The Art of Gallery Ontario's modern and contemporary collections committee narrowly voted against acquiring artwork from Nan Goldin.Cole Burston/The Globe and Mail
The Art Gallery of Ontario is dissolving the committee that declined to acquire a Nan Goldin artwork after a debate over whether the Jewish-American artist’s views are “antisemitic,” which prompted four resignations and a governance review at the gallery.
The Globe and Mail first reported last week that the Toronto gallery’s modern and contemporary collections committee narrowly voted to not acquire Ms. Goldin’s video work, Stendhal Syndrome, after a heated discussion during a meeting in May, 2025.
In the meeting, some committee members alleged that the artist’s views on Israel were “offensive” and “antisemitic,” according to an internal memo from AGO director and chief executive Stephan Jost that was obtained by The Globe.
Further documentation reviewed by The Globe showed that the internal push not to acquire Stendhal Syndrome was prompted by the philanthropic executive Judy Schulich, who is also a trustee and significant donor to the AGO. The documentation shows that Ms. Schulich described the artist as a liar and propagandistic. She has not responded to repeated requests for comment this week.
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The saga has captured the global art world, and Ms. Goldin is now among hundreds of signees of an open letter requesting Ms. Schulich resign as an AGO trustee.
Ms. Goldin said in an interview Friday that the committee’s dissolution was insufficient, given the “censorship” and inflammatory language toward her that has been reported. “It’s clear that to repair the reputation of this museum, this woman has to resign,” she said.
In an e-mail statement Friday, Mr. Jost acknowledged that the committee’s purpose had been undermined by the discourse that has spilled into the public, and said it would be dissolved in conjunction with the governance review. “I can assure you we are focused on our mission and working to take the necessary actions to ensure our processes are about art and respectful dialogue,” he said.
Two new committees will be created later this year in the wake of the dissolution, which Mr. Jost said had been long-planned in order to have a tighter focus on the works being discussed.
One committee will focus on art from the 20th century and the other will focus on the 21st century. The AGO’s other five curatorial working committees, which review other art disciplines and historical eras, are not expected to be affected.
The AGO committee’s vote came after a 2024 speech by Ms. Goldin at Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie art museum, in which she shared her “moral outrage at the genocide in Gaza and Lebanon.”
The widely celebrated photographer and activist levelled criticism at Israel for the tens of thousands of deaths reported since it launched its war on Hamas in 2023, after the group’s Oct. 7 attacks that left 1,200 dead in Israel and 251 others taken as hostages.
“The false conflation of antisemitism and anti-zionism is being used as a weapon to silence voices speaking out in support of Palestine,” Ms. Goldin told The Globe in an e-mail earlier this week. “It’s a tool used by Israeli propagandists and I find it alarming that it still has credibility. It’s become the great exception to free speech.”
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The AGO says it already has three works by Ms. Goldin in its collection that were gifts to the gallery. The photographer, however, said archivists and representatives she works with have been struggling to verify that her works were in its collection.
Some committee members defended Ms. Goldin at the May, 2025, meeting, arguing that refusing to acquire her work amounted to “censorship,” according to Mr. Jost’s memo. The Globe has reported that the committee voted 11-9 against acquiring Stendhal Syndrome after the tense discussion.
The AGO’s modern and contemporary art curator John Zeppetelli, who had pushed for the acquisition of Stendhal Syndrome, resigned from his full-time position after the vote, as did three volunteer members of the committee who were dismayed with how the events unfolded.
Stendhal Syndrome was originally intended to be co-acquired with the Vancouver Art Gallery and Minneapolis’s Walker Art Center; those galleries later acquired it separately.