The art community is in deep mourning after the death of Agnes Gund, a towering figure in modern and contemporary art philanthropy. Gund, who passed away on September 18, 2025 in New York City, was 87. Social Sciences Institute+2Apollo Magazine+2
Gund’s influence stretched across art institutions, education, and social justice. As President Emerita and Life Trustee of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), she played a central role in shaping the museum’s direction and was instrumental in its major 2004 expansion. Art News+1 She also served on the board of MoMA PS1, the avant-garde Queens institution born from New York’s alternative space movement.
But Gund’s legacy was not limited to institutional leadership. In 1977, she founded Studio in a School, a nonprofit program that brought professional artists into New York City public schools to teach visual arts — a response to funding cuts in arts education. Wikipedia+1
Her commitment to social justice was equally bold. In a groundbreaking move in 2017, Gund sold Roy Lichtenstein’s Masterpiece and donated $100 million to launch the Art for Justice Fund, targeting systemic reform of mass incarceration in the United States. Over its lifetime, the fund awarded more than $127 million in grants.
Colleagues and institutions are paying tribute to her far-reaching impact. The New York Women’s Foundation called her “a transformative force” whose belief in women’s leadership and access to the arts helped define its mission. And the Vera List Center for Art and Politics honored her decades-long support, describing her as a generous advocate who saw access to the arts as a fundamental right.
Gund’s dedication to inclusion extended into her collecting practice, where she championed artists who were often marginalized—women, artists of color, and emerging pioneers. Her thoughtful activism and philanthropy have inspired a generation of collectors to see art not only as an aesthetic pursuit but as a vehicle for social change.
Her death marks the passing of a visionary patron whose moral compass and generosity shaped institutions, supported artists, and empowered communities. As the art world reflects on her extraordinary life, many are already asking: who will fill the space she leaves behind?
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