Banco Santander announced on 21 January that it will manage 160 works from the Gelman Collection of 20th-century Mexican art, following a long-term agreement with the Zambrano family, which acquired the collection in 2023. The newly branded Gelman Santander Collection will debut this summer at Faro Santander, the bank's new venue in Cantabria, Spain. The collection, started by Russian-born film producer Jacques Gelman and his wife Natasha, includes major works by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Rufino Tamayo, and others, but has been largely out of public view since 2008 amid inheritance disputes. The agreement is complicated by Mexican law, which designates many works as National Artistic Monuments, restricting their permanent export and requiring oversight by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL).
The deal matters because it raises significant questions about the preservation and accessibility of Mexico's cultural heritage. Many in Mexico are skeptical, hoping the collection would remain in the country, especially since Natasha Gelman's will allegedly states it should stay in Mexico and be shown at a private institution. The involvement of a Spanish bank and the Zambrano family, owners of cement giant Cemex, adds a layer of corporate and international dimension to the stewardship of these nationally important artworks. The case also highlights ongoing tensions between private ownership, national heritage laws, and the global art market, as seen in INBAL's 2024 block of a Sotheby's sale of a painting from the collection.