Agnes Gund, one of the greatest and most influential art patrons in the US, has died at 87. The New York Times reported her death on Friday, but did not state a cause.
Gund’s collecting and philanthropy transformed the American art world, spurring on many others to begin buying art with seriousness. Her influence is most deeply felt at the Museum of Modern Art, the New York institution that she had helped fund since 1967, when she joined its international council.
In the 40-plus years since then, Gund helped bankroll many efforts that helped launch MoMA into the future, in particular the museum’s 2004 expansion. That initiative, which involved the creation of an entirely new building, was designed by Yoshio Taniguchi, cost $858 million, and helped turn MoMA into the behemoth it is today.
She was also crucial in relaunching the institution now known as MoMA PS1, a vaunted Queens contemporary art center that she helped bring under MoMA’s aegis in 1999. As of Friday, Gund was still listed as a board member of MoMA PS1, where the directorship position, currently held by Connie Butler, is currently titled after Gund’s name.
At the time of her passing, Gund was also president emerita and a life trustee at MoMA, where she served as president from 1991 and 2002.
She was also listed as a standing trustee at the Cleveland Museum of Art, a life trustee at the Morgan Library and Museum, and an emeritus director at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland. At various points, she had patronized all those institutions.
Gund appeared on the annual ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list frequently, ranking on each edition between 1990, the year the list was first created, and 2018.
Though Gund had always been a crucial figure within the art world, she gained wider public recognition in 2017, when she sold a prized Roy Lichtenstein painting, Masterpiece (1962), with the plans to use the funds recouped to launch the Art for Justice Fund, an initiative focused on remedying the negative effects of mass incarceration in the US. The work ended up being bought by collector Steve Cohen for $165 million, and Gund put some $100 million toward the newly created fund.
A full obituary will follow.
