Kahlo, Rivera, Orozco, Dr. Atl: Citibanamex's jewels that will be for sale

The sale of Banamex's assets by Citigroup has come "like a glove" to the strengthening of the economic and cultural nationalism promoted by the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador and now it has outlined its artistic and cultural heritage. cultural one more window to strengthen this postulate.

Last Wednesday, January 26, the President of the Republic opened the possibility for the government to acquire these cultural assets by stating that the Ministry of Finance will analyze the economic value of the heritage.

—Wouldn't it be possible that the cultural heritage, but the real estate of Citibanamex could pass to the Mexican State?, he was questioned.

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“Yes, we have to see exactly, the Treasury has to see how much they estimate of the total value of the bank that these assets cost so that the approach is made in this way, but with the purpose of reaching agreements”, stated the federal president .

“We want the cultural and artistic fund of Banamex to be for the enjoyment and benefit of Mexicans, for exhibitions, museums, where Mexicans can see the works that the fund has. We don't want that fund to go abroad or remain a private fund,” he said.

Although little is known about the monetary value of this archive, the Citibanamex Cultural Fund has under its protection more than 6,000 artistic pieces, witnesses of the transition of the nation from independence to the 20th century.

The collection has existed since the creation of the bank, in 1884, and since then it has been nourished with pieces by prominent artists, both national and foreign, who found inspiration in the country.

Works by painters such as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Gerardo Murillo “Dr. Atl”, are just some of the plastic testimonies that are part of the bank's collection and that will soon be up for auction.

However, the patrimony that Citibanamex protects is not limited only to Mexican pictorial work, but to real estate, documents, books, númanistica, among other assets, which are also part of the country's historical memory.

For example, Citibanamex acquired in 1964 (at that time only under the name of Banamex) the Palacio Iturbide, a building dating from the 18th century in the center of Mexico City that underwent structural restoration of the interiors and the façade, by the architect Ricardo Legorreta.

Fomento Cultural also has other properties such as the Palace of the Counts of San Mateo de Valparaíso, in Mexico City, in the states of Chiapas, Durango and Yucatán, where the Montejo Museum is located.

According to various art specialists consulted by Forbes México, an estimated cost of the Citibanamex collection, without counting real estate, could be around 100 million dollars, although due to its individual value, it could far exceed this figure.

“It is difficult to answer this because we need to see case by case and in this case know the catalogue”, pointed out Carlos Lara, an expert in cultural policy.

It should be noted that when Citigruop acquired Banamex in 2001, the asset was valued at 64.5 million dollars.

For example, the oil painting dated 1938, "The fruits of the earth", by Frida Kahlo, and which is part of the Citibanamex collection, could be quoted for up to 7 million dollars for sale in Mexico, according to with Hilda Trujillo, former director of the Frida Kahlo and Rivera Anahuacalli museums.

If this work could be sold abroad, an action that cannot be carried out since it is protected by the declaration of artistic works and monuments of 1984, its value would skyrocket to 12 million dollars, the specialist added.

Although there are many factors to consider such as its depreciation, author, historical value of its conception, those that affect the sale value of this type of work, one of the last paintings by the Mexican painter to be auctioned in New York reached a cost of 34.9 million dollars.

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This is the self-portrait "Diego and I", which on November 17, 2021, was offered by the Sotheby's auction house and which broke the auction record for a work by a Latin American artist.

Another highly relevant painting that the development has is “Vendedora de Alcatraces” from 1942, by Diego Rivera, and which is part of a series of works that the Mexican created on this theme.

The cultural development of Citibanamex also has various paintings by Gerardo Murillo Coronado, “Dr. Atl”, one of the painters of Mexican expressionism, about the birth of the Paricutín volcano, in Michoacán, in 1943.

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“This painting is not painted in 'Atl Color', it is not painted with polyresin but rather an oil on asbestos. This painting has a colorful wisdom that other paintings by Dr Atl from the same epic and series do not have”, explained Teresa del Conde, a doctor from the Aesthetic Research Institute of the UNAM.

“I believe that within the general production of Dr. Atl it is one of the jewels of that context, of the Paricutín context”, he added.

Orplied, by Leonora Carrington, is also in this collection, and according to Hilda Trujillo, former director of the Frida Kahlo house museum, it could fetch a value of $1 million.

Another artist valued within the Citibanamex collection is Remedios Varo with a series of works such as the Woman on a Bicycle, from 1955, and which could be worth up to 3 million dollars.

Other pieces that the bank owns and that are of great importance due to their artistic value are Woman with Child in Arms, by Rufino Tamayo; Mujer con metate, by David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Human Sacrifice, by José Clemente Orozco, among others.

The collection also includes works from New Spain by artists such as Cristóbal de Villalpando and Miguel Cabrera to the work of Francisco Toledo.

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In the same way, it has paintings from artistic currents such as surrealism and from the 50s, when geometrism and abstraction appeared.

From there, pieces by Ángel Zárraga, Miguel Covarrubias and Manuel Rodríguez Lozano, among others, stand out.

'Government does not have capacity for cultural heritage'

Given the importance and volume, not calculated in its magnitude, of Citibanamex's artistic and cultural heritage, experts considered that the Mexican State does not have the capacity to house this artistic work.

The experts considered that the Mexican government, and the cultural sector under its responsibility, are going through various economic difficulties, which would make it unfeasible for them to be in charge of a collection of this magnitude.

“Given this panorama, we must first ask ourselves if the State has the capacity to take charge of a collection like this. My answer is that it does not have the capacity. We see that the installed capacity and cultural infrastructure of Mexico is going through neglect conditions like never before due to lack of resources," said Carlos Lara, an expert in cultural policy in an interview with Forbes Mexico.

“There are many deficiencies and there is a lot of cultural heritage that Mexico has,” he lamented; "That is to say, it does not give to the State, but the State is very jealous of the Church, for example, and the private initiative."

For this year, the Chamber of Deputies authorized the Ministry of Culture a budget of 15 thousand 28 million pesos, which represents an increase of 3.6%, that is, 525 million, compared to the budget given in 2021.

The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) will receive a total of 4 thousand 157 million pesos and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL), close to 3 billion pesos.

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These two bodies would have before them the protection and maintenance of this collection in case it was acquired by the Mexican government.

According to a UN report presented in April 2021, museums in Mexico have reduced their budget by between 60 and 80% due to the health emergency.

“It is a State that does not have to take responsibility for a collection of this size, that is having a hard time keeping the current cultural infrastructure in optimal conditions and at the same time is jealous of the Church and does not want it to help or the initiative private, so there what has been commented by the government seems limited to me, ”he said.

Another warning is the latent risk that the collection could be fragmented as already happened with 180 pieces, some of great value by Kahlo, which were sold to Grupo Sura.

“The great risk is that the collection will disperse, because as a whole it is what it is worth; If the buildings are sold as an asset, they could be occupied for other purposes and would lose their vocation. That can happen, it is a latent danger,” Trujillo warned.

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