Director/ Chief Curator Fact Sheet

Director

1948-1960 : Martin Baldwin [*, #]

(see above)

1961-1990: William J[ohn] Withrow (b. 1926) [*, #]

Joined the Gallery in Sept. 1960 as associate director; became director in Jan. 1961.

1990-1994/95: Glenn D. Lowry (b. 1954) [*, #]

Appointment effective Nov.1, 1990. His appointment as the Director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York was announced on the 16th of November 1994. Lowry assumed the NY position on a part-time basis effective January 1, 1995. 

1995-1998: Maxwell Anderson (b. 1956) [#]

Appointment effective September 1st 1995 [announced in May].Resigned July 28, 1998, to assume new position as director of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, effective Sept. 8, 1998. 

1998-2015: Matthew Teitelbaum (b. 1956) [#]

Appointed Chief Curator in 1993 [see above], Teitelbaum was appointed Director, effective September 8th 1998, upon the resignation of Maxwell Anderson. He also acted as Deputy Director from 1995-1998 (after the departure of Sharilyn Ingram in July 1995). 

2016-present: Stephan Jost (b. 1969)

Appointed Director in 2016.

References

*(asterisk): Archives reference file

#(hash): Library reference file

CWW: Canadian Who's Who (in Library)


Curator

Note: From 1912 until 1948, when the new position of Director was created, the Curator was the administrative head of the Gallery. The title Chief Curator was first used about 1968 or 1969.

1912-1928: E(dward) R(uthven) Greig (d. 1948) [*, CWW 1952/54]

Also held the position of secretary-treasurer until 1 Nov. 1926.

1928-1932: Fred(erick) S(tanley) Haines (1879-1960) 

Appointment effective March 1, 1928; resigned December 1932 to become principal of OCA.

1932-1948: Martin Baldwin (1891-1968) [*, #]

Appointed temporary curator in 1932, curator in 1933; in spring 1948 appointed to the new position of director (see below); retired in 1961.

1948-1954: Sydney J(ames) Key (1918-1956) [#, CWW 1952/54] 

Joined the Gallery in Sept. 1947 as assistant curator; appointed curator in 1948.

1957-1959: William S(cott) A(bell) Dale (b.1921) [CWW 1958/60]

Appointment effective Sept. 1, 1957; resigned on April 30, 1959; subsequently director, Vancouver Art Gallery.

1962-1964: Jean Sutherland Boggs [*, #, CWW 1961]

Took up position on June 1, 1962; resignation effective Sept. 1, 1964.

1965-1968: David S(topford) Brooke (b.1931) [*, #]

Appointed "curator," effective Feb. 1, 1965; by 1968 called "chief curator"; left the Gallery Oct. 31, 1968.


Chief Curator

1969-1972: Mario Amaya (1933-1986) [*, #, CWW 1970]

Appointment effective on March 3, 1969 for a period of two years; took up a new position in U.S.A. on April 1, 1972. 

1972-1978: Richard J. Wattenmaker [#]

Appointment effective in July, 1972; left June 30, 1978.

1978-1992: Roald Nasgaard (b. 1941) [*, #, CWW 1971]

Joined the Gallery in May 1975 as curator of Contemporary Art; appointed chief curator in November 1978. Assumed the newly formed position of Senior Curator of Research in September 1992. Took up a new position in the U.S.A. in 1993.

1993-1998: Matthew Teitelbaum (b. 1956) [#]

Appointed Chief Curator effective on September 15, 1993 until July 1998, when he was appointed Director to succeed Maxwell Anderson.

1999 – August 2010: Dennis Reid (b.1943) [#]

Dennis Reid was appointed [Senior] Curator of Historical Canadian Art on March 30, 1979, a position he held until his appointment as Chief Curator on April 1st, 1999. In September 2005 he was named Director, Collections & Research and remained in that capacity for four years. In February 2009 he was named the AGO’s Chief Curator, Research and held this role until his retirement in August 2010.

2010 - July 2013: Elizabeth Smith

Elizabeth Smith was appointed Executive Director of Curatorial Affairs effective June 22, 2010. Took up a new position in the U.S.A in July, 2013.

2014 - November 2016 : Stephanie Smith

Stephanie Smith was appointed Chief Curator on Aug 19th, 2014. Took up a new position in the U.S.A. in November 2016.

Jan 2018 - Present: Julian Cox

Appointed Chief Curator and Deputy director of the Art Gallery of Ontario. 

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