Viktoriia Oreshko's free exhibition opens at Sisley in Paris — review and photos

In Paris, the Sisley headquarters will exceptionally open its doors to the public for a free exhibition from October 13 to November 13, 2026. Awarded the 7th Sisley x Beaux-Arts de Paris Prize for Young Creation, Viktoriia Oreshko presents Le Monde des Choses, an unveiling of previously unseen paintings shaped by her memories of Kyiv, everyday objects, and the memory of places.

A familiar object, an interior, a scene glimpsed or rediscovered: at Viktoriia Oreshko, the small things clearly have a lot to say. From October 13 to November 13, 2026, the artist takes over the Sisley headquarters, on Avenue de Friedland in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, with The World of Things, a free exhibition, by reservation.

Graduating from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 2025 with honours from the jury, Viktoriia Oreshko unveils a body of unpublished figurative paintings, conceived as fragments of a single universe. A world perched somewhere between reality and memory, where what seems ordinary at first glance ends up taking on a completely different dimension.

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Don't expect a long, sprawling exhibition on site! A dozen of paintings only, scattered somewhat sparsely between two spaces of the headquarters, on the ground floor and the level -1. The route lacks a bit of continuity and the visit is quickly wrapped up, but it earns its keep for being free! By the way, be careful not to go to the wrong door: it's at the Sisley headquarters that it happens, and not at Maison Sisley, located right next door on the street.

In the basement, head for the "cabinet of curiosities," where religious-themed paintings take pride of place. And keep your eyes peeled: another canvas sits a bit more discreetly in the break area just a short stroll away. It would almost go unnoticed!

Kyiv keeps creeping back into her canvases, piece by piece. The artist revisits scenes, objects and elements drawn from her personal and cultural milieu, reworking them in paint. The everyday then shifts its focus: a familiar image becomes a memory, a touchstone, or a fragment of territory.

Viktoriia Oreshko probes the links between memory, identity, and territory, and also this tangible idea of “home” that we carry with us even when we’re apart. Her paintings aren’t aimed at directly documenting the war. Instead, they travel through objects, interiors, and details—anything that can preserve a sense of presence as the surroundings fall away.

Born in Ukraine in 1997, Viktoriia Oreshko now lives and works in Paris. Trained at the Lviv National Academy of Arts and then at the Beaux-Arts de Paris, her work engages in a dialogue around History, personal memory and political questions. Her works have been shown at the Palais de Tokyo, Galleria Continua, and internationally.

L’exposition gratuite de Viktoriia Oreshko ouvre exceptionnellement les portes de Sisley à Paris — Viktoriia Oreshko

This exhibition accompanies the Sisley x Beaux-Arts de Paris Young Creation Prize, created in 2020 by Sisley and the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris to support emerging artists. Each laureate receives a grant and a solo show at Friedland’s headquarters. Over the past two years, the venue has hosted the work of Nina Jayasuriya, the 2024 laureate, followed by Zoé Bernardi, honored in 2025.

Objects, memories, Kyiv in watermark: Viktoriia Oreshko curates an exhibition where the intimate intersects memory and place. A modest format that doesn’t flood the walls with canvases, for sure, but it offers a chance to discover the artist’s work for free, while opening the doors of a venue that is usually closed to the public.