Casa de los Venados — Attraction in Valladolid

First of all the art itself. It's Mexican folk art, so a genre that needs to be handled with care. As you might expect, lots of bright colours, busy street scenes and plenty of skulls... and there is a lot of it, coming at you from all sides as soon as you walk in. Initial impressions are great, with plenty of eye candy and lots to entertain the kid in all of us. But wait... then there is another room ... and another room. There is no real organising principle, other than what might look good in a particular spot or space and the designs, motifs and colours start to repeat, and stick to the roof of your mouth...

More importantly, none of the art is attributed, so you learn nothing about the artist, their heritage or the artistic tradition in which they are working. For a museum that purports to be of the art of the people this is a serious omission. Where is the context ? What's the history ? Where (in this complex country) is the politics ? Surely there is more that can and should be said about the art we are looking at ?

The error is compounded by a rather unfortunate focus on the patron and collector. I guess this is not unusual in the art world but is nevertheless still rather unattractive. Only one piece was singled out for specific comment on our guided tour, on the basis that it was the first piece in the collection, an attribute that speaks more to the history and evolving taste of the collector than it does to the art itself. The effect was heightened by a rather obsequious tour guide who insisted on inviting us to admire the good taste of the collector at every turn, and especially by the visit to the owners private quarters, where in a rather uncomfortable ten minutes we held our breath wondering if we might have the opportunity to meet the great man himself, before being informed that no he would not be meeting visitors that day.

So my advice to the Casa de los Venados - decide if you are going to be a museum or a private house, the combination does not work well if you are going to be a museum, do it properly. Give credit to the artists, organise the collection so your visitors can make sense of it and give us some information, context and intellectual stimulation to go with the eye-candy retrain your tour guides so they are better informed about the art than they are about the owners rename the collection if you want (credit where credit is due..) but then leave your role and ego above the door. If the Getty museum can do it then I'm sure you can too...

To my fellow travellers - worth a visit but expect to come away feeling like a kid at the end of a...

DO NOT MISS THIS PLACE. "Modern Art" may not be your thing, but you do not want to miss this. The "museum" is a private home that is open for public tours a few times a day. We went to the 1 pm tour. There was another planned for 3 pm. Not sure what other times are scheduled. It was a little confusing because you walk up and ring the doorbell if no one is at the door, but the building is well-marked. If you ring the doorbell and it isn't a tour time, a person will answer and tell you the time for the next tour.

On to the tour itself: the owners of the house made it their lives' mission to collect handcrafted Mexican folk art. When they moved to Valladolid in retirement, they bought an old colonial-era building and renovated it to modern standards. It's a great tour for both the art and the architecture. Our tour guide was a quadrilingual professional who seemed to know about everything in the house. He's fun and gives a lot of valuable information about the culture and the city while talking about the art. He explained the treatment of skeletons in Mexican art and the treatment of death in modern Mayan religious philosophy, both of which helped us understand the art better. The building is a beautiful hacienda and the art will give you insight into the culture around you.

There's a donation box at the end. Proceeds go to a local charity. Tips can be handed directly to the...

An interesting experience. The house is wonderful and full of Mexican popular art lovingly curated by the owners. Guided Tours are given 5x a day starting 11am every hour till 3pm and available both in English and Spanish The owner of the house lives in situ with his lovely pet schnauzer Mia and occasionally you can chat with him. This is a private home and private museum. Ring the doorbell at your allocated tour time for access. There is no entry fee but a donation is suggested. All donations are given to local charities and not for the museum. All in all a must see if you're in Valladolid. A old home conserved and restored in the main living areas and upgraded at the back with lovely arquitecture and sculptures. Inside you will find pictures of the original home and stages of the restoration and conservation.The art collection is Popular Mexican Art and quite noteworthy as most pieces were commissioned by the owners from Mexican towns and communities both near and far as the travelled around Mexico. As per the wishes of the owners ,this home will soon be donated to the city and officially become a full ...