Santander,
The Banco Santander Foundation has reached an agreement with the Zambrano family for the long-term management of the Gelman Collection, one of the most relevant collections of 20th century Mexican art, which will be renamed the Gelman Santander Collection. This is a renewable deposit for which the financial details have not been revealed, but which will allow the Banco Santander Foundation to undertake the conservation, research and dissemination of a key selection of this historic collection.
The set that Santander will manage includes the seed collection and will be made up of 168 works from a larger collection (about 300 works) acquired by the Zambrano family in 2023. This Mexican family, with a distinguished business career, then became the owner of the Gelman Collection after an agreement with the Vergel Foundation, created by Robert R. Littman, executor of Natasha Gelman and former director of the Tamayo Museum, to manage the artistic legacy gathered since the 1940s by Jacques and Natasha Gelman.
The Gelman Santander Collection brings together fundamental pieces by artists such as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Rufino Tamayo and María Izquierdo, as well as an extraordinary collection of Mexican photography that functions almost as an autonomous collection, with essential authors such as Manuel and Lola Álvarez Bravo, Graciela Iturbide and Guillermo Kahlo, Frida’s father and great precursor of Mexican photography. Along with the famous core of 18 works by Frida Kahlo: 10 paintings, 7 drawings and 1 lithograph, the paintings of Diego Rivera also stand out, key to understanding the construction of Mexican artistic modernity.
The Gelman Santander Collection will be presented at Faro Santander, the bank’s new cultural center in the city, located in the historic Pereda Building (former headquarters), completely renovated by architect David Chipperfield. The space will open its doors at the end of June 2026 and will be directed by Daniel Vega, who will assume the artistic direction of the center. The Santander Foundation emphasizes that the incorporation of the Gelman Collection will be an essential pillar of its programming and will be in permanent dialogue with the Banco Santander Collection, which has more than a thousand pieces from different periods and disciplines.
In addition to its exhibition in Santander, it is planned that the Gelman Santander Collection may be shown in other exhibitions and museums around the world. Work is also being done so that it can be shown again in Mexico. One of the most delicate aspects of this entire operation is precisely the consideration of some of the pieces in the collection as Mexican National Heritage, which would force them to periodically return to their country of origin. The Santander Foundation indicates that formulas are being studied together with INBAL (National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature) that make it possible to make Mexican regulations compatible with the international vocation of the project.
For the moment, we will have to wait until June to be able to see this outstanding set of works of Mexican art in its new location, with which Banco Santander reinforces its commitment to culture and patronage.
