born in boulogne-sur-mer in 1887 and died in paris in 1968. first wife of victor hugo's great grandson, valentine hugo is a painter and illustrator. she studied at the fine arts in paris from 1907 to 1910 then joined a circle of scholars made up of proust, gide, satie, ravel, cocteau ... she was married to the painter jean hugo and both collaborated on the costumes of the "bride and groom of la tour eiffel ”by cocteau. around 1926 she joined the group of surrealists and illustrated the literary works of éluard and  rené char. it is a divisive period where his work is exhibited with that of ernst, duchamp, picasso. however, she left the group in 1937. the champagne cultural center (troyes) made valentine hugo the subject of the first monographic retrospective ever carried out in france, in 1977.

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this etching represents a portrait of arthur rimbaud on a background of roses, in a rare color print. made in 1954 by valentine hugo  and autographed "the crowd of young and strong roses" ...