The art world is outraged over one of the most prominent collections of Mexican artwork leaving the country for Spain. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The Gelman Collection of Mexican art includes 96 works by Frida Kahlo<\/a>, her husband Diego\u00a0Rivera<\/a>, Rufino Tamayo, and many others, once owned by Natasha Gelman, who relocated to Mexico from Europe to escape World War\u00a0II. \u00a0<\/p>\n It has recently emerged that the collection was quietly sold in 2023 by its custodian, 85-year-old New York City art curator Robert Littman.<\/p>\n Mexican artist Diego Rivera painted art collector Natasha Gelman in 1943. The painting is now part of the Gelman-Santander Collection, which will soon be exhibited in northern Spain. Santander\/ Gelman Collection<\/p>\n The Jungs with Natasha Gelman in front of the portrait that Diego Rivera painted of her in 1943. Jung family archive<\/p>\n The works were acquired by the Monterrey-based Zambrano family, part owners of cement company CEMEX, who used the collection \u2014 estimated to be worth $350 million \u2014 as collateral to secure a $150 million loan from Banco Santander, a Spanish bank.<\/p>\n The financial institution then took charge of the art, rechristened it the Gelman-Santander Collection and will ship it to Spain\u00a0later this month\u00a0\u00a0for\u00a0an inaugural exhibition at the bank\u2019s new museum in its namesake city.<\/a><\/p>\n Critics point the finger at Littman for selling the works. He was named custodian in Gelman\u2019s will, which she signed in 1993, five years before her death.<\/p>\n A copy of the Spanish-language document seen by The Post stipulates that the collection by Mexican artists be kept together and deposited in a museum for the public to enjoy.<\/p>\n \u201cDiego on My Mind\u201d is one of Frida Kahlo\u2019s most famous self-portraits, and part of the Gelman collection. Santander\/ Gelman Collection<\/p>\n Littman has long proved a controversial character and spent 10 years in court fighting claims he had exerted undue influence over Gelman to gain control of her collection.<\/p>\n In a scenario reminiscent of movies like \u201cSaltburn\u201d or \u201cI Care a Lot,\u201d Littman had made his way into Gelman\u2019s life and eventually took advantage of her diminished mental faculties, her\u00a0US-based\u00a0family charged in court papers<\/a>, claims Littman denied.<\/p>\n \u201cShe had Alzheimers so she could not decide anything,\u201d Jerry Jung, 79, a cousin, told The Post. \u201cShe didn\u2019t have testamentary capacity, and it started in 1992.\u201d<\/p>\n By February 1992, Mary Chambers, a nurse who took care of her, said in an affidavit that Gelman couldn\u2019t remember \u201cnames, events, appointments, or even her \u2026 knee surgery less than 11 months earlier,\u201d The Post reported in 1999<\/a>.<\/p>\n The last time Jung and his wife Alice saw Gelman she had difficulty recognizing them and wondered aloud why she was at an exhibit in San Francisco of her own collection in 1996, accompanied by Littman, the couple told The Post.<\/p>\n Robert LIttman (right) ran the Grey Art Gallery at New York University for decades until 2024, the same year his foundation donated $85,000 to the school. Noel McGrath\/BFA \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n Jung, one of few surviving relatives of Gelman, and his wife brought legal action against Littman \u2014 an expert on Mexican art \u2014 in the US, Europe and Mexico in the early\u00a0aughts.<\/p>\n In court papers, the Jungs claimed Littman and others conspired to defraud Gelman, after she \u201chad become mentally incompetent in the last years of her life,\u201d in order to \u201cobtain control over Mrs. Gelman\u2019s substantial assets and divert them to [Defendants\u2019] personal use and benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n Littman\u2019s lawyers \u2014 paid for by\u00a0the New York-based Vergel Foundation, which he set up to control the art after Gelman\u2019s death, according to its publicly filed accounts \u2014 argued she was of sound mind when she signed.<\/p>\n Natasha Gelman stands in front of her collection of pre-Columbian artifacts in her Manhattan apartment. Her family wants to know where the collection is today. Jung family archive<\/p>\n Jerry Jung said his family spent a great deal of time with Natasha Gelman at her Park Avenue apartment, which featured some of the art that she and her husband later gave to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Jung family archive<\/p>\n The\u00a0Jungs\u00a0also argued Gelman made changes to a Liechtenstein trust in 1992 in which he was named, increasing Littman\u2019s share from one percent of assets to 31%.\u00a0He also claimed her will gave him the right to Gelman\u2019s properties in Mexico.\u00a0<\/p>\n Neither Littman or his attorney, John Koegel, returned The Post\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n The Jungs\u2019 three lawsuits were complicated by the estate being spread across multiple trusts and jurisdictions, but the eventual rulings mostly ended in Littman\u2019s favor that he was the rightful heir.<\/p>\n A copy of Natasha Gelman\u2019s 1993 will stipulates that her collection of Mexican art has to remain intact and be sent to a museum.<\/p>\n In New York, after years of court wrangling, the parties jointly discontinued the case and a judge ruled each party was liable for certain costs, with the Jungs ordered to pay almost $500,000.<\/p>\n In addition to the paintings, Natasha Gelman had a large collection of Pre-Columbian artifacts that were displayed prominently in her Park Avenue apartment, according to the Jungs, who live in Westchester.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happened to that collection?\u201d asked Jung. \u201cBob Littman always had his eye on that collection, and we don\u2019t know where it ended up.\u201d<\/p>\n The Jung family spent vacations and Christmas holidays with the Gelmans at their home in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Jung family archive<\/p>\n They also questioned what happened to Gelman\u2019s luxurious home in Cuernavaca, near Mexico City and her \u201clarge\u201d jewelry collection, which included diamonds and emeralds.<\/p>\n Littman\u2019s Vergel Foundation was set up \u201cto promote awareness and understanding of the works of twentieth century Mexican artists.\u201d<\/p>\n But in recent years, the nonprofit has been doling out cash to New York University where Littman ran the Grey Art Gallery for decades. In 2024, Littman\u2019s foundation gave the school $85,000, according to the group\u2019s latest federal filings. In the same year, the foundation paid Littman\u2019s husband $100,000 as Director and Littman himself $75,000, filings show.<\/p>\n Sully Bonnelly, who married Robert Littman in 2012, showed off his festive Thanksgiving decorations at the Gelman home in Cuernavaca, Mexico last year. Sully Bonnelly\/ Instagram<\/p>\n In previous years, some of the foundation\u2019s biggest expenses included more than $500,000 in fees to Mexican law firms during the legal challenges that the foundation faced from the Jungs.<\/p>\n The foundation also pays for the home in Cuernavaca, which the Jungs say is the same place they holidayed at.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Littman has shown throughout the course of his career and life that he is a despicable human,\u201d said Mexico City-based historian Francisco Berzunza. \u201cHe took advantage of someone who was old and frail and lonely. My question is how can Santander be associated with something like this?\u201d<\/p>\n Natasha Gelman\u2019s home in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Jung family archive<\/p>\n Over the last several weeks, Mexican art experts have called upon the government of Claudia Sheinbaum to prevent the works leaving Mexico permanently. More than 400 artists, curators and historians have signed an\u00a0open letter to authorities\u00a0<\/a>calling for greater transparency in the government\u2019s decision to allow the paintings to leave Mexico.<\/p>\n Littman had previously offered to sell the works to the Mexican government around 2000, according to a report in the New York Times.<\/p>\n According to a leading art critic, there are only seven works by Kahlo in Mexican museums. The artist painted a total of 150 works in her lifetime, she said. The Gelman Collection included what are considered two of Kahlo\u2019s masterpieces \u2014 \u201cDiego on My Mind\u201d and \u201cSelf Portrait with Necklace.\u201d<\/p>\n There are only seven paintings by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in public collections in Mexico, said an art expert. Santander\/ Gelman Collection<\/p>\n Jerry and Alice Jung\u2019s children visiting their cousin Natasha Gelman at her art-filled Park Avenue apartment. Jung family archive<\/p>\n It also included a glamorous portrait of Gelman in a white gown surrounded by calla lilies, painted by Rivera in 1943.<\/p>\n