Marie Antoinette Style at Seoul’s National Museum — from 18 Dec

The National Museum of Korea's big winter exhibition is about the eighteenth-century French queen Marie Antoinette. The two museums are jointly presenting Marie Antoinette Style, the exhibition the V&A curated in London, from 18 December 2026 to 31 March 2027 in Special Exhibition Gallery 2 of the main building in Yongsan, Seoul. The museum had already listed it in the 2026 special-exhibition programme it announced in February; with a little over two months to go, its upcoming-exhibitions page gives only the dates, the gallery and the number of objects.

Below we separate what the official page confirms from what has not been decided, and compare the Seoul run with the same-named exhibition that has already been shown in London and Yokohama.

When, where and how big is it?

Three things are official: the dates, the gallery and the size. The museum's upcoming-exhibition page describes the objects as Marie Antoinette's belongings together with later fashion, decorative arts, crafts and installations influenced by her — more than 190 in all. The ticket price, where to buy and whether there is an early-bird discount are still blank, which is why the facts box above says so.

What is the exhibition about?

The focus is less the queen's life than the image she left behind. Marie Antoinette shaped how she was seen through her clothes, her rooms and her taste, and that picture has since been read in very different ways — a byword for extravagance, an object of envy, a victim of the Revolution, a fashion icon. The museum says the exhibition follows how those conflicting images have been repeated and reworked in art, fashion and popular culture up to the present.

So the objects do not stop at the eighteenth century: they continue into later clothing, decorative arts, crafts and installations made under her influence. Which pieces travel to Seoul will only be clear once the object list is published before the opening.

Marie Antoinette's style, seen through her portraits

How the queen wanted to be seen comes through most clearly in the portraits of her day. The mood shifts sharply between the formal portrait in full court dress, the light muslin gown that was a provocation at the time, and the family portraits that put her forward as a mother. The pictures below are public-domain reference images to help place the exhibition; they are not exhibits.

Clothes and rooms: where did her taste leave its mark?

The museum names fashion, space and taste as the exhibition's starting point. The silhouette of eighteenth-century court dress and the rooms at Versailles that the queen lived in and decorated give the context. The photographs below are also reference images for atmosphere — neither exhibits in Seoul nor views of the galleries.

Is it the same exhibition as the V&A show in London?

Same name, different size. The original London exhibition had about 250 objects, including loans from the Palace of Versailles, and the Yokohama Museum of Art then took it as its only venue in Japan. Some Korean press reports said the Seoul show would also have more than 250 objects, but that is the London figure. For Seoul, the museum's official 190-plus is the number to rely on.

When will tickets and prices be announced?

• As of 5 October there is no official word on the ticket price, the booking platform or any early-bird offer. Check the exhibition notice on the museum's website before the opening.
• The exhibition is in Special Exhibition Gallery 2 of the main building. Another special exhibition is due in Gallery 1 over the same period, so the two can be seen on one visit.
• Enquiries go to the National Museum of Korea Exhibition Division on +82 2-2077-9263 (Korean).

In short, this is an exhibition that asks how one queen's image was made and consumed, rather than retelling her extravagance or her fall. The dates and the gallery are fixed; mark them now so you can book as soon as the price and ticketing are announced.

Getting there, and what to expect if you do not read Korean

The museum is five minutes on foot from Ichon Station (Line 4 and the Gyeongui–Jungang Line): take Exit 2 and follow the covered Museum Path walkway for about 150 m. From Incheon Airport, take the AREX all-stop train to Seoul Station and change to Line 4 southbound for Ichon, around 75–90 minutes in all. The museum is open until 9pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays, the quietest time to visit. The museum is open on most Mondays, but it shuts the permanent galleries and Special Exhibition Galleries 1 and 2 for maintenance on the first Monday of March, June, September and December — during this run that would be Monday 1 March 2027, so confirm on the museum's calendar before going that day. What we cannot tell you yet: whether the exhibition's labels and audio guide will be in English, and whether the ticketing platform will accept a foreign phone number or card. The museum has published none of that; we will add it here when it does. The permanent galleries, by contrast, are free, need no ticket and carry English signage, so a trip for this exhibition can easily fill a day.