The Gelman Collection, one of the most significant assemblies of Mexican art, is set to be relocated from Mexico to Spain amid significant controversy and legal disputes. The collection includes 96 works by renowned artists such as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Rufino Tamayo. It was originally amassed by Natasha Gelman, a Czech Catholic refugee who fled Europe during World War II and settled in Mexico.

The collection was quietly sold in 2023 by Robert Littman, an 85-year-old New York City art curator who had served as custodian of the works since Gelman’s death. The Monterrey-based Zambrano family, connected to the cement producer CEMEX, acquired the collection and used it as collateral to secure a $150 million loan from Banco Santander in Spain. Consequently, the bank assumed control of the artworks, renamed the grouping the Gelman Santander Collection, and plans to exhibit them at its new museum in Santander later this month.

The transfer has provoked backlash from Mexico’s art and cultural communities. Critics have called attention to legal and ethical concerns surrounding Littman’s role in the sale. Littman was appointed custodian in Gelman’s 1993 will, which stipulated that the collection remain intact and accessible to the public through a museum. However, Gelman’s surviving relatives, notably her cousin Jerry Jung and his wife Alice, have alleged that Littman exerted undue influence over Gelman during her final years, when she was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and was mentally incapacitated. They argue he exploited her diminished faculties to gain control over the collection and other assets, a claim Littman denies.

The legal disputes, spanning U.S., European, and Mexican courts, mostly upheld Littman’s rights to the collection. The conflicts involved complex estate trusts and arrangements. Financial records indicate Littman’s Vergel Foundation, established to manage the artwork after Gelman’s death, has supported Littman and his husband financially, as well as made donations to New York University, where Littman formerly directed the Grey Art Gallery.

Historian Francisco Berzunza criticized Littman’s conduct and questioned Banco Santander’s association with the collection under these circumstances. In response to increasing pressure from over 400 artists, curators, and historians calling on Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to intervene, Banco Santander’s foundation announced that the collection would be returned to Mexico in 2028. The bank also stated its intention to comply with Mexican laws concerning the preservation of artworks deemed national artistic monuments.

The Gelman Collection includes two of Frida Kahlo’s masterpieces, “Diego on My Mind” and “Self Portrait with Necklace,” as well as a notable 1943 Rivera portrait of Natasha Gelman. Kahlo’s works are relatively rare in Mexican public institutions, with only seven pieces currently held there.

Natasha Gelman and her husband Jacques, both refugees, accumulated a vast art collection in Mexico and abroad. The couple is more widely recognized in the United States for their European art collection housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, featuring artists such as Picasso and Matisse, gifted after Jacques Gelman’s death in 1986.

The case highlights ongoing debates over cultural heritage, ethical stewardship, and the international movement of art tied to complicated histories of ownership. The future handling of the Gelman Collection remains under close scrutiny as stakeholders from Mexico and abroad continue to assess the implications of its relocation.