La Coopérative-Musée Cérès Franco in Montolieu, southern France, reopens on 20 June after a four-year hiatus and extensive renovation. Housed in a 1939 Art Deco winery, the museum has expanded and attained Musée de France status in December 2025, fulfilling a condition attached by the late Brazilian-born Parisian art dealer Cérès Franco, who donated nearly 1,750 works. The collection includes leading proponents of the CoBrA and New Realism movements, outsider artists, and a significant focus on naïve artists from South America, particularly Brazil's Primitivos, making it France's leading collection of works by artists of Brazilian heritage.
This recognition matters because it secures the legacy of Franco's visionary independence in championing marginalized artists, and grants the museum access to a nationwide peer network and substantial financial aid from the Direction Régionale et des Affaires Culturelles (DRAC). The €4.6m remodel addressed critical infrastructure needs, including conservation work to rid the collection of insects, and ensures that artists previously ignored by French public collections are now officially preserved and supported by the state.