A Letter from Linda...
January 9, 2012
Dear cherished friends and readers,
To
kick off the New Year, I’d like to share with you an exhilarating
experience I had on my holiday vacation. I went to Cuernavaca, Mexico
for some R&R and Spanish lessons, and discovered a treasure at the
Robert Brady Museum.
I had never heard of Robert Brady, and was utterly unprepared for the
intimate connection I immediately felt with his art and design,
particularly his use of color. I knew I had found a kindred spirit.
Robert
Brady was a painter, a designer and a collector of decorative art from
around the world. He was born in Iowa in the 1920s, studied art in the
U.S., and lived in Venice where he met another famous collector, Peggy
Guggenheim, who turned out to be his mentor and lifelong friend. In his
early thirties, Brady traveled to Mexico where his imagination and
creativity went full tilt. He bought a 16th century
Franciscan Monastery to live in, which included an observatory in a
tower that he used as his studio. He called it Casa de Torre.
At his direction, the museum is and will remain preserved exactly as he
left it when he died, down to the plants in the pots and the fabrics
that will be used to replace the current ones when they deteriorate from
the Mexican sun. It is, to my mind, a visceral study in color,
attention to detail, and an unerring sense of design.
It
doesn’t look like much from the street, but when I entered the
courtyard, I had to catch my breath at the sight of the perfectly
composed entry – it looked surreal, more like a painting than an actual
scene you could reach out and touch. Tall green “mother-in-law’s tongue”
plants standing at attention in colorful contrast to the vibrant terra
cotta colored stucco wall. Notice his use of straight and curved lines –
the softly rounded pots and nichos and the angles of the large
cross and pointed, linear plants. It doesn’t hurt that the building has
stunning architectural bones and that Brady’s use of local building
materials and historic detail is impeccable.
Then
I walked into the museum, and the first thing I saw was the Cantina,
and another incredible display of the principles I so strongly believe
in and talk about every month in the newsletter. This happy and joyful
room is a glorious celebration of color, culture, art, history and
whimsy. It was amazing for me to see the elements of design that I’ve
practiced and cultivated in my years of on-the-job learning with no
formal training, only my passion for art and beauty to guide me. And
here I was, standing in the hallowed sanctuary of an eminent and studied
artist and designer, and seeing those same elements and principles at
work in the creation of his ultimate masterpiece – his home. The balance
of analogous colors grounded with touches of black and white, the
combination of straight and curved lines, the soulful and strongly
textured fabrics and Mexican folk art, meticulously authentic
architectural detail – I felt like I was in a dream.
Walking
outside to the courtyard, which was essentially his outdoor living room
in this temperate climate, I was again blown away by the vivid colors
and harmony of the banquette that faces the pool. How inviting are those
bright orange and yellow cushions? They evoke irrepressible joy, and
are perfectly set off by the green columns and white background, which
also serves to frame the neutral tones in the weaving above, done by
Brady. As my eyes moved among the stripes and right angles in the
weaving, on the walls, and in the cushions, I thought I heard a voice
whisper... good design repeats itself. Clearly I was in the presence of greatness.
I hope you all are blown away by beauty in the New Year!
Love,
Linda
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It
was a thrill to see so many of my favorite mantras at work in this
mecca of art and design. The entry shows off the structure’s great bones
in the carved door, heavy lintel, stucco walls and rounded nichos. A
line of curvy planters on the wall, two more flanking the door, and a
row of arched nichos in the wall repeat the rounded shape, while the
bold greens pop in contrast against their complementary terra cotta
background.
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Brilliantly
striped orange and blue cushions and pale yellow walls are harmoniously
combined with analogous orange, pink, salmon and terra cotta pillows
and matted drawings. The warm colors are grounded by a few seemingly
random black and white plates and pillows, and cooled off by a large
green ceramic vase in the shape of a woman with hand-knittted flowers
emerging from her hat. The pillows were crafted with fabric from
traditional Mexican women’s dresses, and Brady bequeathed a supply with
specific instructions for their replacement when necessary. Now that’s attention to detail.
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Robert
Brady’s extraordinary talents and passions are in evidence in every
inch of space, indoors and out, including the courtyard banquette. His
own weaving, old reclaimed fabrics, indigenous cultural artifacts,
authentic architectural details, and a faultless eye for putting them
all together are the legacy of this brilliant artist and designer, who
devoted his life to observing, creating and collecting beauty.
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Even
this exquisite ceramic centerpiece makes a statement about Robert
Brady's eye for color, shape, texture and appreciation of art. VIve
Robert Brady y viva la Mexico!
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