Nicole Eisenman says Palestine support cost collectors and shaped MoMA painting

Artist Nicole Eisenman says speaking out in support of Palestine cost her collectors and complicated funding for a career survey in Chicago. She says that experience also fed into The Auction, a large 2025 painting now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.

In an interview published on 29 September 2026 under the headline "Nicole Eisenman has no time for heroic poses", she discussed a new sculpture at the Royal Academy in London. She told the Financial Times that many artists hesitate to grapple with the destruction in Gaza because they fear backlash. The fallout was practical.

ARTnews reported on the same day that Eisenman described The Auction as partly inspired by the behind-the-scenes response to her public position. The report frames the painting as a response to private pressure, not only public debate. That distinction matters for arts organisations that depend on collectors and donors.

MoMA lists The Auction as oil on canvas and linen. It measures 8′ 9′′ × 11′ 5′′ (267.3 × 348). The museum credits it as a gift of Manizeh and Danny Rimer, under accession number 156.2026, the museum's inventory code. Museum of Modern Art

Eisenman has previously linked collector hesitancy to funding problems around her Chicago retrospective, a survey of work to date. The New York Times reported in a September 2024 profile, "Nicole Eisenman at the Tipping Point", that taking a stand had cost her collectors. The newspaper also reported that a museum in Chicago that showed her work suffered a financial loss after her statements. Those earlier accounts provide background to her latest comments.

Retrospectives of this scale are rarely paid for from ticket sales alone. They often mix museum budgets with outside gifts, so a change in collector behaviour can quickly affect what gets shown and where. Eisenman said that hesitancy created funding issues for the Chicago project.

What makes this stand out is the object at the centre. A museum listing fixes a work in public view, with maker, materials, size, donors and inventory details published for anyone to check. For fans, this means the debate now points to something they can see in person, not only to interviews and statements.