Discover a Hidden Treasure: The Brady Museum in Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca is a place that I’ve been coming back to to visit because a dear friend of mine lives here. The city has about a million inhabitants and many more on the weekends and during national holidays. It’s a great location for it’s proximity to Mexico City and it’s mild climate year-round - the reason why it is also called “the city of eternal spring”. The city itself is largely residential and many chilangos prefer it as their weekend getaway from the hustle and bustle of Mexico City. There are many restaurants, cafés and a large artisanal market in the relatively concentrated center of the city.
One of the most interesting places I visited in Cuernavaca was the Brady museum. It is easy to find since it is right in the center of the city. The museum got its name from Robert Brady the previous owner of the house whose art collection constitutes the exhibition inside the house. The building itself has a long history going back, turning from being a monastery into a residential house then a museum. The original name of the building, Casa de la Torre is a reference to the tower over the entrance, which served as an observatory in the beginning of the 20th century. Robert Brady acquired the building in 1961 where he set up his residence and moved his art collection.
Brady was born in Iowa and from a young age he was interested in creating and collecting art. He lived in Venice most of his life but has traveled around the world to the most remote and unique places to collect art pieces and cultural artifacts. He discovered Cuernavaca through a friend and fellow art collector, which is when he decided to set up residence there. He bought and remodeled the old Casa de la Torre to fit his large art collection.
Four years after his death in 1986, the house was opened to the public to be viewed as a museum along with his extensive art collection. This was done as result of Brady’s will that specified that the house should be left to the municipality and opened to the public as a museum. The artworks are meticulously organized to follow the late Brady’s vision and the various arrangements are meant to evoke different emotions in the viewers. The rooms are also organized based on color and each of them communicates a specific mood and atmosphere which gives a fascinating and intimate insight into who Brady was as a person and art collector.
The museum is unique in the sense that the artworks are arranged throughout what would be a residential house, with the different rooms still set up according to their original functions, such as the dining room, bedrooms, terrace and bathrooms. You can find art there from around the world, many works coming from Africa and famous Mexican artists, such as Frida Kahlo, Rufino Tamayo and Diego Rivera among others.
Photographing the house was great fun as well due to the many colorful elements, the pleasant organization of objects and just the general layout and thought that went into setting it up. If you are in Cuernavaca, I definitely recommend that you visit this museum. The entrance fee is at around 60 pesos and it is very easy to find right in the old center of the city.
