Because it was revealed final month {that a} committee on the Artwork Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto determined to nix the acquisition of a piece by Nan Goldin over fees that the Jewish American photographer is “antisemitic”, there have been rising requires the resignation of the trustee who instigated the choice, Judy Schulich.
Schulich is a big donor to the AGO and an government with the Schulich Basis, one in every of Canada’s largest personal foundations—began by her father, the billionaire businessman Seymour Schulich. Representatives for Schulich haven’t replied to The Artwork Newspaper’s requests for remark.
The truth that it was Schulich who instigated the choice to not purchase Goldin’s work—first revealed by Toronto-based unbiased journalist Samira Mohyeddin on X—was later reported by the Globe & Mail. The newspaper reviewed additional documentation indicating that an unnamed individual in a decisive assembly of the gallery’s Fashionable and modern curatorial working committee likened Goldin to Leni Riefenstahl, the Second World Conflict-era German film-maker and Nazi propagandist, and referred to as Goldin a “liar” primarily based on her outspoken advocacy for Palestinians.
Though the AGO had deliberate to collectively buy Goldin’s moving-image work Stendhal Syndrome (2024) with the Vancouver Artwork Gallery (VAG) and Minneapolis’s Walker Artwork Middle, it pulled out in mid-2025 after its Fashionable and modern curatorial working committee voted 11-to-9 in opposition to it. The transfer was surprising, particularly because the AGO already had three Goldin works in its assortment. Within the vote’s aftermath John Zeppetelli, the AGO’s curator of contemporary and modern artwork, who had lobbied for the acquisition, resigned final 12 months; two volunteer members of the committee additionally resigned over the choice. (The VAG and Walker Artwork Middle proceeded with the joint acquisition.)
“That the supporters of the AGO have a spread of opinions shouldn’t shock anybody who has spent any time in Toronto just lately,” Stephan Jost, the gallery’s director and chief government, mentioned in a press release to The Artwork Newspaper. “We’re a public museum and pluralism is a actuality. Right now’s geopolitical local weather has created challenges world wide for cultural organisations like ours as we’re being requested to mediate conflicts past our management. As director and CEO of the AGO, I can guarantee you we’re targeted on our mission and dealing to take the mandatory actions to make sure our processes are about artwork and respectful dialogue.”
After the revelation about Schulich’s advocacy in opposition to the Goldin acquisition, the AGO introduced final week it would break up the related committee in two. Jost added: “In response to the suggestions from an unbiased governance overview, the AGO will shift the Fashionable and modern curatorial working committee into separate committees: one specializing in Twentieth-century artwork; and one specializing in Twenty first-century artwork. It will occur later in 2026.””
The response exterior the establishment has been extra strident. A extensively circulated open letter calling for extra transparency and curatorial independence on the AGO and for Schulich to step down had garnered 540 signatures as of 1 February, together with from Goldin herself. The letter was organised by a coalition of Jewish organisations together with Jews Say No To Genocide, Unbiased Jewish Voices Toronto and United Jewish Peoples Order Canada.
“Judy Schulich, a trustee of the Artwork Gallery of Ontario, intervened to dam the acquisition of a brand new work by Jewish American artist Nan Goldin, reportedly citing a speech Goldin delivered in Berlin in 2024, through which she condemned the actions of the Israeli authorities in opposition to Palestinians as genocidal,” the letter begins. “Based on accounts of the assembly, Goldin was labelled antisemitic and her speech dismissed as ‘filled with lies’. We’re Jewish teams, allies, and artists who vociferously reject this framing and who unequivocally denounce Israel’s ongoing genocide in Palestine.”
The letter’s authors write that “the usage of wealth and institutional energy by donors to intimidate curators, override skilled decision-making and censor artists” is “antithetical to inventive freedom and to the tasks of public cultural establishments”.
Expressing concern concerning the “intervention” to dam the Goldin acquisition, the letter additionally takes subject with “the broader sample of governance failures on the AGO”, together with “different cases through which false or bad-faith accusations of antisemitism have led to severe skilled and reputational penalties”. The Artwork Newspaper reported in 2024 that the curator Wanda Nanibush was ousted by the AGO, allegedly due to her stance on Palestine.
“I signed the petition as a result of it displays badly on the museum to maintain Schulich on the board,” Goldin tells The Artwork Newspaper. “It signifies that cash and energy assure immunity, even when there’s a clear-cut case of censorship of an artist.” She provides: “It throws into query the priorities of this museum. Does that committee (that was dissolved) have the identical affect because the board?”
A spokesperson for Unbiased Jewish Voices, one of many organisers of the letter, advised The Artwork Newspaper in a press release: “It’s vital to not let choices like this keep behind closed doorways. Too many individuals are being silenced and vilified [for] standing up for Palestinian human rights. There may be nothing antisemitic about holding Israel to account for its actions. Artwork shouldn’t be inhibited by folks in search of to guard the Israeli state from criticism at any time however particularly not when it’s committing genocide.”
Whereas the AGO didn’t collectively purchase Goldin’s Stendhal Syndrome, it has three of her images in its everlasting assortment: Brian in lodge room with three beds, Mérida, Mexico (1982), Cody within the Dressing Room on the Boy Bar, NYC (1991) and My mattress, Resort la Louisiane, Paris (1996).
