Musées de Menton
Covering a period of more than 1 million years, the museums of Menton have a remarkable group of museums offering a multidisciplinary approach to art, from prehistory to modern art, including invitations to contemporary artists. Since 2005, thanks to a donation from Severin Wunderman, the town of Menton has presented the largest international collection of works by Jean Cocteau, Prince of Poets.
Covering a period of more than 1 million years, the museums of Menton have a remarkable group of museums offering a multidisciplinary approach to art, from prehistory to modern art, including invitations to contemporary artists. Since 2005, thanks to a donation from Severin Wunderman, the town of Menton has presented the largest international collection of works by Jean Cocteau, Prince of Poets.
Programme
The Enchanted Gardens of Jean Cocteau
Venue: Galerie des musées - Palais de l’Europe
In Menton, the Villa and Gardens of Les Colombières, designed by Ferdinand Bac, are closely connected to the poetic universe of Jean Cocteau, who was introduced to drawing by his friend. Drawing on the Séverin Wunderman collection from the Jean Cocteau Museum, the exhibition explores the central role of vegetation in the artist’s imagination. In Cocteau’s visual works as well as in his films, nature is never a mere backdrop: it becomes a strange, animated presence, revealing the mystery of the living world and the porous boundary between human beings and their environment.
This dreamlike dimension finds its fullest expression in Beauty and the Beast (1946), where the Beast’s domain is transformed into an enchanted garden inhabited by vegetal and organic forms in perpetual metamorphosis. In his drawings, Cocteau also populates nature with fantastical creatures and mythological figures, giving rise to a personal mythology that is poetic and sometimes tinged with humour. The exhibition unfolds across four thematic sections: floral and friendly correspondences, revisited myths, dreamlike bestiaries, and Southern gardens, where the Mediterranean becomes a figure of the living world.
Access
Galerie des musées – Palais de l’Europe
Palais de l’Europe, 8 avenue Boyer
Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 12pm and 2pm to 6pm. Closed on Sundays, Mondays and public holidays.
Musée jean Cocteau – Le Bastion
Quai Napoléon III - Bastion du Vieux Port
Open every day from 10am to 12.30pm and from 2pm to 6pm except Tuesdays and 1st January, 1st May, 1st November and 25th December.
Musée de Préhistoire Régionale
Rue Lorédan Larchey
Open every day from 10am to 12.30pm and from 2pm to 6pm except Tuesdays and 1st January, 1st May, 1st November and 25th December.
Locate other art venues in the vicinity on the map.
Discover our address book
PLACES TO DISCOVER
• L’usine (broker) : a slightly surreal place where you can wander through a host of antiques where bargain hunters are king.
• A Casa Dou Païgran : a house that lets visitors discover life in Menton in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
• All the guided tours offered by the heritage department are well worth a visit, whether to explore the historic centre or the gardens.
• Don't leave Menton without getting lost in the narrow streets of the old town, either on your own or accompanied by a guide of the sCity of Menton Heritage Department.
PLACES TO EAT
• Mirazur (3 stars in the Michelin guide) : Argentinian chef Mauro Colagreco has taken up residence in a 1930s building on the Italian border, between sea and sky.
• Le Paris Palace : French and Mediterranean cuisine by the sea.
• Le Bistrot 58 : excellent Italian cuisine and seafront restaurant.
• La Mandragore : local cuisine on a beautiful square in the old town.
• O' Petit Corner : a café for breakfast, a drink or a quick bite to eat. It's a very welcoming place, run by a young couple who take great care of it, on the beautiful Fontana Rosa square.
• Maison Samaran : delicatessen where you can enjoy cassoulets, foie gras and other specialities from the South-West (to take away or on the premises) or a fine wine with tasting boards.
PLACES TO STAY
• Le Dauphin (3-star hotel) : family-run hotel located on the seafront promenade. Rooms with a view, absolutely charming welcome, delicious and copious breakfast.
• Royal Westminster Vacances Bleues (3-star hotel) : ideally located, facing the sea on the Promenade du Soleil. You'll love its impeccable comfort, Belle Époque style and large exotic garden.
