Château de Montsoreau – Museum of Contemporary Art

Created in April 2016 and situated two hours from Paris in the Loire valley, figuring in the UNESCO World Heritage, the Château de Montsoreau – Museum of Contemporary Art is a center of radical, engaged, vibrant artistic expression. Established in a Loire château, it features uncommon architecture, a wide-ranging collection, and exhibition areas placing it in the top rank of international institutions dedicated to contemporary art.
From its 15th-century construction onward, the château of Montsoreau has been an embodiment of audacity and innovation. Built on a rock in the Loire riverbed, Mount Soreau, the castle is a uniquely visionary building epitomizing the Renaissance. In its structure, it is freed from the constraints of medieval architecture and represents the invention of a new type of building, in which there exists room for … the dream. Rapidly enough, it became known as a privileged site for art and culture, serving as an inspiration for writers and artists as renowned as Turner, Flaubert, Rodin and Alexandre Dumas; in our times, it is a château dedicated to contemporary creation.
The permanent collection of the museum represents the world’s largest stock of work of the Art & Language movement, pioneer of Conceptual Art. A complete visit covers more than 2000m2 of exhibition space and explores the multiplicity of the activities pursued by the Art & Language movement: installations, videos, drawings, photographs.

Unlike other collections, it roams around the world. Committed to rendering contemporary art accessible to the general public, the Château of Montsoreau – Museum of Contemporary Art actively maintains a policy of lending to institutions.
Founded in 1968, the Art & Language collective draws its name from the review entitled Art-Language, published by the collaboration starting in 1969. At the outset, the group was composed of Terry Atkinson, Michael Baldwin, David Bainbridge and Harold Hurrell, who were joined in 1971by Mel Ramsden and Ian Burn. During the 1970s, more than fifty members participated. Work by the group turned prevailing ways of looking at art upside down. In its approach to issues on the relationship between theory and practice in artistic creation, the group rejected the notions of individualism and art for the sake of art. With its formulations, Art & Language puts forward essential questions on signature, anonymity, and neutrality, as well as the social and political nature of a work of art.
The programming of the Château de Montsoreau – Museum of Contemporary Art is a reflection of the creative wealth of today’s artists. Innovative, experimental and unexpected, it attests to an abiding commitment to the widespread dissemination of contemporary creation, whatever the means of artistic expression. On the agenda : temporary exhibitions, special events, encounters, concerts and performances.