The Institution
The museum was founded and continues to operate as a place to house the extensive collection of art and other objects collected by Franz Mayer over fifty years of his life. Before his death in 1975, Franz Mayer set up a trust fund with the Bank of Mexico called the Franz Mayer Cultural Trusteeship. However, the museum was not opened until 1986, eleven years after his demise. It was opened in a former monastery and hospital building which was donated to the museum foundation.
The permanent exhibitions are still based on Mayer’s acquisition although researchers of the institution still look for new acquisitions. One of the latest pieces acquired by the museum is a silver skull from Guatemala . At any time, only just over a quarter of the total collection is on display at the museum, with the rest often sent out on loan to other museums. The museum has plans to expand to a second facility and to have sites in other parts of the country.
The museum studies decorative arts from the past centuries in order to see its effects on contemporary design. The museum has partnerships with modern ceramic and silver artisans to allow them to study the pieces in the collection and to allow for display of new designs and pieces. The museum offers guided tours, courses, lectures, concerts and other performing arts, children’s workshops and special activities for members. One of its attractions is its café located in the main courtyard which has been planted with a garden.
The museum hosts frequent temporary exhibits of artwork and other collections. One recent temporary exhibit was a selection of about seventy early 20th century phonographs and other sound reproduction machines restored by engineer Salvador Vélez García. For its 25th anniversary in 2011, the museum inaugurated a temporary exhibit called “Susurros” (Whispers) which is dedicated to the history of the collection. The general director of the museum is Héctor Rivero Borrell.
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“La la la, Oh music swims back to me
and I can feel the tune they played
the night they left me
in this private institution on a hill.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
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—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)