{"id":423653,"date":"2026-01-21T13:19:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T13:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/423653\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T13:19:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T13:19:07","slug":"ago-rocked-by-resignations-after-failed-nan-goldin-acquisition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/423653\/","title":{"rendered":"AGO rocked by resignations after failed Nan Goldin acquisition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The exterior of the Art Gallery of Ontario, in Toronto, on Tuesday.Cole Burston\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

The Art Gallery of Ontario<\/a> is reckoning with the resignations of a senior curator and two volunteer members of a collections committee after the group narrowly voted to not acquire a work by Nan Goldin over accusations that the Jewish-American photographer\u2019s views are antisemitic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ms. Goldin, a celebrated photographer and a long-time activist, used a late 2024 speech<\/a> at Berlin\u2019s Neue Nationalgalerie to share her \u201cmoral outrage at the genocide in Gaza<\/a> and Lebanon.\u201d She levelled criticism at Israel<\/a> for the tens of thousands of deaths reported since it launched its war on Hamas in 2023, after the group\u2019s Oct. 7 attacks that left 1,200 dead in Israel and 251 others taken as hostages. <\/p>\n

Months after her remarks, the Toronto gallery set out to jointly purchase the American artist\u2019s video work Stendhal Syndrome with the Vancouver Art Gallery and Minneapolis\u2019s Walker Art Center. <\/p>\n

But the AGO stepped back from the joint acquisition in the middle of last year, after its modern and contemporary curatorial working committee voted 11-9 against it, according to a source. Some committee members alleged the artist\u2019s remarks were \u201coffensive\u201d and \u201cantisemitic,\u201d according to an internal memo from AGO director and chief executive Stephan Jost that was obtained by The Globe and Mail. <\/p>\n

The committee members who voted to acquire Ms. Goldin\u2019s work felt that the remarks were not antisemitic, with some adding that \u201crefusing the work because of the artist\u2019s views was censorship,\u201d according to the memo.<\/p>\n

The AGO\u2019s modern and contemporary curator, John Zeppetelli, who had advocated for the acquisition, eventually resigned from that full-time position in connection with the incident, two people with direct knowledge of the situation said. <\/p>\n

2024: Art Gallery of Ontario\u2019s associate curator of Indigenous art, Taqralik Partridge, departs<\/a><\/p>\n

Two members of the modern and contemporary collections committee subsequently resigned their volunteer roles as well, according to the sources. Their decisions were also directly tied to the debate over and decision not to acquire Stendhal Syndrome, one source added. The Globe is not identifying the sources because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the situation. <\/p>\n

The decision happened even as the AGO, one of North America\u2019s biggest arts institutions, already houses three of Ms. Goldin\u2019s works. The gallery is publicly funded, receiving $26-million from governments in its last fiscal year, primarily from Ontario. <\/p>\n

Mr. Zeppetelli is still working with the AGO for the next few months in a reduced capacity as a guest curator, co-organizing an exhibition of work from the Italian artist Diego Marcon that is scheduled to open in June. He did not respond to repeated requests for comment. <\/p>\n

In his memo, Mr. Jost outlined a governance review that followed the vote. The review recommended a \u201creset\u201d on the committee\u2019s acquisition discussions, and \u201cclarification\u201d of its members\u2019 responsibilities. <\/p>\n

In an e-mailed statement, the AGO acknowledged both the discord over Ms. Goldin\u2019s work and the governance review. \u201cPersonal political views were brought into the conversation. This is not intended to be part of the process,\u201d spokesperson Laura Quinn said. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur reset is to ensure that conversations remain focused on an artwork\u2019s alignment to the AGO\u2019s acquisition criteria, are healthy and productive, and welcome multiple perspectives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stendhal Syndrome does not touch upon the politics of Ms. Goldin\u2019s speech in Berlin, but rather juxtaposes her photos of classical, Renaissance and baroque artworks with portraits of her loved ones. The title references the intense psychosomatic response some people feel when viewing a striking piece of art. Neither Ms. Goldin nor Gagosian, the major global gallery that represents her, responded to requests for comment. <\/p>\n

2023: Indigenous curator\u2019s departure from AGO underscores tensions over Israel-Hamas war at art institutions<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. Zeppetelli joined the AGO as its curator of modern and contemporary art in September, 2024, after leading the Mus\u00e9e d\u2019art contemporain de Montr\u00e9al. He pitched acquiring Ms. Goldin\u2019s work to the modern and contemporary collections committee within months of joining. <\/p>\n

When the committee of about 20 people \u2013 largely from around Toronto and connected to the art world \u2013 convened for a May, 2025, meeting to discuss acquisitions, Ms. Goldin\u2019s was one of five works from the 20th and 21st centuries under consideration. Though the committee had limited funding and could not acquire all five, discussion of Stendhal Syndrome led to the debate about Ms. Goldin\u2019s politics. <\/p>\n

While members of the committee largely agreed that Stendhal Syndrome had artistic merit, they voted against acquiring it, and instead recommended a different work for acquisition.<\/p>\n

Several members of the committee then pressed Mr. Jost to acquire the work through a separate tranche of funding, according to a source. But the request went unheeded. The Vancouver Art Gallery and Walker Art Center went on to acquire Stendhal Syndrome without the AGO\u2019s participation; it has been on display<\/a> in Vancouver since November. <\/p>\n

Zainub Verjee, the executive director of Galeries Ontario \/ Ontario Galleries, an advocacy group serving public art galleries, declined to comment on the AGO situation specifically \u2013 but said collections aren\u2019t meant to be \u201ca comfort zone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, she said, collections should be \u201ca record of what a society dared to look at.\u201d She added: \u201cIf the institution can only acquire art that flatters its consensus, it isn\u2019t collecting, it\u2019s curating obedience.\u201d <\/p>\n

Dr. Verjee further warned that \u201cif artists perceive that acquisitions are influenced by political litmus tests or opaque committee dynamics, it can have a chilling effect on trust and willingness to engage with the institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephen Borys, who launched the arts-consulting firm Civic Muse after running the Winnipeg Art Gallery and its Inuit art centre Qaumajuq for nearly two decades, said: \u201cThere is always a danger when an acquisition is made that would appear to be based on an artist\u2019s political perspective or comments.\u201d <\/p>\n

This, he said, could lead to tumult for the curator and the artist, \u201cbut also for artistic expression, the institution\u2019s credibility and public trust.\u201d He also only spoke in general terms, and not about the AGO\u2019s Stendhal Syndrome vote. Developing strong governance policies, he added, is necessary for encouraging robust debate among collections committee members without overstepping bounds. (The AGO reviewed and revised its governance policies after the incident.)<\/p>\n

The AGO has had numerous curatorial departures in recent years.<\/p>\n

The Anishinaabe curator Wanda Nanibush, appointed as Indigenous curator in 2016, was widely credited with boosting the museum\u2019s efforts toward reconciliation. She left in 2023, when The Globe and Mail reported she had caused friction with her outspoken support of Palestinians, whose experience she had for years linked to that of Indigenous peoples living in Canada. <\/p>\n

Her exit was followed months later by the departure of Taqralik Partridge, an Inuk poet, performer and editor who was serving as associate curator of Indigenous art.<\/p>\n

Xiaoyu Weng, Mr. Zeppetelli\u2019s predecessor as the AGO\u2019s curator of modern and contemporary art, was hired in 2021<\/a> but spent only about two years with the gallery \u2013 a brief term for such a high-profile position. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: The exterior of the Art Gallery of Ontario, in Toronto, on Tuesday.Cole Burston\/The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,75,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-423653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-entertainment","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}