Agnes “Aggie” Gund, an influential philanthropist who noticed the humanities as a robust method to fight social injustice and schooling inequity, died yesterday night, September 18, on the age of 87 in her residence in Manhattan. Her daughter, Catherine Gund, confirmed her dying to the New York Instances.
A staunch social justice advocate and main artwork collector, Gund was identified for her philanthropic endeavors that bolstered underrepresented artists and underserved communities. This work was keenly felt in New York Metropolis, the place she based the humanities schooling nonprofit Studio in a Faculty almost 5 many years in the past in response to dramatic finances cuts that principally eradicated artwork courses within the public faculty system on the time.
“I have always believed that every student has a fundamental right to quality art education,” Gund informed Hyperallergic earlier this yr, throughout a scholar exhibition organized by the Studio Institute, an affiliate of Studio in a Faculty.
Gund additionally gained consideration for her efforts to finish mass incarceration in the USA, evidenced by the Artwork for Justice Fund (A4J) — a six-year initiative geared toward redressing socioeconomic inequalities within the felony justice system that disproportionately have an effect on younger folks and other people of colour. It was based in 2017, when Gund notably bought Roy Lichtenstein’s 1962 work “Masterpiece” for $165 million to speculate $100 million within the initiative — a transfer linking cultural patronage to social activism that’s not often seen within the artwork world. Throughout its run, A4J disbursed greater than $127 million to greater than 200 artists, activists, and organizations aligned with ending mass incarceration. Its work carries on by its successor venture, the Middle for Artwork and Advocacy, which moved into a brand new programming house in Bedford-Stuyvesant earlier this yr.
“She was a force for justice in the world who transformed the cultural landscape in New York and beyond,” Darren Walker, president of the Ford Basis and a longtime good friend of Gund who supported the creation of the Artwork for Justice Fund, informed Hyperallergic.
Guests at Artists Rising 2025 organized by Agnes Gund’s Studio in a Faculty (picture Maya Pontone/Hyperallergic)
Along with championing schooling and social justice causes, Gund was a notable patron of latest artwork, constructing a group of works together with main items by Mark Rothko and Jasper Johns and serving as president emerita and life trustee on the Museum of Trendy Artwork (MoMA). She joined the museum’s worldwide council in 1967, grew to become a board member lower than a decade later, and was appointed board president in 1991. Throughout her tenure, she spearheaded the museum’s efforts to interact with up to date artwork, most notably by her central function in its historic 1999 institutional merger with the P.S. 1 Middle for Up to date Artwork in Lengthy Island Metropolis, Queens (now MoMA PS1). Her mark on the museum additionally prolonged past her presidency by MoMA’s main 2004 enlargement — a $858 million venture that concerned the development of a brand new constructing designed by the late architect Yoshio Taniguchi.
Gund additionally served on the boards of the Cleveland Museum of Artwork, Basis for Artwork and Preservation in Embassies, Morgan Library and Museum, Frick Assortment, Andy Warhol Basis, and Robert Rauschenberg Basis, amongst many different cultural establishments.
Her affect in museums and the humanities can be seen within the Middle for Curatorial Management (CCL), a corporation she co-founded in 2007 devoted to coaching and shaping curators for museum management.
“Aggie was a trailblazing activist and guiding force for good in the cultural world,” curator and CCL fellow Christa Clark informed Hyperallergic. She described Gund as “eager to continue learning from the next generation with the kind of curiosity that characterizes the best leaders,” and an inspirational drive for curators.
“She was generous in every way, most especially of mind and spirit,” Clark mentioned.
