Major patron collectors and contemporary galleries have in turn expressed their concerns about the crisis raging at the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) by writing to the federal Minister of Heritage, Pablo Rodriguez.
A group of major donors and former members of the Ottawa establishment’s board of directors came forward on July 27, 2022. The process followed a few weeks after the resignation of director Sasha Suda, who, during his three years of reign, had a strategic plan adopted for the “decolonization” of the museum institution. The implementation of this major change is continuing under the interim management.
The group defends the traditional mission of the museum. His letter, of which The duty has obtained a copy, paints the ideal portrait of the future leader by emphasizing a solid education in art history, the ability to maintain good relations with donors and respect for the raison d’être of the NGC (according to its founding charter), which is to “develop and maintain […] a historical and contemporary collection”.
The philanthropists who challenge the minister weigh billions in the economy – and very heavily in the art market. These include Jean Paul Riopelle’s mega-collectors Michael Audain, Pierre Lassonde and Paul Genest, senior executive of Power Corporation. The list includes representatives from major Canadian cities, from Halifax to Vancouver — with a dominance in Toronto (six names, including collector Ash Prakash and Don Pether, King of Steel), Ottawa (four, including Michael Adams, of Cistel Technologies) and Calgary (three signatories, including construction contractor Ronald Mannix and investor Michael Tims).
Another letter, of which The duty also took note, was sent to Minister Rodriguez this week by the Association of Contemporary Art Galleries (AGAC), which represents some sixty specialized dealers. AGAC is concerned about the effect of the transformation of the NGC on the acquisition and exhibition of contemporary art, whether ‘white’ or aboriginal. The galleries represent artists from all walks of life.
Acquisitions are already very long and complex processes. The fear is that everything is now completely at a standstill.
The most recent balance sheet (as of the second quarter of 2022) provided by the National Gallery of Canada shows an accumulated unspent acquisitions budget for the year of $5.5 million, out of total of about 8 million. The NGC is the largest museum buyer in Canada. Acquisition budget surpluses are transferable from one year to the next, but it has been impossible to obtain the total accumulated since the start of the major reform at the turn of the decade.
Revolution
These two steps taken a few weeks apart with the federal Department of Heritage are a reminder of how much the transformation of the NGC is shaking the art system developed since the 19th century.e century. Philanthropists, collectors, donors and gallery owners gravitating around the museum (this one like the others) form the essential cogs in the great machine of validation and recognition of artists and their works and masterpieces, paying symbolically and commercially.
“We represent artists and we build their careers with the ultimate goal of having an acquisition or an exhibition in a museum,” explains Julie Lacroix, general manager of the AGAC. It is the biggest springboard for the artist and the gallery. Afterwards, companies are interested in it for their collections, the artist has a better chance of winning prizes, etc. The current situation at the NGC seems to be creating a pause in the usual activities of the museum, which has consequences for the careers of artists and the activities of our members, who are commercial enterprises. So we share concerns. »
A factor that does not help, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal is waiting — in exile and in slow motion — for its reconstruction. Mme Lacroix adds that the decision to express the AGAC’s apprehension in writing to the Minister stems from the information on job cuts, including in contemporary art, contained in the public letter of seven former NGC employees.
“The files that interest us are on the ice, both for exhibitions and for acquisitions. Will there be as many exhibitions for the influence of our members? Probably not. Acquisitions are already very long and complex processes. The fear is that everything is now completely at a standstill. »
shades
The revolution underway with regard to the decolonization project aims to place the diverse perspective – and indigenous in particular – on par with the Western tradition of art history (very, very favorable to the male and white artist ). Both patrons and gallery owners fear that this reorientation, granting at least equal favor to new artistic voices, will be done by neglecting the old ones.
The two positions, however, seem more nuanced, and cannot simply be lumped together.
AGAC does not judge the governance of the NGC. The philanthropists do not cite the famous strategic plan which upsets the institution; the autochthonization of the museum is neither criticized nor even mentioned in their missive. All the same, the declaration is organized around the defense of a museum where a new direction will be able to understand, analyze and convey the Western perspective in the history of art.
“For the crisis at the NGC not to be in vain, I think we have to bring the foundations and the ideals back to the fore,” says Manon Gauthier, signatory of the letter, the only one based solely in Montreal. Mme Gauthier directs the Jean Paul Riopelle Foundation. “You have to be able to combine the past and the present. Efforts to correct the sometimes brutal reality of our history should not be made to the detriment of the artists who have marked our history. »
The patrons go so far as to underline the excessively low remuneration of the post of director and evoke the possibility of finding “creative solutions” to increase the current annual emoluments ($240,000) and thus attract high-ranking candidates in this globalized sector. Sasha Suda, who resigned from the NGC to become director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, now earns close to a million Canadian dollars (US$700,000) a year.
Mme Gauthier assures that the letter was not written to promote the possible candidacy of Nathalie Bondil. The former director of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is however supported by the Riopelle collectors who signed the letter addressed to the minister.
The director of the Jean Paul Riopelle Foundation specifies that she is speaking in her own name, and not on behalf of all the co-signatories. “This letter was written in good will because we felt a serious stake. It had been going on for two years. The necessary turn that the museum wanted to take [avec le plan stratégique] turned into a socio-cultural debate that was not managed as it should have been. The museum, which must play the role of scout, has failed in the task, has failed to federate all the museums. »
The Heritage Department responded to the philanthropists’ statement by thanking them and “acknowledging” their views. Copies of both missives have been sent to the NGC Board of Directors, which has yet to come forward in this crisis. Two Montrealers lead this Board: Françoise Lyon (president since 2017) and Mandeep Roshi Chadha (vice-president since March 2021).