[HUGO, Victor] Charles GALLOT (1838-1919)

[HUGO, Victor] Charles GALLOT (1838-1919)

Portrait of Victor Hugo, period albumen print on thick cardboard
[Paris, 12th April 1885], cabinet format (10,5 x 14,3 cm)
Mounted on blue-grey Bristol (thick cardboard) in the photographer’s credit (10,8 x 16,5 cm) – [1 Boulevard Beaumarchais]
Some imperfections such as tiny sports, slight scratches, pinhole on upper margin of the print (see scan), cardboard with slightly frayed corners, otherwise nice contrasts

Rare original print of the last portrait of Victor Hugo alive, five weeks before his death

Very moving portrait of the poet, hands clasped with a pensive look, five weeks before his death.
It was in his mansion “La Princesse de Lusignan”, which was located at 50 avenue Victor Hugo in Paris, that Charles Gallot took this last picture of the poet.

Three days before his death, Victor Hugo wrote this last thought: “Aimer c’est agir” [to love is to act], which remains one of his most famous aphorisms.

Although this portrait of Hugo has been reproduced countless times in almost all the works dedicated to him since 1885, the original prints are nevertheless very rare.