The Faro Santander museum opened on Monday, September 7, in Santander, Spain, with the Gelman Collection as the centerpiece of its inaugural program: 18 works by Frida Kahlo and pieces by Diego Rivera, María Izquierdo, Rufino Tamayo, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros, according to El Universal.
The collection, assembled by collectors Jacques and Natasha Gelman, is privately owned and traveled to Spain after Banco Santander signed an agreement in January with the Zambrano family for its management. That temporary transfer generated months of scrutiny in Mexico, where the works are protected under national law: the legislation permits their display abroad but not their sale, as they form part of the country's cultural heritage, as Aristegui Noticias reported. President Claudia Sheinbaum stated on several occasions that the paintings would return to the country "as the law requires." Museum officials then delayed the opening, originally planned for June, to ensure the pieces would be cared for "with complete knowledge and respect," as Faro Santander director Daniel Vega indicated.
The new museum occupies the bank's historic headquarters, an 1795 building overlooking the Bay of Santander that British architect David Chipperfield, winner of the 2023 Pritzker Prize, transformed into a space of more than 10,000 square meters. The exhibition "Modern Mexico in the Gelman Santander Collection," curated by Marisol Argüelles, brings together nearly one hundred works and will remain open through January 10, 2027. Spain's King Felipe VI attended the inauguration. Banco Santander chair Ana Botín opened the event with a "Thank you, Mexico" and recalled that the institution arrived in the country in 1954, with the same energy that today, she said, makes the return journey to discover that art in Cantabria.
In parallel, the museum is showing "Symptomatic Surrealism: Leonora Carrington" through January 31, 2027, and its calendar includes screenings, concerts, and talks around Día de los Muertos. The Gelman Collection can be visited in Santander through January 10, 2027, when the inaugural exhibition gives way to the museum's next program.
This article was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence based on verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.