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Well, the John Galliano retrospective at The Met is off.
“Following thoughtful discussions with John Galliano, we have together decided not to proceed with the exhibition,” said Max Hollein, director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in a statement posted on their website earlier today.
“I am profoundly grateful to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and particularly to Max Hollein, Andrew Bolton and Anna Wintour, for the extraordinary honour of proposing an exhibition devoted to my work,” said Galliano. “To have my creative journey considered by an institution that I have admired throughout my life moved me more deeply than I can express. I will remain forever grateful for the confidence, care and scholarship that Max, Andrew, Anna and the entire Met team brought to this project.”
The cancellation comes exactly one month after the exhibition was first announced.
“After much reflection and discussion with The Met and all those involved, I have decided, with great sadness, that it is best for the exhibition not to take place at this time,” Galliano continued. “I remain fully accountable for the pain caused by my words in the past, particularly the hurt I caused to the Jewish and Asian communities, and I remain deeply sorry for it. I understand that meaningful atonement is not achieved through an exhibition, institutional recognition or a single public gesture. It is a continuing responsibility, demonstrated through listening, learning and one’s conduct over time.”
The idea of honoring Gallaino, who was caught on video saying “I love Hitler” and convicted in a French court in 2011 of public anti-Semitic and racist insults, was controversial from the beginning and spawned a seemingly endless stream of opinion pieces across the internet.
“I do not want the debate surrounding me to place The Met in a difficult position or to distract from the remarkable work of the Costume Institute,” concluded Galliano. “I also recognise and respect that an exhibition honouring my work would be painful for some. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to all those who have guided, supported and accompanied me throughout these fifteen years of sobriety and recovery from alcoholism and addiction. Your wisdom, patience and humanity have helped me more than I can ever adequately express. I remain profoundly indebted to you for giving me, as you promised, a life better than I could ever have dreamt of. My gratitude to The Met, Max, Andrew and Anna remains profound and enduring. Their generosity, humanity and belief in the importance of fashion as art, culture and history, as well as their understanding of human fragility and the possibility of growth, will remain with me always.”
“I believe deeply in the responsibility of museums to examine difficult histories with rigor, candor, and care,” said Andrew Bolton, curator in charge of The Met’s Costume Institute. “I also recognize the pain and concern this exhibition has caused. After extensive discussion, I support the decision not to proceed. I remain deeply grateful to my colleagues and to the advisors, lenders, collaborators, and community leaders who contributed their knowledge, trust, and perspectives to the project.”
Anna Wintour and Andrew Bolton (Photo by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images)
“John’s decision that the exhibition devoted to his work should not take place at this time is very courageous and a measure of the man he is,” said Anna Wintour, who has been Galliano’s staunchest supporter throughout his career. She helped broker his residency at Oscar de la Renta following his stint in rehab after his racist tirades were made public and has been his greatest champion ever since, despite the ongoing controversy that surrounds him and the damage the association has done to her own reputation and legacy in the eyes of many. “I believe this is the right decision, and both he and the Museum have my full support.”
Information on a new spring Costume Institute exhibition and the 2027 Met Gala will be announced at a later date.
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