Bequest of the Bresse family 1873 (≈ 1873)
Cabinet of curiosities bequeathed to the city.
1972
Museum expansion
Museum expansion 1972 (≈ 1972)
Addition of naive art and archaeological hall.
1987-1988
Donation Yankel
Donation Yankel 1987-1988 (≈ 1988)
One hundred naive works, raw or popular.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Key figures
Famille de Bresse - Initial donors
Legacy of the Cabinet of Curiosities (1873).
Yankel - Donor
One hundred works given via the Association of Friends.
Origin and history
The Naïve Art Museum of Annay-sur-Serein finds its origins in the legacy of 1873, when Bresse's family offered the city a cabinet of curiosities. This initial collection, composed of archaeological pieces and documents on local history, was completed in 1972 by modern and contemporary naïve art collections, as well as a room dedicated to archaeology. The institution then took on a broader museum dimension, mixing local heritage and marginal artistic expressions.
In 1987 and 1988, the museum was significantly enriched by a donation from Yankel, managed by the Association of Friends of the Naïve Noyer Art Museum. About a hundred works of naive, crude or popular art came to expand the collections, consolidating the specialisation of the place. This nucleus, combined with various themes (gallo-Roman archaeology, photography, numismatics, paleontology), made the museum a hybrid space, at the crossroads of fine arts, science and regional history.
The building itself, a former 17th-century college, adds a heritage dimension to the project. Located in one of the "100 Plus Beaux Villages de France", it now houses 1,500 m2 of permanent exhibitions. Labelled "Museum of France", it illustrates the diversity of public collections, between local heritage and openness to unknown artistic currents.
