Alexandre-Jean Dubois-Drahonet exhibition at the Musée Lambinet in Versailles - our photos

The art of portraiture on show at Versailles... The Musée Lambinet is organizing the first retrospective dedicated to Alexandre-Jean Dubois-Drahonet, an emblematic 19th-century portrait painter, from November 25, 2023 to February 25, 2024. Born in Paris in 1790 and deceased in Versailles in 1834, Dubois-Drahonet distinguished himself by the"porcelain" finesse of his paintings, his precision in depicting details and costumes, making him an undisputed master of portraiture in his time.

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Alexandre-Jean Dubois-Drahonet, whose origins go back to a line of Mercier merchants, trained at theAcadémie Impériale under the painter Jean-Baptiste Régnault. His career, marked by early recognition such as his notable participation in the Salon of 1812 and the award of an encouragement medal in 1827, took him across borders. Having forged close links with royalty, he painted for the royal houses of France, the Netherlands and Great Britain. Portraits of the Duchess of Berry, the Duke of Bordeaux and King William II of the Netherlands bear witness to his international stature.

The exhibition, developed in collaboration with historian Ronald Pawly and Alain Pougetoux, former chief curator of paintings at the Château de Malmaison, covers Dubois-Drahonet's entire career. It highlights his artistic beginnings, his immersion in the Versailles artistic network and his unique signature under the name A.J. Dubois-Drahonet after his marriage to the daughter of Versailles painter-decorator Pierre Drahonet.

Spanning four rooms on the museum's first floor, the exhibition closes with a presentation of his finest royal portraits. With over sixty-nine works from national and international museums and private collections, this cultural event offers you the chance to discover - or rediscover - a little-known and celebrated artist of undeniable talent, whose imprint is still palpable in the corridors of the Musée Lambinet. Shall we put it in our diaries, folks?