Agnes Gund – Renowned Philanthropist, Social Justice Champion, and Art Patron – Passes Away
Foundation News
The documentary “Aggie: An Incredible Story of Art and Justice” chronicles her story.
The Foundation Fighting Blindness is mourning the loss of Agnes Gund, sister of Foundation Co-Founder Gordon Gund, and a consistently generous supporter of numerous Foundation initiatives to drive research for retinal diseases.
Ms. Gund was an avid art collector and a prominent patron of the arts. She was also a strong advocate for numerous social programs. In 2017, she sold Roy Lichtenstein’s Masterpiece for $165 million and used $100 million of the proceeds to help launch Art for Justice, an initiative that provided grants to promote criminal justice reform and end mass incarceration.
Ms. Gund joined the international council of the Museum of Modern Art in 1967, and after taking on increasing responsibility, became its president in 1991, a role she held for 11 years. She also led the museum’s $858 million expansion which was completed in 2004 and doubled its exhibition space.
Released in 2020, the feature-length documentary “Aggie: An Incredible Story of Art and Justice” brought Ms. Gund’s story to several prominent film festivals. Catherine Gund, Ms. Gund’s daughter, and producer and director of the film, said in her director’s notes, “She made the invisible visible by exposing a contradiction of capitalism. Her actions effectively changed the discourse around who is impacted by our broken criminal justice system and who is responsible for repairing the immense damage incarceration has caused to families, communities, and society in the United States.”
In addition to Catherine, Ms. Gund is survived by three other children, David Saalisi, Jessica Saalfield and Anna Traggio; her brothers Gordon and Geoffrey Gund; a sister, Louise Gund; and 12 grandchildren. Her brothers Graham Gund and George Gund III are deceased.
Ms. Gund earned a history degree from Connecticut College for Women and a master’s degree in art history from Harvard. She served on the boards of several nonprofits and museums.
Ms. Gund was 87 years old and lived in Manhattan.
