Exhibition Guillaume Bresson - Versailles

From 21 January to 25 May 2025, the Palace of Versailles is presenting an exhibition by the contemporary artist Guillaume Bresson, a leading light of French figurative painting.

Guillaume Bresson creates hyperrealist paintings featuring characters involved in street fights that reference religious and history painting. The artist’s works is exhibited in the Africa Rooms and therefore engage in dialogue with large battle scenes from the colonial conquests of Louis-Philippe.

The artist

Guillaume Bresson was born in Toulouse in 1982 and trained at the Paris School of Fine Art; he is  considered to be a leading light of current French figurative painting. After living in Paris and Berlin, he has now settled in New York and is known for his unapologetically contemporary scenes. By revisiting a style of representation with its roots in classical painting that had been neglected until the early 21st century, Guillaume Bresson creates a new form of contemporary history painting by applying this genre of reconstruction of reality to his own times. As both a painter and director, he embeds his work in the present by linking his creations to topical social issues. 

The exhibition is being presented in collaboration with Galerie Nathalie Obadia.

Historical yet contemporary work

Guillaume Bresson’s paintings are characterized by their realism. In order to achieve this photographic accuracy, the painter follows a process beginning with preparatory photoshoots in his studio using models. Their bodies are choreographed, creating poses and theatricalized movements that are reminiscent in some respects of Baroque painting. In the editing process, the artist isolates and detaches the bodies and then rearranges them into a group. In this way, Guillaume Bresson constructs paintings in which body language plays a central role in the creation of the narrative.

The exhibition at the Palace of Versailles

The exhibition of works by Guillaume Bresson is held in the Africa Rooms of the Palace of Versailles. These rooms, with their grand decorative schemes installed under Louis-Philippe, showcase huge paintings depicting battles of the colonial conquest of North Africa in the 1830s and 1840s. In this counterpoint between the historic paintings, notably by Horace Vernet, and works by Guillaume Bresson, battlefields and urban guerillas are contrasted and challenge the visitor to consider how violence is presented in painting.

The Exhibition catalogue

The exhibition catalogue is available from the Librairie des Princes and online shop. 

A leading figure in French figurative painting, Guillaume Bresson depicts characters captured in the violence of suburban areas, with references to history painting. The first retrospective exhibition of Bresson’s work at the Palace of Versailles confronts his work with the great battle scenes of the rooms of Africa, painted in particular by Horace Vernet. They invite visitors to question the notion of staging violence in painting.

cultural programming

Flash mediations

Every weekend:

• a cultural mediator is present for a time of discussion and interactivity to discover a work of the exhibition. General public.
• free 30-minute tours of the exhibition, no booking required.
• regular departures from 10am to 4pm
• tours in French or English

Guided tours of the exhibition

Reservation 3 months in advance (25 participants per group), according to current prices. From February 2025.

Late opening

On Friday the 21^st of March, 2025, take advantage of an exceptional evening to discover the Guillaume Bresson exhibition.

During the late opening, only the exhibition rooms are open, not the whole palace.

Palace ticket

This ticket gives you access to the Palace.

21 €

Buy

Palace ticket

This ticket gives you access to the Palace.

21 €

Read more

Palace ticket

This ticket guarantees access to the palace of Versailles. Book online and enter to the Palace in the half hour following the chosen time.

• the Palace with timed entry;
• the temporary exhibitions in the Palace;
• the Gallery of Coaches (every weekend); 
• the Royal Tennis Court;
• the Gardens (from 1 November to 30 March only) - to access the Gardens before 1 November, you need a Passport ticket or a Gardens ticket;
• the Park.

The Passport guarantees access to the Estate of Versailles (Palace, Estate of Trianon and their Gardens).

Tickets can also be purchased on site subject to availability.

Rates

21 € Buy

• Motor deficiencies
• Hearing impaired
• Mental disabilities
• Visual impairment

Patronage

The exhibition was made possible thanks to the generous support of

• McArthurGlen Paris-Giverny
• The Cora Foundation
• Hubert and Mireille Goldschmidt

Partners

https://www.lemonde.fr/

https://www.telerama.fr/

https://www.connaissancedesarts.com/

https://www.technikart.com/

https://www.nova.fr/

https://www.arte.tv/fr/

Practical information

Dates: 21 January to 25 May 2025
Opening hours: see opening hours, closed on Mondays and May 1st
Venue: Africa Rooms, Palace of Versailles 
Curator: Christophe Leribault, President of the Palace of Versailles

The exhibition can be accessed with a Palace ticket or a Passport (and by visitors entitled to free admission)

Passport

This ticket gives access to the whole estate of Versailles.

24 €

Buy

32 €

Buy

Passport

This ticket gives access to the whole estate of Versailles.

24 €

Read more

Passport

This ticket gives access to the whole estate of Versailles (Palace, Estate of Trianon and the Gardens). Book online and enter to the Palace in the half hour following the chosen time.

It includes :

• the Palace with timed entry;
• the estate of Trianon;
• the temporary exhibitions;
• the Gallery of Coaches (every weekend); 
• the Royal Tennis Court;
• the Gardens (until 31 October, single admission during the Musical Gardens or Musical Fountains Show, ticket valid for one entry);
• the Park.

To make the most of the Estate of Versailles, the Gardens are open from 8am, the Estate of Trianon from 12pm, the Gallery of Coaches from 12.30pm.

The gardens close exceptionally at 5.30pm on Saturdays during The Night Fountains Show from June 7th to September 20th, as well as on Saturday May 24th, Monday July 14th, Friday August 15th and October 26th, 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st.

Low season rate

24 € Buy

High season rate

32 € Buy

• Motor deficiencies
• Hearing impaired
• Mental disabilities
• Visual impairment

Palace ticket

This ticket gives you access to the Palace.

21 €

Buy

Palace ticket

This ticket gives you access to the Palace.

21 €

Read more

Palace ticket

This ticket guarantees access to the palace of Versailles. Book online and enter to the Palace in the half hour following the chosen time.

• the Palace with timed entry;
• the temporary exhibitions in the Palace;
• the Gallery of Coaches (every weekend); 
• the Royal Tennis Court;
• the Gardens (from 1 November to 30 March only) - to access the Gardens before 1 November, you need a Passport ticket or a Gardens ticket;
• the Park.

The Passport guarantees access to the Estate of Versailles (Palace, Estate of Trianon and their Gardens).

Tickets can also be purchased on site subject to availability.

Rates

21 € Buy

• Motor deficiencies
• Hearing impaired
• Mental disabilities
• Visual impairment

Mobile application and audio guide

The audioguide includes 4 commentaries on the major themes in Guillaume Bresson's work and his inspirations. The commentaries are also available on the application.

We recommend that you download the free application before you arrive, then launch it to load the exhibition route in advance.