Mexico’s art community calls for greater transparency in management of treasured collection

More than 350 cultural professionals in Mexico signed an open letter calling for greater transparency and compliance with heritage laws in the management of the Gelman Collection, a major trove of 20th-century Mexican art that includes 18 works by Frida Kahlo. The letter followed news that the Monterrey-based Zambrano family acquired the collection in 2023 and that a Spanish bank will oversee conservation, research, and exhibition of the rebranded Gelman Santander Collection, comprising 160 works. Although privately owned, 30 works are designated national artistic monuments under Mexican law and require oversight by INBAL; signatories including curator Cuauhtémoc Medina and artists Mónica Meyer and Teresa Margolles emphasized that Kahlo works face the strictest export controls. The collection is currently being shown at Mexico City’s Museo de Arte Moderno in an exhibition extended through July, featuring ten Kahlo paintings such as Self-Portrait with Monkeys (1943) and Self-Portrait with Necklace (1933), marking its first display in Mexico in 18 years after a 2023 showing at the Art Gallery of South Australia.

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