The Museo Jose Luis Cuevas.

Editor's Note: Paco Ignacio Taibo I is a friend of Jose Luis Cuevas and has collaborated with the artist on two books, Taibo, Cuevas; Cuevas Taibo: Mano a Mano [Taibo, Cuevas; Cuevas, Taibo: Hand in Hand]and Retrato de Cuevas [Portrait of Cuevas], and a collection of ten engravings, Personajes de Quinta Avenida [Characters of Fifth Avenue], for which he wrote the accompanying text. Cuevas and Taibo travel together giving lectures entitled "A Dos Botes" [Singing Together], in which the artist and writer give their views on art, culture, and life.

The Museo Jose Luis Cuevas opened in 1993. Its collection features the private collection of the artist, including many of his own works and those of artists and friends he has collected over the years.

It was originally a convent, with high walls and a beautiful central patio. But that did not deter Jose Luis Cuevas from using one of the rooms to display the elegant brass bed which--according to the artist--had witnessed many a major amorous skirmish.

The opening of the Museo Jose Luis Cuevas in Mexico City's historic district, where palaces and narrow streets abound, has triggered unending arguments.

In the center of the patio, Cuevas set up an enormous piece of sculpture that he himself designed. The figure thus displayed would be difficult to catalog: An obviously female giant when viewed from the front becomes an equally obvious male of the species when seen from the rear. An imaginative, irreverent, and self-worshiping prankster, Cuevas swears that some magic and mysterious hand contrived to carve an image of his own face in the right knee of the giantess. The likeness is easily perceived by anyone approaching the immense statue.

Some visitors are particularly excited by the erotica room, where are displayed the engravings that reproduce Cuevas sketches of actual scenes in bordellos and cabarets.

Death and carnal pleasure, depicted with a lively imagination and a talent that is apparent in every stroke of the pen, go hand in hand in the museum. But Cuevas is not, to borrow the words of a popular Mexican song, a "monedita de oro" [precious little gold coin] everyone adores. Quite the contrary. There are many who detest his aggressive style and lack of inhibition, which never fail to shock the observer. Well acquainted with the mysteries of cinematic art, he manipulates data and even concocts events, drawing on his encyclopedic memory for plausible details.

The museum has become a must-see for all tourists, some of whom may be surprised to discover that their guide one free morning is the painter himself. A true friend to those whose affection be enjoys but the implacable enemy of anyone he suspects of not liking him, Cuevas makes space available in his museum to all of his artist friends. This means that his enemies are not permitted on the premises.

One of the rooms is devoted to paintings that the artist has collected over the years, including some examples of Picasso's best periods, as well as Dali, and fellow Mexicans Manuel Felgueres and Vicente Rojo. While critics of Cuevas's unbridled vanity back their claims with strong arguments, it is equally true that he is boundlessly generous. He has practically denuded the walls of his own home to donate his finest works--along with those of other painters--to the museum.

A number of museums in the Mexican capital are devoted to the works of some of the country's best known artists, such as Rufino Tamayo and Diego Rivera. But what upsets the most hostile critics is that Cuevas, in his own lifetime (and when he has only recently turned sixty!) should have one of his own.

Mother source of criticism is the fact that his wife, Berta, has been chosen as the director of the museum, which suggests the nepotistic leanings of a family surrounding the painter with a mixture of love, solidarity, and carefree camaraderie.

The museum is located next to the San Carlos Escuela de Pintura: another break with tradition, since the school's alumni include a number of illustrious painters who would be shocked by the free-flowing lines and brilliance of a draftsman who is unequaled in the world.

In a country that has produced major innovators in the plastic arts, Cuevas has come to represent both the continuity of a tradition and a permanent break with the past. Following in the footsteps of those who preceded him, he manages to be not only different but also opposite: He is a paragon of contrariness.

A city of artworks, Mexico's capital is much more than an urban conglomerate: It offers a long visit where one can spend time in one museum after another experiencing a series of emotional surprises. And, among so many and such beautiful museums, the Museo Jose Luis Cuevas is not only surprising but also electrifying. At the same time, it is unquestionably the most personal: an essential quality in matters of art.

Paco Ignacio Taibo I is in charge of cultural affairs for the newspaper El Universal, in Mexico City. He has written some forty books that reflect his many interests in art and culture.