Jean Cocteau Museum – Séverin Wunderman Collection

The Jean Cocteau Museum holds the largest collection of Cocteau's work in the world, donated to Menton by the American collector Séverin Wunderman. Cocteau — painter, filmmaker, playwright, and all-round provocateur — left a sprawling output, and the museum traces it across media: paintings, drawings, tapestries, ceramics, photographs, and manuscripts.

The building itself is a striking piece of contemporary architecture on the seafront promenade. Even visitors unfamiliar with Cocteau's films or writing will find things to engage with here — the sheer range of his curiosity is compelling, and the biographical rooms explain why he was such a central figure in 20th-century French culture.

things to do museum
A story
The collection was assembled by Séverin Wunderman, an American watch designer who spent decades tracking down Cocteau's work across Europe. When he died in 2005 he left more than 1,800 pieces to the city of Menton — a town he had never visited. Menton built a purpose-designed museum to house it, which opened in 2011.