Gelman Collection of Mexican art on exhibit in Mexico for first time in 2 decades

Amidst the bustle of the Mexican just successful Madrid, a bureaucratic subplot was unfolding: The top backstage postulation of Mexican modern creation was being handed implicit to a Spanish slope for an indefinite period. This was the mysterious and erstwhile “lost” Gelman collection, successful which large artists similar Frida Kahlo, María Izquierdo, Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and others recovered a location for their artwork.

But earlier going abroad, it was announced that the Gelman postulation volition person a three-month grounds astatine the Museo de Arte Moderno successful Mexico City. 

Jacques and Natasha Gelman

Jacques and Natasha Gelman assembled 1 of the world’s top creation collections, but contention has surrounded it since their deaths. (Gelman Collection)

As the children they couldn’t have, Jacques and Natasha Gelman raised their collections to beryllium among the astir important of the 20th century. Although 2 collections grew together, parallel to the interests of Jacques and Natasha, we should alternatively see them portion of a trio due to the fact that they created a 3rd postulation of pre-Columbian sculpture whose determination is obscurity to beryllium recovered to this day.

Let’s speech astir the ones we bash cognize about: The Gelmans were passionate astir European art, arsenic some came from Eastern Europe, which led them to physique a postulation of the European Masters. A enactment of 47 paintings displayed works by Matisse, Picasso and Miró, and was exhibited astatine the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) successful 1989. In 2001, the MET became the imperishable location of this postulation aft the Gelmans’ death, pursuing negotiations with executor Robert Littman. As William S. Lieberman wrote successful his instauration to the catalogue:

“Although acquired for idiosyncratic enjoyment and ne'er intended arsenic a survey, the Gelmans’ prime of European paintings and drawings is astonishingly coherent. Its prime is superbly sustained, and I find it hard — possibly intolerable — to suggest immoderate different backstage enactment likewise defined successful absorption that is of comparable caliber.”

The creation collections

A representation of the legendary Mexican histrion Mario Moreno arsenic his beloved quality Cantinflas, painted by Rufino Tamayo. (Fundación Santander)

On the different hand, the mates gathered artworks from their chosen home, Mexico, wherever they met aft Jacques emigrated present successful 1938. They aboriginal joined successful 1941. This was the twelvemonth erstwhile their collections were born.

Upon his accomplishment successful Mexico, Jacques became 1 of the astir important producers of Mexican movie history. Along with actors Mario Moreno and Santiago Reachi Fayad, helium helped to make Cantinflas, an iconic quality successful “Golden Age” Mexican Cinema.

Gelman became affluent from the movies, arsenic good arsenic a bully person of Moreno. As they grew closer, Moreno introduced Gelman to the radical of intellectuals helium belonged to, which included Rufino Tamayo, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. 

From here, the Gelmans started not lone collecting creation but besides commissioning portraits from these artists. Natasha was painted by Rivera, Kahlo and Siqueiros, among galore different artists, making these artworks connection pieces of the collection.  

“There are 2 kinds of collectors: those who ain a postulation and those who are owned by it. Jacques and Natasha Gelman were the latter,” said creation historiographer Pierre Schneider, a person of the Gelmans. 

A mislaid archive

A representation of Natasha Gelman, done successful 1943 by Frida Kahlo. (Facebook)

Jacques and Natasha dedicated their lives to the Mexican collection, but the communicative took a crook aft Jacques died successful 1986. An 88-year-old widowed Natasha began to endure from Alzheimer’s disease. That was erstwhile a secondary quality became the look of the postulation and, therefore, of the doubts that came to situation it: Robert Littman.

Littman was nary newcomer successful the creation world. He had been the manager of Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Rufino Tamayo and an creation advisor to the precocious Televisa proprietor Emilio Azcárraga and his wife, Paula Cusi. Littman had been acquainted with Jacques, a Tamayo Museum committee member, since the aboriginal 1980s, erstwhile Littman joined the depository board.

Littman was, for years, a large person to Jacques and Natasha, truthful it was not wholly astonishing that helium was named the trustee for the Gelman estate, though determination are immoderate escaped ends to this mentation of the story. Littman began taking liberties that the Gelmans whitethorn not person agreed with, specified arsenic expanding the postulation aft some were deceased and selling pieces of it, adjacent though Natasha and Jacques had stated that each the pieces should enactment together. 

Littman’s stewardship of the Mexican collection 

The Gelman Mexican postulation was concisely exhibited successful 2004 successful the Gelmans’ past location of Cuernavaca, astatine the recently created Muros taste center. But contention took it retired quickly.

After the Gelmans’ deaths, the Mexican authorities offered to plan a abstraction for their imperishable accumulation astatine the Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL), and conscionable similar astatine the MET, that abstraction would carnivore the Gelmans’ names. But Littman refused, saying that Natasha had asked that the postulation stay successful backstage hands. So instead, the Fundación Cultural Parque Morelos was founded to beryllium successful complaint of managing the artworks.

“The knowing betwixt america was that the postulation would yet find a harmless and unafraid state-of-the-art backstage installation to location it wrong the borders of Natasha’s adopted land, Mexico,” explained Littman successful the catalogue of the Gelman collection, edited for its archetypal accumulation successful 2004 astatine the Muros halfway successful Cuernavaca. 

Littman stated that the postulation was “coming home” due to the fact that the pieces had yet recovered a permanent, backstage abode successful Cuernavaca, wherever the Gelmans spent their past years. But determination was a batch of buzz astir this depository due to the fact that it was built connected the onshore that had erstwhile belonged to the aged Casino de la Selva, a historical gathering successful Cuernavaca. The question for the historical building’s extortion and the rumors astir the Gelman postulation made this grounds ephemeral, lasting conscionable a fewer weeks.

After that, Littman (using his recently created Fundación Vergel) continued to beryllium successful complaint of the collection, but not without issues. The artworks stepped retired of the nationalist eye, making them hard to way with lone hints present and then: an grounds successful Australia, a unusual auction astatine Sotheby’s, an allegation from Natasha’s member and lone heir, and adjacent a assertion by Mario Moreno’s family, who declared Jacques and Mario had arranged for the second to beryllium successful possesion of the pieces erstwhile Gelman died. That, of course, ne'er happened.

After each these issues, Littman yet sold the postulation to Lorenzo Zambrano, a subordinate of the household that founded CEMEX, an important gathering materials institution successful Mexico. 

A breached past will

Mexico’s Secretary of Culture, Claudie Curiel de Icaza, inaugurated the caller exhibition, “Relatos modernos: Obras emblemáticas de la Colección Gelman Santander,” presently showing astatine the Museo de Arte Moderno successful Mexico City connected Feb. 16. (Gobierno de Mexico)

Now we person a wholly antithetic scenario: Fundación Santander, the taste helping of the Spanish bank, precocious announced that the Gelman postulation would beryllium exhibited astatine its caller facilities for an undetermined period.

This breaks 1 of Natasha’s requests that the artworks enactment successful Mexico, though it is not an isolated case: Dolores Olmedo’s postulation (which besides includes works by Mexican masters) was successful a akin concern erstwhile it was astir removed from its authoritative tract successful Xochimilco, Mexico City. The reopening of her depository is planned for 2026. 

As for the collection’s caller manager (Zambrano is inactive the owner), Santander has stated that everything astir the modulation has gone smoothly and nether the supervision of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL). But doubts person been raised astir whether the temporary, undefined play of custodianship by Santander should hap astatine all.

A abbreviated halt successful Mexico City

The announcement of the collection’s show astatine Museo de Arte Moderno successful Mexico City has decidedly taken america by surprise, since neither Bellas Artes nor the Santander Foundation mentioned it successful the archetypal property releases. Now, 68 of the 160 pieces that volition beryllium sent to Spain volition beryllium disposable for viewing successful Mexico successful the grounds “Relatos modernos. Obras emblemáticas de la Colección Gelman Santander,” which volition beryllium unfastened from Feb. 17 to May 17, 2026. 

Lydia Leija is simply a linguist, writer and ocular storyteller. She has directed 3 diagnostic films, and her audiovisual enactment has been featured successful nationalist and planetary media. She’s been portion of National Geographic, Muy Interesante and Cosmopolitan.