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Santander secures the arrival in Spain of the Gelman Collection: 160 masterpieces of Mexican art land at Faro Santander
Banco Santander has confirmed a landmark agreement guaranteeing the arrival of the Gelman Collection, one of the most prestigious collections of modern Mexican art, to Cantabria. Thanks to this agreement with the Zambrano family, the 160 works that comprise the collection—including paintings, drawings, and prints—will have a permanent home in Spain and will be featured in the cultural program of the new Faro Santander cultural center, which will open in June.
The collection includes emblematic pieces by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Rufino Tamayo, María Izquierdo, and José Clemente Orozco, solidifying its position as an international benchmark for 20th-century Mexican art. Among the collection's treasures are 18 works by Frida Kahlo, spanning her entire career and comprising ten paintings, seven drawings, and one print, including iconic self-portraits such as Diego on My Mind, Self-Portrait with Necklace, and Self-Portrait with Monkeys.
But the collection's richness is not limited to Kahlo. It also includes fundamental works by Rivera, Tamayo, Izquierdo, Gunther Gerzso, Francisco Toledo, and David Alfaro Siqueiros, as well as a carefully curated selection of Mexican photography, with works by renowned artists such as Guillermo Kahlo, Graciela Iturbide, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Lola Álvarez Bravo, and Gabriel Figueroa, offering a broad and diverse overview of modern art in Mexico.
Frida Kahlo: VEGAP - © 2026 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico City / VEGAP.
The agreement stipulates that the Banco Santander Foundation will assume the conservation, research and exhibition of this valuable collection, working in coordination with the Ministry of Culture of Mexico and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL), institutions that have accompanied the entire process to ensure the integrity and international projection of the collection.
The president of Banco Santander, Ana Botín, celebrated the agreement as "a sign of trust and friendship between Mexico and Spain," and highlighted that it is "one of the most important collections of 20th-century art," reaffirming the bank's commitment to culture as an international bridge and a tool for artistic dissemination.
With this project, Faro Santander is positioning itself as a new cultural benchmark in Spain, offering visitors and art lovers the opportunity to explore the richness and diversity of modern Mexican art without leaving the country, and ensuring that priceless heritage pieces have a stable and accessible presence in Europe.
Gelman Collection
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection began to take shape in the 1940s thanks to the artistic passion of Jacques Gelman and Natasha Zahalka. Having settled in Mexico in 1941, the Gelmans focused their attention on modern and contemporary Mexican painting, building a collection that would become one of the most important in the country.
Jacques Gelman, with a European background in filmmaking, arrived in Mexico in 1938 and settled permanently after marrying Natasha in 1941. His work in the film industry, where he produced highly successful movies and launched Cantinflas's career, allowed him to finance his growing interest in collecting. His artistic vision and visionary drive were key to building one of the most important collections of modern Mexican art.
Diego Rivera: VEGAP - © 2026 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico City / VEGAP.
The Gelman couple created three collections of great value and diversity: one of European modern art, with 81 works by artists such as Renoir, Matisse, Kandinsky, Modigliani, Picasso, Braque, Dalí, Balthus, and Miró, which was donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1998; one of pre-Columbian sculpture, reflecting their interest in Mexico's cultural roots; and finally, a third collection dedicated to Mexican modern art, consisting of more than 90 pieces. This last collection began in 1943 with the commission of a portrait of Natasha from Diego Rivera, which marked the beginning of a profound relationship with the great masters of Mexican art.
