{"id":271400,"date":"2026-02-06T23:17:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T23:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/271400\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T23:17:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T23:17:15","slug":"renowned-mexican-art-collection-to-be-managed-by-spanish-bank-the-art-newspaper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/271400\/","title":{"rendered":"Renowned Mexican art collection to be managed by Spanish bank – The Art Newspaper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Banco Santander announced<\/a> on 21 January that it will manage 160 works from the Gelman Collection of 20th-century Mexican art. The result of a long-term agreement with the Zambrano family, which acquired the collection in 2023, this marks a new chapter for the renowned private collection of more than 300 works (including by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera) that has largely been out of public view since 2008.<\/p>\n

Pieces from the newly branded Gelman Santander Collection will make their debut this summer in the inaugural exhibition at Faro Santander<\/a>, Fundaci\u00f3n Banco Santander\u2019s new venue in Cantabria, Spain. But the agreement is complex, as some of the works are National Artistic Monuments under Mexican law, restricting their mobility and mandating oversight by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL).<\/p>\n

The collection was started by Jacques Gelman, who was born in 1909 in St Petersburg, Russia. He arrived in Mexico in 1938 and became a central figure in the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema, producing films starring the celebrated actor Mario Moreno (known by the stage name Cantinflas). Jacques married fellow emigr\u00e9 Natasha Zahalka in 1941. The couple was close with several visual artists, including Kahlo and Rivera\u2014both of whom painted portraits of Natasha\u2014as well as Rufino Tamayo and Gunther Gerzso. Over time, the Gelmans acquired more than 90 works (later known as their \u201cseed collection\u201d) by artists including Francisco Toledo, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mar\u00eda Izquierdo and Jos\u00e9 Clemente Orozco.<\/p>\n

\u201cFormed as Modern Mexican art was unfolding, the collection reflects the ambitions of mid-20th-century collectors and the exceptional quality of Mexico\u2019s Modern movements,\u201d Ana Gardu\u00f1o, a researcher at INBAL, tells The Art Newspaper.<\/p>\n

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Diego Rivera\u2019s Portrait of Natasha Gelman (1943) \u00a9 2026 Banco de M\u00e9xico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. \/ VEGAP. Photo: Gerardo Suter<\/p>\n

The collection\u2019s prominence largely rests on its 18 Kahlo works\u2014ten paintings, seven drawings and one print. \u201cThe collection changed over time, but what sparks interest in it is mainly Kahlo\u2019s self-portraits,\u201d says James Oles, a specialist in Modern Mexican art and professor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. \u201cThere are many other relevant pieces, but these are the works\u2014initially acquired by Jacques\u2014that made it famous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following Jacques\u2019s death in 1986, Natasha continued acquiring art, advised by the American curator Robert R. Littman. When she died in 1998, Littman acted as executor of her will; he managed and expanded the collection through the Vergel Foundation, touring it internationally. (In 1998, the couple\u2019s other collection of 81 European Modern works was bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art<\/a> in New York. They also owned a pre-Hispanic collection.)<\/p>\n

In 2008 the Gelman Collection largely receded from public view, reportedly amid inheritance disputes, after being shown at Centro Cultural Muros in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Scrutiny resurfaced in November 2024, when INBAL blocked the sale of a 1940 Izquierdo painting at Sotheby\u2019s<\/a>, citing national heritage laws<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Mexico, the announcement of Santander\u2019s deal has been largely met with scepticism. Many hoped the collection would remain in the country. (Natasha\u2019s will allegedly notes that it should remain in Mexico and be shown at a private institution.) Furthermore, works by Izquierdo, Kahlo, Rivera, Siqueiros and Orozco are designated as Artistic Monuments under a 1972 Mexican law, entitling INBAL to supervise their conservation, location and reproduction. The law prohibits permanent export, allowing only regulated temporary loans.<\/p>\n

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David Alfaro Siqueiros\u2019s Portrait of Natasha Gelman (1950) \u00a9 2026 Banco de M\u00e9xico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. \/ VEGAP. Photo: Gerardo Suter<\/p>\n

Legally, though, the works are able to remain in private hands. The Santander announcement revealed that the Monterrey-based Zambrano family, owners of the cement giant Cemex, had acquired the collection in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cAuthorities can only verify that processes comply with existing laws,\u201d Gardu\u00f1o says. \u201cThey cannot intervene decisively because, despite their importance\u2014and even when some are Artistic Monuments\u2014they are private property.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mexican authorities failed to act while it was still possible to do so and, over time, the collection\u2019s value (particularly of Kahlo\u2019s works) has increased significantly. \u201cWhen Jacques was alive, Mexican authorities could have done something to acquire or negotiate the conditions on which the collection was handled or exhibited,\u201d Oles says. \u201cSadly, now it\u2019s too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fundaci\u00f3n Santander holds that it verified the legal framework. \u201cWe worked closely with INBAL,\u201d Borja Baselga, its director, told The Art Newspaper in a statement. \u201cBoth INBAL and the foundation share a priority: full compliance with customs regulations and the works\u2019 conservation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Frida Kahlo\u2019s Self-Portrait with Necklace (1933) \u00a9 2026 Banco de M\u00e9xico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. \/ VEGAP. Photo: Gerardo Suter<\/p>\n

In a statement, Mexico\u2019s cultural ministry<\/a> described the agreement as \u201cprivate\u201d but confirmed the collaboration: \u201cINBAL will supervise the works\u2019 shipment to Spain and, alongside the foundation, their conservation when they travel to exhibitions.\u201d The ministry has also verified the collection\u2019s \u201coptimal conservation\u201d, without providing details on the timeline for the temporary export. At a recent press conference, Faro Santander\u2019s director, Daniel Vega, added that conservation considerations are key.<\/p>\n

In June, nearly half of the 160 works managed by Santander\u2014including the renowned “seed collection” and a photography collection featuring works by Guillermo Kahlo, Manuel \u00c1lvarez Bravo and Graciela Iturbide\u2014will be shown at Faro Santander. \u201cThe loan request is extensive and still under review,\u201d Vega said. “It is too early to specify where the collection, or parts of it, may be shown.\u201d He described a potential presentation in Mexico as a \u201cpriority\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis remains a Mexican collection of Mexican art, which we will manage to share with the world,\u201d Baselga said at the press conference.<\/p>\n

For Gardu\u00f1o, the announcement prompts reflection. \u201cThis is an essential message for Mexican collectors who have built representative collections of national art,\u201d she says. \u201cWhat future do they want for their holdings?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Banco Santander announced on 21 January that it will manage 160 works from the Gelman Collection of 20th-century…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,153530,501,38503,156,153528,25380,153526,153529,153527,6820,111,139,69,33999,2029],"class_list":{"0":"post-271400","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-david-alfaro-siqueiros","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-diego-rivera","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-francisco-toledo","17":"tag-frida-kahlo","18":"tag-fundacion-banco-santander","19":"tag-jose-clemente-orozco","20":"tag-mexican-art","21":"tag-mexico","22":"tag-new-zealand","23":"tag-newzealand","24":"tag-nz","25":"tag-private-collections","26":"tag-spain"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}