In the aftermath of World War II, husband and wife Pierre Brache and Geneviève Bonnefoi grew interested in the artistic avant-garde that developed in response to trauma, a generation that included Fautrier, Dubuffet, Soulages, Michaux, Hartung, Hantaï, and Vieira da Silva. Opting largely for abstraction, these artists broke with tradition, their radicality supported by a handful of connoisseurs, including Brache and Bonnefoi.
In 1960, they acquired the ruins of an abbey in Beaulieu-en-Rouergue (Tarn-et-Garonne), which they turned into a center for art and bequeated to France's Center for National Monuments. Recently restored, the site is home to an exceptional collection.