The fate of a few artworks by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and José Clemente Orozco has Mexico on edge, to the point of practically becoming a matter of state. Ever since the announcement early this year of a long-term agreement to transfer the Gelman collection to the Spanish banking giant Banco Santander, which will be responsible for the management (including conservation, research and exhibition) of part of one of the most significant collections of 20th-century Mexican art, a formidable controversy has erupted, forcing Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to step in and try to clarify the situation.

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The tragedy can be summed up in a few figures: there are 150 Frida Kahlo paintings in the world, and only four of them are part of Mexico’s public heritage. There are seven in total within the country, if privately owned works are included. That imbalance — in a body of work that is already tiny — partly explains the outrage of Mexico’s art community, which is observing with a mixture of astonishment, doubt, and anger as the elusive Gelman collection — which includes at least 18 Kahlo works — is slated to be moved to Spain.

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