In order to celebrate the bicentenary of Hugo's birth, the museum has proposed an exhibition putting together two colossus artists of the XIX th century: Victor Hugo (1802-1885) and Auguste Rodin (1840-1917).

Fascinated by the writer and the politician, Rodin dedicated an important part of his work to him: about a hundred works, including drawings, sculptures, engravings, and photos. Mainly they belong to Parisian museums, notably to the Rodin museum. Rodin's thoughts are clearly visible from the creation of Hugo bust in 1883, to the two monuments one of which was erected in the Palais Royal in1909.

The adventure began in earnest in 1883 when Rodin and Hugo met for the first time. When the latter refused to pose for the sculptor Rodin was forced to make many sketches representing skulls, profiles, ears in order to make the final bust exhibited at the 1884 Salon. Rodin had always admired writers. On the Hell Door tympanum, The Thinker both embodies Dante and Victor Hugo who is meditating. Many works of Rodin echo Hugo's poems like "Avarice and Lust" or "Eternal Spring".

One of the highlights of the exhibition is the presentation of Monument to Victor Hugo ordered for the Pantheon in 1889: "my life's work, and made with much love",the artist later said. The creation was long and hard as Rodin was working simultaneously on two projects: the first, for the Pantheon was abandoned, the other however, was kept for a public garden. In 1909, the second project was exhibited in the Palais Royal. This marble version is nowadays exhibited in the Rodin museum garden.

In 1891 Rodin suggested another project for the Pantheon, unfortunately it was also refused. Fifty or so sketches, engravings and rare plasters outlining his ideas are exhibited in order to show the different steps of his studies that allowed the sculptor to simplify his ideas in order to concentrated his expressionism to the main figure. The exhibition ends with a presentation of allegoric figures such as: Iris, Tragic Muse or Meditation, which were initially used for the monument.