Quebec Culture Minister Nathalie Roy is investigating theMuseum of Fine Arts in Montreal(MMFA) for its abrupt dismissal of director and chief curator Nathalie Bondil.

Roy said she was flabbergasted when she first learned that Bondils job was in jeopardy, telling Le Devoir: the Montreal Museum of Fine ArtsisNathalie Bondil.

Roy is hiring an outside firm to look into the museums management,CBC Newsreports.

The investigation follows an international outcry, includingthe Muse dOrsay in Paris allegedly taking the drastic step of cutting ties with the MMFA.

Laurence des Cars, the head of the Muse dOrsay, toldtheArt Newspapershe was appalled by the absolutely unacceptable and shocking conditions of Bondils sacking.

A planned joint exhibition, The Origins of the World: The Invention of Nature in the 19th Century, about the work of naturalist Charles Darwin and the intersection of the arts and sciences in the period, will reportedly no longer travel to Montreal. (The MMFA toldLa Presse Canadiennethat there had not been any decisions regarding the exhibition.)

The investigation also comes on the heels of a Change.org petition from museum members calling on the MMFA to hold a special assembly to offer insight into the decision-making process that led to Bondils firing.

Started by Thomas Bastien, who served as thedirector of the MMFAs education and wellness department until February, it has over 3,000 signatures.

Museum regulations provide for a special assembly if a request is made by a minimum of 100 members, Bastien told the Montreal Gazette.

The museums first woman director, Bondil joined the institution in 1999 as curator of European art, was named chief curator in 2000, and director in 2007.

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Photo courtesy of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

MMFA terminated Bondils contract on Monday, citing a staff union letter alleging that she had created a toxic work environment that led several high-level employees to step down from their posts.

Despite efforts on the part of the board to resolve the issue, the situation was becoming steadily more problematic with disturbing accounts and allegations of psychological harassment, the museum said in a press release announcing her termination.

The board of directors initially proposed an arrangement in which Bondil would have continued in her post through the end of her contract in June 2021, reports La Presse.

Under the proposal, which Bondil rejected, she would have retained her title and salary, but any choices regarding museum programming for two final exhibitions of her tenure would have to be approved by Michel de la Chenelire, the president of the board of directors.

Before firing Bondil, the board sought an external audit from a human resources management company, Le Cabinet RH, which found a significant and multifactorial deterioration in the work climate, according to the Montreal Gazette.Bondil denies those findings.

Roy, the culture minister, said in astatement that she asked to see the report twice, but that the museum refused.

In response, the museum announced that it would cooperate fully with the investigation.

We nonetheless remain convinced that the decision to terminate Ms. Bondils contract was the right decision in respect of our role as trustee, Chenelire, the board chair, said.

Bondil told theGlobe and Mail that she was also never shown the report, andclaimsthat the reason she was fired was because of her objections to thepromotionof Mary-Dailey Desmarais to thenewly created post of director of the curatorial division.

Desmarais is the wife ofPaul Desmarais III, whose late grandfatherPaul Desmarais Sr. was a major donor to the museum. TheDesmarais name is attached to a pavilion added to the museum after a major 1991 expansion.

Mary-Dailey Desmarais. Photo by Stephanie Badini, courtesy of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Paul Desmarais IIIs uncle, Andr Desmarais, is currently on the museums board, and is one of three private donors funding half of the CAD$20 million (about $18 million) wing for artist Jean-Paul Riopelle, set to open in 2023.In 2018,Canadian Businessmagazine found that the family was the nations seventh wealthiest.

The toxic workplace allegations are a lie meant to cover up irregularities in recruitment, Bondil toldCBC Radio-Canada.

Three other candidates were seriously considered for the new post now occupiedby Mary-Dailey Desmarais, and internal documents ranking the finalists reveal thatDesmarais was given the lowest score, just 97.5 out of a possible 180 points, reports Le Devoir.

The top-ranked candidate got 175 points, but the boards human resources committee unanimously selectedDesmarais. Bondil favored hiring the candidate with the near-perfect score, and proposed that Desmarais instead be promoted to a new deputy chief curator role.

Desmarais joined the MMFA in 2014 as an associate curator, the first job listed on her LinkedIn, and has been the curator of international Modern and contemporary art since 2018.

She did her undergraduate work at Stanford University in American studies, and earned a masters in art history at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Desmarais went on to receive her PhD from Yale University in 2015, with the dissertation, Claude Monet: Behind the Light.

Museum of Fine Arts, Jean-Noel Desmarais Pavillon, Montreal. Photo by Thomas Ledl, via Wikimedia Commons.

Following media coverage of the controversy, the MMFA released a statementsigned by 11 of its curators, conservators, and other top employeesaimed at counteracting numerous comments, many of which are damaging to [Desmaraiss] reputation and that of the museum.

We feel strongly that Mary-Dailey Desmaraiss outstanding educational background coupled with her experience as curator at the museum, will make her a valued and trustworthy director of the curatorial team, the letter said.

At least a dozen former and current museum employees have anonymously corroborated complaints about an unhealthy atmosphere and a regime of fear at the MMFA during Bondils tenure, according to La Presse. The employees didnt take issue with Bondils own behavior, but contend that she did not do enough to address their complaints.

One museum patron, Pierre Bourgie, published an opinion piece inLe Devoir supporting Bondils dismissal, arguing that her inability to handle growing staff complaints undoubtedly weakened the museum.

In 2020 it is impossible to close ones eyes to a toxic workplace environment. Such allegations are every serious, the board president, Chenelire, told theMontreal Gazette.

But many high-profile figures have voiced their disappointment over Bondils dismissal, including Montreal Mayor Valrie Plante and Emma Lavigne, the director of Pariss Palais de Tokyo.

Bondil has put the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts on the international mapand showed us and millions of visitors that art and humanism could be a tangible reality, Lavigne told the TAN. She called the abrupt dismissal an act of pure violence.

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The Explosive Firing of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Director Has Become a Messy International Affair. Heres What Happened - artnet News