Marc Daniel Mayer
(born 1956) is a Canadian arts manager and curator. He was formerly the strategic adviser at the
Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto.
Early life
Mayer was born and raised in a
Franco-Ontarian
Franco-Ontarians (french: Franco-Ontariens or if female, sometimes known as ''Ontarois'' and ''Ontaroises'') are Francophone Canadians that reside in the province of Ontario. Most are French Canadians from Ontario. In 2016, the Government of On ...
["Sudbury native tapped for top post at National Gallery"](_blank)
, ''Ottawa Citizen
The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
History
Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...
'', November 21, 2008. family in
Sudbury, Ontario. Fully bilingual, he is also proficient in German and Italian. His mother, Madeleine, worked as a legal secretary and his father, Gilbert, worked in advertising sales for local television and radio stations. He ran as a
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
candidate in the
Nickel Belt in the
1974 federal election, and recorded comedic commentaries for
CKSO-TV under the pseudonym "Marcel Mucker".
["Modern Man"](_blank)
'' Toronto Life'', November 2000. Mayer's interest in art was encouraged by his uncle R
éo who operated a small gallery in the basement of an army and navy store and was a hobbyist painter.
He began his university studies in the history department at Carleton University. He later transferred to
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
.
where he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours in Art History.
Career
Mayer began his career in 1986 when he was named assistant to the Director and later assistant director of the 49th Parallel Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art in New York (1986-1990).
He was Head of Visual Arts with the Cultural Services of the Canadian Embassy and a correspondent for the New York periodical ''Rizzoli’s The Journal of Art'' in Paris (1990-1993). Afterwards, he served as the curator of the
Albright-Knox Art Gallery in
Buffalo, New York (1994-1998). From 2001 to 2004, he served as the deputy director at the
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and then as director of
The Power Plant
The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is a Canadian non-collecting public contemporary art gallery located at the heart of Toronto, Ontario at the Harbourfront Centre. It is a registered Canadian charitable organization supported by its membe ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
(1998–2001).
From 2004-2008, he served as director of the
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (2004-2008).
Beginning in 2008, Mayer served as director and chief executive officer of the National Gallery of Canada. He fulfilled two five-year terms as director, and completed his mandate on January 18, 2019. During his tenure as director and CEO, he helped with many large-scale acquisitions such as James Hart's outdoor sculpture, ''The Three Watchmen'' and other works which he sited on Nepean Point hoping to begin a "precinct of beauty" in the capital, as well as co-curating the
Jack Bush
John Hamilton Bush (March 20, 1909 – January 24, 1977) was a Canadian abstract painter. A member of Painters Eleven, his paintings are associated with the Color Field movement and Post-painterly Abstraction. Inspired by Henri Ma ...
exhibition (2014), and overseeing numerous projects including the creation of the Canadian Photography Institute. He worked to increase the recognition of indigenous work and oversaw the opening of the Canadian and Indigenous Galleries in June 2017. Also that year, Mayer published ''Art in Canada'', a book that celebrated Canadian and Canadian Indigenous artists. It was released to coincide with Canada's sesquicentennial. The book, designed b
Paprika won third prize in the Pictorial category for the 36th annual
Alcuin Society A voluntary association established in 1965 by Geoff Spencer, the Alcuin Society is a non-profit organisation founded for the book arts. It is located in Canada. It should not be confused with the Alcuin Club, an Anglican publishing society.
Among ...
Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada (2017).
In 2020 he appeared as a judge on ''
Landscape Artist of the Year Canada
''Landscape Artist of the Year Canada'' is a Canadian reality competition series, which premiered in 2020 on Makeful and CBC Gem. An adaptation of the British series '' Landscape Artist of the Year'', the series featured Canadian artists, both amat ...
''.
Mayer was appointed to the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the ...
in 2022, "for his contributions to fine art as an administrator and curator, both in Canada and worldwide."
[
]
Controversy
Mayer`s final year was overshadowed by one controversy - the cancelled sale of a Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...
painting, ''The Eiffel Tower'' (1929) which the National Gallery of Canada wanted to sell to buy a Jacques-Louis David
Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...
painting, ''Saint Jerome Hears the Trumpet of the Last Judgment'' (1779) owned by a Quebec City church. However, the Quebec government closed down the idea since two Quebec museums said they wanted to buy the David. For now, it is on exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Personal life
Mayer lives on a farm in Delaware County, New York.
References
External links
The National Gallery of Canada's "Meet the New Director"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, Marc
1956 births
Canadian art historians
Canadian male non-fiction writers
Writers from Greater Sudbury
Canadian gay writers
McGill University alumni
Living people
Directors of museums in Canada
Canadian art curators
Franco-Ontarian people
Members of the Order of Canada