mother by Marguerite Simon, daughter of Gustave Simon, who in turn had received it from Pierre Lefèvre-Vacquerie. The latter belonged to the Vacquerie family, linked to Victor Hugo through the marriage of Léopoldine Hugo to Charles Vacquerie. Gustave Simon, for his part, was a close friend of Victor Hugo; he acted as a witness at his marriage to Sarah Sourdis in 1879, before becoming one of the writer’s principal posthumous publishers and his new executor. In his letter, Georges Van den Plas quotes a passage published by Gustave Simon in *La Revue de Paris* on 1 September 1923, as part of an article devoted to Sarah Bernhardt. Referring to a photograph autographed by the actress, Simon explains that it was displayed in his office: “This photograph is displayed in my study above my desk, between the photographs of the two Monnets and above a small, very delicate drawing of Victor Hugo which was given to me by Pierre Lefèvre-Vacquerie. Sarah is there in familiar surroundings.” (Gustave Simon, *La Revue de Paris*, 1 September 1923) This reference, published as early as 1923, corroborates the provenance indicated by Georges Van den Plas. He is also known to have bequeathed several works and documents to the Maison de Victor Hugo in Hauteville, Guernsey. The drawing subsequently passed into the collection of Maurice Guyot, secretary-general of the Victor Hugo Foundation, an institution established in 1925 to support the Victor Hugo Chair at the Sorbonne and to encourage research dedicated to the poet. The drawing will be listed by Mr Pierre Georgel in the catalogue raisonné of Victor Hugo’s drawings, currently in preparation. Expert: Cabinet De Bayser
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About the sale BEAUTIFUL LIVE SALE OF PAINTINGS, FURNITURE & OBJETS D'ART
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Auction time 08/13/2026 at 1:45 PM
Ref. : 4062 - 29
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