Editing Château de Montsoreau (section)

=== Contemporary period ===
[[File:Chateau de Montsoreau Museum of contemporary art.jpg|thumb|left|Aerial view of the castle]]The widow of Louis Francois II de Bouchet Sourches, Marquis of Tourzel, sold the château and what remained of the domain of Montsoreau after 1804. Following the sale of the property, the building was occupied by 19 different homeowners who reshaped the site. The external condition of the main building is known through various representations and descriptions made in the second half of the nineteenth century, which reflect the disrepair of the property.<ref>Significant views of the château before restoration : A.D. Maine-et-Loire, Coll. Icon. Célestin Port, Carton 27</ref> By 1910, the château had deteriorated and this moved the members of the French Archaeological Society ({{Ill|French Archaeological Society|lt=Société Française d'Archéologie|fr|Société française d'archéologie}}). Senator Geoffre asked the [[Maine et Loire]] department General Council to intervene. The department gradually acquired each property after 1913, Restoration works were undertaken in 1923 and continued until the [[Second World War]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.maine-et-loire.fr/conseil-departemental/grands-projets/soutien-des-sites-patrimoniaux-majeurs/montsoreau/|title=Le château de Montsoreau|date=2016|website=Conseil départemental du Maine-et-Loire|access-date=12 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728211415/http://www.maine-et-loire.fr/conseil-departemental/grands-projets/soutien-des-sites-patrimoniaux-majeurs/montsoreau/|archive-date=28 July 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After a new programme of restoration between 1997 and 2001, the château opened to visitors on 6 July 2001 with a ''[[Son et lumière (show)|son-et-lumiere]]'' entitled "The Imaginaries of Loire" which attracted about 35,000 visitors a year.

In June 2015, the Maine and Loire council leased the Château to [[Philippe Méaille]], to create the [[Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art]] which opened to the public in April 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mutualart.com/Article/Combining-Past--Present-and-Future--The-/DCC6DC54DE5810EF|title=Combining Past, Present and Future: The Contemporary Art Museum at Château de Montsoreau|website=Mutual Art}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-collector-turned-15th-century-french-castle-contemporary-art-destination|title=The Collector Who Turned a 15th-Century French Castle into a Contemporary Art Destination|last=Chernick|first=Karen|date=20 September 2019|website=Artsy|language=en|access-date=23 October 2019}}</ref> Its collection holds artworks by the [[Art & Language]] group, and organizes temporary shows, conferences and symposia.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=de Montjoie|first=Daisy|date=25 June 2016|title=Philippe Méaille installe sa collection au Château de Montsoreau|url=https://www.connaissancedesarts.com/art-contemporain/philippe-meaille-installe-sa-collection-au-chateau-de-montsoreau-1126444/|journal=Connaissance des Arts}}<br/>- {{Cite journal|last=Gleadell|first=Colin|date=23 June 2015|title=Largest Collection of Radical Conceptualists Art & Language Finds a Home in a French Château|url=https://news.artnet.com/market/art-language-philippe-meaille-french-chateau-310458|journal=Artnet News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hyperallergic.com/522074/chateau-de-montsoreau-museum-of-contemporary-art-art-and-language/|title=A Historic Conceptual Art Group Has Taken Over a French Château|date=14 October 2019|website=Hyperallergic|language=en-US|access-date=23 October 2019}}</ref>