The Franz Mayer Museum (Spanish: Museo Franz Mayer), in Mexico City opened in 1986 to house, display and maintain Latin America’s largest collection of decorative arts. The collection was amassed by stockbroker and financial professional Franz Mayer, who collected fine artworks, books, furniture, ceramics, textiles and many other types of decorative items over fifty years of his life. A large portion comes from Europe and Asia but most comes from Mexico itself with items dating from the 15th to the 20th centuries. Many pieces in the collection are fine handcrafts, such as textiles and Talavera pottery, and they are important because they are items that often did not survive because most did consider them worth preserving.
The museum is housed in the historic center of Mexico City in the former San Juan de Dios monastery and hospital, an 18th-century structure which was rehabilitated for the museum. In addition to displaying the items Mayer collected, of which only over a quarter is visible, the museum still makes acquisitions, hold workshops, sponsors temporary exhibits and has a café located in the center courtyard/garden.
Read more about Franz Mayer Museum: The Institution, The Building, The Collection, Franz Mayer
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“I had a long day’s work, starting at eight in the morning and ending after nine at night, but in those days [we] ... did not think of our day in terms of hours. We liked our work, we were proud to do it well, and I am afraid that we were very, very happy.”
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