Press release  

Montsoreau, 26 May 2022  

THE FRANÇOIS MORELLET PRIZE 2022 AWARDED TO BERNARD MARCADÉ  

On Monday 9 May 2022, after deliberation by the jury, the François Morellet Prize 2022 was awarded to Bernard Marcadé for his book Francis Picabia, rastaquouère published on 13 October 2021 by Flammarion.  

An art historian, professor of aesthetics and art history, art critic and exhibition curator, Bernard Marcadé is the author of Marcel Duchamp. La vie à crédit published by Flammarion and Magritte published by Citadelles & Mazenod. He has also organised numerous exhibitions, including Les infamies photographiques de Sigmar Polke, Le BAL, Paris, 2018-2019 (with Diane Dufour), Féminin Masculin, Le sexe de l'art (with Marie-Laure Bernadac, MNAM Centre Pompidou, 1995), Je ne crois pas aux fantômes, mais j'en ai peur (Grand Palais, 2006), On dirait le Sud, cartographies sentimentales et documentaires (CRAC Sète, 2007) and Fabrice Hyber, 43795 M² (CRAC, Sète, 2015, with Noëlle Tissier), Courant d'art au rayon de la quincaillerie paresseuse (Observatoire du BHV, Paris, 2010)  

Under the honorary presidency of Danielle Morellet, his biography of Francis Picabia, "The greatest representative of freedom in art" according to Marcel Duchamp, was unanimously designated winner of the François Morellet Prize 2022.  

The jury was composed of Philippe Méaille, President of the Château de Montsoreau - Museum of Contemporary Art, Marie-Caroline Chaudruc, Director of the Château de Montsoreau, Frédéric Morellet, Danielle Morellet and Jean-Maurice Belayche, co-founder of the National Book and Wine Days.  

The award ceremony will take place on Sunday 26 June 2022 at the Saumur theatre during the 26th edition of the Journées nationales du Livre et du Vin (National Book and Wine Days), with the theme of cinema. Bernard Marcadé will sign his book for the public on 25 and 26 June.  

The François Morellet Prize  

The François Morellet Prize was created in 2016 by Jean-Maurice Belayche, Philippe Méaille and François Morellet and is the only prize to which François Morellet agreed to give his name. It is part of a collaboration between the Château de Montsoreau - Musée d'Art Contemporain and the Journées Nationales du Livre et du Vin and rewards each year a literary work or an author for his commitment to contemporary art.  

Previous winners: Catherine Millet (2016), Michel Onfray (2017), Eric de Chassey (2018), Bernar Venet (2019), Kenneth Goldsmith (2020), ORLAN (2021). 

The National Book and Wine Days 

Created in 1996 in Saumur, around the personality of Jean Carmet, the National Book and Wine Days are at the crossroads of two fundamental elements of French heritage: literature and wine.  

Echoing the great literary tradition of the Loire Valley carried by Ronsard, du Bellay, Sade, Balzac, Dumas, Flaubert, Sand, Morand, Green, Genet and Rabelais, they bring together prestigious writers, critics, sommeliers and oenologists for two days of round tables, literary cafés, readings and dedications, to the rhythm of François Rabelais' "Dive Bouteille".  

The Château de Montsoreau - Museum of Contemporary Art  

Created in April 2016 on the initiative of French contemporary art collector Philippe Méaille, the Château de Montsoreau - Musée d'art contemporain is a radical, committed, living place.  

Located in a Château on the Loire, two hours from Paris, in the Loire Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage site, it has an outstanding architecture, collection and exhibition spaces that place it among the international institutions dedicated to contemporary art.  

Its permanent collection represents the world's most important collection of works from the Art & Language movement, the pioneering artistic movement of Conceptual Art.  The cultural programme of the Château de Montsoreau-Musée d'art contemporain reflects the creative wealth of today's artists. Innovative, experimental and unexpected, it is organised around temporary exhibitions, events, meetings, concerts and performances. 

Press contact 

presse.chateaudemontsoreau@gmail.com  

tel. 02 41 67 12 60  

www.livreetvin.com  

www.chateau-montsoreau.com