The businessman and art collector Mr Gordon Lambert says he intends to reassess his relationship with the Irish Museum of Modern Art if the board acts to replace the current director, Mr Declan McGonagle.
The Gordon Lambert collection, which he donated to the museum in 1992, is one of the keystones of IMMA's collections. It is the largest of many donated and encompasses a huge range of work by Irish and international artists from the 1960s on.
In addition, Mr Lambert established a trust that continues to support the museum with donations and other supplementary activities. He also had expressed his intention to donate his archive to the museum.
Mr Lambert's announcement, in a letter to The Irish Times, is the latest in a series of high-profile statements of support for Mr McGonagle in the current controversy.
Others have come from Mr Gerard O'Toole of Nissan Ireland, sponsors of the annual Nissan Art Award, and Mr Lochlann Quinn of Glen Dimplex, which sponsors the annual Glen Dimplex Artist's Award, and who is chairman of AIB.
There have been numerous other expressions of disquiet over the handling of the directorship issue.
The controversy began when the chairwoman of the museum's board, Ms Marie Donnelly, told Mr McGonagle she intended to advertise the job of director. Mr McGonagle sought an injunction to prevent this.
According to sources close to the museum, Mr McGonagle's contract, though nominally based on a five-year term, is unusual: while terms and conditions are negotiable, his continuance in his position as director is not.
This means that simple non-renewal of his contract would not necessarily affect his status as director. The exceptional nature of his contract is thought to have prompted Ms Donnelly's unusually drastic action in informing him that his job was to be advertised.
Since that news was made public, it has become increasingly evident that the split between chairwoman and director is reflected in divisions within the 15-member board. The scheduled pre-Christmas meeting of the board was cancelled and there have instead been several informal meetings of board members away from the museum, in the office of board member Mr Roy Barrett.
As director, Mr McGonagle would be entitled to attend formal board meetings but he has not been invited to the informal ones.
There was disquiet among some members about Ms Donnelly's interpretation of a decision reached at one of the informal meetings. According to one view, she was deputed to discuss with the director the terms under which he would continue in his job - that is, to effectively renegotiate his contract. The chairwoman's interpretation was that she was deputed to negotiate the terms of his departure.
A compromise solution which emerged from Thursday's meeting, that a subcommittee negotiate with the director via legal representatives, appears to leave him in a strong position and suggests that the chairwoman would have difficulty in winning overall support at a full board meeting.
Since the controversy became public, there has been considerable public support for Mr McGonagle.
The board of the museum agreed this week in the High Court to continue until January 15th an undertaking not to take any steps to replace Mr McGonagle as director. Legal proceedings by Mr McGonagle against the board were further adjourned to that date.
