The strange journey of the Gelman collection: From the alleged betrayal of Cantinflas to one of Mexico’s most powerful families

A new chapter in the story of the Gelman collection has brought clarity to the whereabouts of part of the emblematic private art holding that, for decades, has been shrouded in accusations, silence, and contradictory accounts. On January 21, Banco Santander announced that it had reached an agreement with the collection’s new owners, the powerful Zambrano family, to manage what is now called the Gelman Santander collection and is made up of 160 pieces by artists such as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, María Izquierdo, Rufino Tamayo, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros. It has also announced that the works will soon be shown in Spain.

History of the collection

Jacques and Natasha Gelman met in Mexico at the end of the 1930s, during one of the former’s work trips as a film producer. The couple settled down permanently in the country in 1941 due to the Second World War, which marked the beginning of their intense labor as collectors that would define their cultural legacy. Beyond buying works, the Gelmans also became patrons of Mexican artists. Thanks to their connections, the two developed close relationships with key figures from the national art scene like Kahlo and Rivera, of whom they commissioned a portrait of Natasha surrounded by the male painter’s iconic calla lilies.

After the death of Jacques in 1986, a friendship formed between Natasha and art curator Robert R. Littman, who Natasha named executor of the collection in her will. As theirs was one of the country’s most important collections of modern art, it was the couple’s wish that the works remain in Mexico. When Natasha died, Littman created the Vergel Foundation, in the hopes of preserving the archive. Five years later, after a period abroad that allowed funds to be raised for the acquisition of new pieces, the collection finally returned to Mexico. The pieces were intended to remain for 15 years in a museum in Cuernavaca, Morelos, but in 2008, the collection was lost to public view after a series of legal proceedings that threatened to displace Littman as executor.

Dispute over rights

The first of these quarrels was initiated by a lawyer named Francisco Enrique Fuentes Olvera, who bought the inheritance rights to the assets not included in Natasha’s will from her half-brother, Mario Sebastián Zawalka. The purchase meant that anything not clearly accounted for in the will would become the property of Fuentes. At the time, Littman described the ruling as “illegal and irrational,” and said that his removal as executor was invalid.

Another legal episode related to the Gelman collection involves one of Mexico’s most beloved men: the actor Mario Moreno, better known as Cantinflas. The relationship between the cinema icon and Jacques Gelman began when the producer started financing the actor’s films. In addition to their professional affiliation, they became great friends and, according to some accounts, it was Moreno who introduced Jacques to several painters.

In accordance with the version of events presented by Cantinflas’s family, Littman had taken advantage of Natasha Gelman’s supposed Alzheimer’s disease after her husband’s death to be appointed executor of the collection. Mario Moreno Ivanova, the actor’s son, claimed to be the legitimate heir of part of the collection, arguing that Jacques Gelman had been his godfather. But his complaint filed with the Attorney General’s Office of the Federal District was unsuccesful after there was deemed to be insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges, and eventually, the statute of limitations expired.

In 2025, Cantinflas’s grandson, Mario Moreno del Moral, brought the case to social media. In a video posted to TikTok, the young man said that his grandfather had been betrayed by Jacques Gelman after some of the paintings acquired by the famous comedian had been incorporated into the collection due to their cultural value. According to this version, there had been an agreement that the works would eventually come under the control of Rioma Films, the production company in which the two men had been partners. “Jacques dies in 1986 without respecting the deal they had, and completely forgetting he had given his word to my grandfather. He left the transfer of rights to all his works to his wife, including those that had belonged to my grandfather,” said Moreno del Moral.

Mysterious reappearance

After these legal problems, Littman decided to keep a low profile and in the years that followed, there were few signs of the collection’s whereabouts. It wound up divided into three sections: Mexican art, pre-Columbian sculpture (whose location is still unknown), and another which was dedicated to European modern art, with works by artists like Picasso, Mondrian, Kandinsky and Dalí, which has for years been exhibited at the MoMA in New York.

In 2024, several of the Mexican pieces were put up for sale in New York by Sotheby’s. As the works had been declared a national artistic asset, there are specific conditions regarding their protection, which led the Mexican Institute of Fine Arts and Literature to suspend their auction to ensure compliance with legal provisions. The situation raised alarms over the possibility that Littman was gradually dismantling the collection by selling pieces separately. Experts have lamented that the Mexican government did not make significant efforts to recover the collection and secure its definitive return to the country.

Following the controversy came the announcement of the works’ acquistion by the monied Zambrano family, whose fortune was amassed thanks to the legacy of Monterrey businessman Lorenzo Zambrano Gutíerrez, founder of Cemex. According to a statement from Banco Santander, the Zambrano family came to an agreement with the Vergel Foundation to buy the pieces in 2023, which has led to even more doubts, given that the role of executor implies that an asset may not be sold unless the will explicitly gives one permission to do so — and Natasha Gelman’s will has never been made public.

For their part, directors at Banco Santander have said that the document is clear in having left ownership of the collection in the hands of Robert R. Littman. “We have done all the necessary research to confirm the information. We have no doubt about Robert Littman’s ability to transfer the assets to the Zambranos,” said Daniel Vega Pérez, director of the new Faro Santander center, where the pieces will be exhibited.

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