The Palace of Versailles invites lovers of the 9th art to the Angoulême Festival, then to Versailles itself, for an exhibition dedicated to the year of the Comics (2020), led by the Ministry of Culture.
From September to 28 February 2021 The Palace of Versailles in comic books
© Éditions Glénat 2012 (detail)
The exhibition
This exhibition has been made possible thanks to le centre national du Livre
For the first time the Palace of Versailles is devoting an exhibition to its portrayal in comic books. Through around a hundred works, visitors will discover realistic, bizarre and extraordinary depictions of Versailles. A wide diversity of original pages, sketches, preparatory drawings and photographs, as well as first editions of comic books and magazines, will retrace different perspectives of historic sites and events.
Comic book authors and illustrators also delved into other perspectives, such as the Palace gardens, architecture, great historical figures and events that shaped Versailles. It includes, in particular, very unusual representations of certain French kings such as Louis XVIII and Charles X, events from the French Revolution and references to the Ancien Régime.
This exhibition offers fans of the 9th art a wide range of graphic and technical styles covering several key periods from the 19th century to 2019. From evocation to the most intricate detail, from watercolour to felt-tip pen, from graphic novels to manga, including Franco-Belgian comics, many reflections and dialogues can be heard between these comic book pages.
Practical Information
The exhibition will open on European Heritage Days 19th and 20th of September and will run until 28 February 2021 in the Royal tennis room.
Accessible every day, except on Mondays, from 9 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. (last admission 5.45 p.m.) until October 31 and from 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. (last admission 4.45 p.m.) from November 1 to February 28.
The exhibition is free.
Commission
Yves Carlier, general curator at the National Museum of the Palace of Versailles and Trianon.
Jacques-Erick Piette, head of the cultural outreach department at the Palace of Versailles.
About the exhibition
The Palace of Versailles regularly co-publishes historical comic strips. Most recently, a graphic novel about one of its iconic curators, Pierre de Nolhac, was co-published with the publishing house La Boîte à Bulles.
My father's Palace
Can you believe that less than 150 years ago the Palace of Versailles almost fell into oblivion? When Pierre de Nolhac settled there in 1887 with his wife and children, he soon realized that the Sun King's palace was no longer of any interest to most people in the republican era. It would take the young clerk, who would become the Palace curator, all his energy and determination to restore the Palace to its former glory, but at what cost? Henri de Nolhac, Pierre's son, recounts his family life and the palace, a tale of happiness and drama, both a small and huge story...
Based on an original idea by Maïté Labat.
In media partnership with:
