Franz Mayer Museum - Franz Mayer

Franz Mayer

Franz Mayer-Traumann Altschu was born in 1882 in Mannheim Germany. He arrived to Mexico in 1905. He left the country for a time during the Mexican Revolution but returned permanently in 1913. In that year he married María Antonieta de la Macorra but she died shortly after. Mayer would never remarry and would not have any children. Mayer became an extremely successful businessman, mostly working in stocks and other financial services, gaining his Mexican citizenship in 1933.

Mayer had a number of hobbies including photography and travel in Mexico and abroad. As a photography, he admired Hugo Brehme and collected some photographs. These and photographs Mayer took himself are now part of the museum collection. However he is best known for his collection of decorative arts which filled his house in the Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood, and first registered by Gonzalo Obregón, an antiques dealer, in 1953. He began collecting textiles as early as 1905, often buying Mexican ones to send to family and friends in Europe as gifts. As a collector, Mayer amassed more than 10,000 works of art and a similar number of books. Mayer began collecting fine art through different auction houses beginning in 1933, with many of the catalogues from these house at the museum. The museum also has a collection of letters Mayer wrote inquiring specialists about acquired pieces or those he had an interest in. Art was followed by books, including various editions of Don Quixote and the collecting of Talavera ceramics and tile began in 1943. Mayer also had a collection of orchids, cactus and azaleas, cared for by a gardener named Felipe Juárez.

In 1963, Mayer decided to set up a trust fund for the purpose of donating his collection to a museum dedicated to it. The Bank of Mexico was chosen as the trustee. The donation was finalized on Mayer’s death in 1975 and the museum to house it was opened in 1986.