Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art

The Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art is a special place where you can see beautiful and interesting artworks. It is in Montsoreau, France, and opened on April 8, 2016. This museum is a private place that everyone can visit.

Inside the museum, you can see a special collection of artworks chosen by Philippe Méaille. These artworks were made by a group of artists called Art & Language. They are part of conceptual art, which means the ideas behind the art are very important.

The museum is in the beautiful Château de Montsoreau, a historic building. This makes the museum a great place to explore both old and new art, and to learn about creative ideas from artists around the world.

History

Philippe Méaille, who lives in Anjou, worked with Christian Gillet, the president of the department of Maine-et-Loire. Together, they decided to create a museum of contemporary art in Anjou. They placed his art collection inside the château de Montsoreau, a special building owned by the department. On 19 June 2015, Christian Gillet offered Méaille a 25-year lease for the château.

Restoration works

Workers found an old chimney from around 1450 while fixing up a room in the château. Experts are now restoring this chimney. In August 2016, a library about history of art, new art, and crafts opened. The museum reopened at the end of May 2017. Now, people can reach it by boat after some extra work was done.

Architecture

The castle of Montsoreau has been important for over a thousand years. It is special because it is the only castle along the Loire River that has a museum of contemporary art. Long ago, a man named Jean II of Chambes built this castle between 1443 and 1453. He placed it next to the Loire River, like beautiful buildings in Venice at that time.

Collection

The museum shows a special collection by Philippe Méaille. It is on the first two floors and has art only by a group called Art & Language. This group started in 1968 and has artists from Britain, America, and Australia. Two artists, Michael Baldwin and Mel Ramsden, represent them today.

Many artists have worked with Art & Language since 1965. The collection has many kinds of art, like paintings, sculptures, drawings, and installations, plus videos and writing.

Temporary exhibitions

The Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art has had many special shows.

In 2016, it showed works by Agnès Thurnauer called a History of Painting. In 2017, there was a show about Ettore Sottsass named Designer of the World.

In 2018, the museum showed works by the group Art & Language titled Reality (Dark) Fragments (Light), and a big group exhibition called 1968: Sparta Dreaming Athens with artists like Tony Smith, Edward Ruscha, and Claes Oldenburg. In 2019, the museum displayed Mappa Mundi, works by Roman Signer, and a show by Charlotte Moorman called Think Crazy.

Events

François Morellet Prize

The museum joins the National days of Books and Wine in Saumur to give an award to an art writer. This award is called the François Morellet prize. Some past winners are:

• 2016: Catherine Millet, an art critic.
• 2017: Michel Onfray, a philosopher.
• 2018: Eric de Chassey, a director of an art history institute.
• 2019: Bernar Venet, an artist.
• 2020: Kenneth Goldsmith
• 2021: Orlan
• 2022: Bernard Marcadé

Miriam Rothschild Gardens

In 2017, the castle gardens were changed into wild gardens. These gardens cover more than one hectare and show the importance of biodiversity. They were created by Miriam Rothschild (1908–2005), a scientist. The wild garden uses native plants and helps protect the local fauna, keeping plants and animals in balance.

Publications

Some books and works about the museum include:

• 2016: Rod Mengham, Un tour chez Agnès Thurnauer.
• 2016: Art & Language, Entretien avec Victorine Meurend.
• 2017: Art & Language, Affiche: Almost a Home for Homeless Stuff.
• 2017: Fabien Vallos, Philippe Méaille, Antonia Birnbaum, Fabrice Hergott, Chloé Maillet, Louise Hervé, Antoine Dufeu, A Constructed World, Protest 1517-2017. ISBN 978-2-9557917-0-7
• 2018: Art & Language, Matthew Jesse Jackson, Art & Language Reality (Dark) Fragments (Light).ISBN 978-2-9557917-2-1