Victor Hugo at the Morgan Library is the Daily Pic by Blake Gopnik

Poe Would Have Been Proud

The Daily Pic: Victor Hugo painted scenes of Gothic horror that he never set down in words.

Published Aug. 29 2013 12:24PM EDT

articles/2013/08/29/victor-hugo-at-the-morgan-library-is-the-daily-pic-by-blake-gopnik/hugo-daily-pic_y6qvcd — (The Morgan Library & Museum Thaw Collection, 2010, photo by Schecter Lee)

articles/2013/08/29/victor-hugo-at-the-morgan-library-is-the-daily-pic-by-blake-gopnik/hugo-daily-pic_cp5u0m

This amazing vision of romantic decay was not made last week by a genius illustrator, but by the great French novelist Victor Hugo, working with ink and brush in 1857.

Blake Gopnik

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Victor Hugo at the Morgan Library is the Daily Pic by Blake Gopnik

The Daily Pic: Victor Hugo painted scenes of Gothic horror that he never set down in words.

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Blake Gopnik