Jean Cocteau Museum

The decision to create the museum was made by the Menton city council in December 2003. An international competition was held by the council in 2007, with a winner for the design of the museum announced in June 2008. The foundation stone was laid in December 2008, with the shell completed in January 2011. The competition to design the museum building was won by French architect Rudy Ricciotti, an exponent of 'hedonist architecture' in the 1980s. Ricciotti's design was directly inspired by Cocteau's life and work, he has said of the museum's design that "Black and white no longer serve as colours here...they create an interplay of structural forces calling to mind both the artist’s works on paper and the poet’s personality, his zones of light and darkness, his enigmatic self-mythology fueled by contrasts." ==Collection==

Divided into seven parts, the museum contains almost 1000 graphic works by Cocteau, with the majority of the collection from collector Severin Wunderman. The work Cocteau left upon his death in 1963 was catalogued by Annie Guédras, who identified at least three dozen fakes and copies among the pieces, some of which were destined for Wunderman's donation to the museum. The museum did eventually withdraw the works in question. An Office of Graphic Art at the museum conserves the collection when not on display. The museum also features a cafe, shop, and spaces to hire. On July 11, 2025, the Wunderman Foundation, representing the donator's family, sent a formal notice to the Menton town council asking for the 1,800 donated works t be returned, arguing that the conditions fixed at the time of the donation had not been respected. ==Jean Cocteau and Menton==

From 1950 onwards, Jean Cocteau was a frequent guest at Francine Weisweiller's villa Santo Sospir in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on the French Riviera. In 1955, he was invited to attend the Classical Music Festival in nearby Menton. Delighted by the experience, he developed an attachment to the town and befriended the mayor, who suggested he decorate the town's wedding hall. In recognition of this work, which Cocteau accomplished in 1957 and 1958, Menton declared him an honorary citizen. ==Temporary closure==

On the night between 29 and 30 October 2018, a severe storm hit the Menton region. The museum, which is around 50 metres away from the shore, was hit by waves and its basement was flooded. The museum's management (Menton's city council) had decided to store a number of works in the basement. Those works were damaged by seawater, and the ground floor was also partially flooded. As a result of the storm, management decided to shut down the museum until further notice in order to allow for restoration of the damaged works at several locations throughout France. As of mid-April 2019, the museum was still closed "for repairs (travaux)" and Menton's tourist office informally stated that the museum might remain closed until autumn 2019, although no official expected date of reopening has ever been specified by Menton's municipality. In the meantime, a partial exhibition has been set up at the Bastion Museum. Menton's Bastion is a small fort built in 1619 overlooking the Mediterranean Sea; it withstood the October 2018 storm and subsequent floods. As of August 2022, Menton's city council remains surprisingly silent on the possible reopening of the museum. The museum remains closed and looks completely abandoned with no sign of future evolution. In October 2022, Menton's municipality will mark the 4th anniversary of the museum's "temporary" closure. UPDATE. The museum has relocated some of their collection to Le Bastion: CURRENT EXHIBITION LE CHÂTEAU DES MYSTÈRES FROM JULY 8 TO NOVEMBER 13, 2023 AT THE BASTION MUSÉE and La Salle des Mariage https://www.francetraveltips.com/menton-salle-des-mariages-jean-cocteau/ ==See also==