Agnes Gund, one of America's most influential and transformative art patrons, has died at the age of 87. Her death was reported by The New York Times on Friday, though no cause was specified. Gund's extraordinary collecting journey and philanthropic vision fundamentally reshaped the American art world, inspiring countless others to pursue serious art collecting and supporting institutions that define contemporary cultural life.
Gund's most profound impact can be seen at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, where she maintained a deep relationship spanning over five decades. She first joined MoMA's international council in 1967 and went on to serve as the museum's president from 1991 to 2002. At the time of her death, she held the titles of president emerita and life trustee, reflecting her enduring commitment to the institution.
Her financial support proved crucial to MoMA's evolution into the cultural powerhouse it is today. Most notably, Gund helped bankroll the museum's ambitious 2004 expansion project, which involved constructing an entirely new building designed by architect Yoshio Taniguchi at a cost of $858 million. This transformative initiative established MoMA as the artistic behemoth visitors experience today.
Gund also played a pivotal role in relaunching what is now known as MoMA PS1, the renowned Queens contemporary art center that she helped bring under MoMA's umbrella in 1999. Even at the time of her death, she remained listed as a board member of MoMA PS1, where the directorship position currently held by Connie Butler bears her name in recognition of her contributions.
As a collector, Gund demonstrated remarkable passion and dedication, appearing regularly on the prestigious ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list from its inception in 1990 through 2018. Her collecting philosophy was notably progressive, with special attention paid to supporting women artists and artists of color long before such efforts became mainstream priorities in the art world.
Despite her forward-thinking approach, Gund sometimes faced resistance from the very institutions she supported. In the 2020 documentary "Aggie," directed by her daughter Catherine Gund, Agnes recalled urging MoMA to acquire Adrian Piper's powerful video installation "What It's Like, What It Is #3" (1991) after the museum exhibited it. MoMA initially declined, only rectifying this oversight in 2017. The work, featuring a Black man directly addressing viewers while challenging racial stereotypes, became the centerpiece of MoMA's Piper retrospective the following year.
Artists who knew Gund personally consistently described her as a patron willing to support challenging, groundbreaking work that might intimidate other collectors. "Aggie has always been there for the new kind of art," artist and filmmaker John Waters observed in the documentary. "She doesn't question it. She gets behind it."
Gund's generous spirit is visible throughout MoMA's galleries today, where visitors can encounter numerous masterpieces she purchased and subsequently donated to the museum. Among the more than 250 works she gifted over the years are a James Rosenquist painting based on house layouts, an Ana Mendieta sculpture exploring connections between the female body and landscape, and a minimalist Agnes Martin painting from the artist's Coenties Slip period in New York. A special 2018 exhibition at MoMA celebrated her donations, showcasing key works by Jasper Johns, Elizabeth Murray, Catherine Opie, Martin Puryear, Julie Mehretu, Mona Hatoum, and many other significant artists.
Ann Temkin, MoMA's chief curator of painting and sculpture, told ARTnews in 2018 that Gund was "ahead of her time as far back as the 1970s." Temkin noted that while Gund could collect whatever appealed to her for her personal collection, "it did require courage to advocate at MoMA for a number of artists who—if not for her advocacy—probably the curators would not have been looking at closely."
Gund's influence extended well beyond MoMA. At the time of her death, she held positions 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, having patronized all these institutions throughout her career.
Born in a Cleveland suburb in 1938, Gund was the second of six children in a banking family. Her father typically provided more opportunities to her brothers, but she developed the resilience that would define her entire life. She grew up taking art classes at the Cleveland Museum of Art, where she discovered her true talent lay not in creating art but in understanding collections. "I was never any good at drawing but I was very good at learning the collection," she told ARTnews in 2018.
Tragedy struck when Gund was 14 and her mother died of leukemia. She was subsequently sent to Miss Porter's School in Connecticut, where her interest in art history flourished. Years later, in 2019, she would co-chair an all-women Sotheby's auction with Oprah Winfrey to support the school, selling her prized Carmen Herrera painting for a record-setting $2.9 million.
After completing her undergraduate degree in history at Connecticut College for Women, Gund earned her master's in art history from the Fogg Museum, now part of the Harvard Art Museums. She married Albrecht Saalfield, a private school teacher, in 1963, and began collecting seriously three years later following her father's death and subsequent inheritance in 1966.
Initially, Gund intended to follow the conventional path of collecting Old Master drawings, but practical considerations led her in a different direction. "I wanted to collect Old Master drawings, but I realized I couldn't live in the low-light conditions those works required," she explained to ARTnews. "I needed natural light for my life. That's why I was stuck with contemporary art, which I haven't regretted."
Her first significant acquisition was British modernist Henry Moore's sculpture "Three-Way Piece No. 2: Archer" (1964). However, feeling guilty about the purchase and watching her children use it as a makeshift horse, she donated it to the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1970, where it remains on display today. This early act of giving foreshadowed a lifetime of generous donations.
Gund cultivated friendships with prominent Abstract Expressionists, including Mark Rothko, and began acquiring their works. She found a mentor in Emily Hall Tremaine, another significant art collector. This relationship positioned her to potentially acquire Ben Heller's entire collection of Abstract Expressionist art, though her bank ultimately blocked the transaction, citing her father's wishes not to let the family "do anything insane," as she put it.
Throughout her life, Gund seamlessly integrated her collecting activities with philanthropy and political activism. In 1977, she founded Studio in a School, a nonprofit organization that continues providing art education to children today. Her motivation came from reading in The New York Times that New York City planned to cut art classes due to fiscal constraints. "How could children not have art?" she asked herself, immediately taking action to address the gap.
During the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, Gund actively supported LGBTQ+ rights causes, backing organizations like PFLAG and even participating in a Pride parade in 1989 with her daughter Catherine. "These were people like me," she told Harper's Bazaar. "People who loved their kids, who didn't have a problem with their children—but with the world that says they're not okay."
Gund achieved widespread public recognition in 2017 through a remarkable act of philanthropy that captured national attention. She sold her treasured Roy Lichtenstein painting "Masterpiece" (1962) for $165 million to collector Steve Cohen, dedicating approximately $100 million of the proceeds to launch the Art for Justice Fund. This initiative focuses on addressing the devastating effects of mass incarceration in America. "This is what I need to do," she declared after viewing Ava DuVernay's documentary "13th." She replaced the Lichtenstein work, which had hung above her dining room fireplace, with a Stanley Whitney abstraction.
This groundbreaking initiative earned her widespread acclaim and recognition. The New York Times profiled her in 2018 under the headline "Is Agnes Gund the Last Good Rich Person?" That same year, the Getty Center honored her with a prize recognizing her philanthropic contributions. In 2020, she received the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership Award, adding to her earlier recognition as a recipient of the National Medal of the Arts from President Bill Clinton.
Gund is survived by her children David, Anna, Jessica, and Catherine Saalfield. Catherine, who directed the documentary about her mother, carries on the family's commitment to social justice through her own work. Gund's brother Graham Gund, himself a notable art collector, recently passed away.
Even in death, Gund's generosity will continue transforming American museums. Her estate plans include additional donations to MoMA and the Cleveland Museum of Art, as well as gifts to nine other institutions, including the Menil Collection in Houston and the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College in Ohio.
Despite her enormous influence and importance in the art world, Gund remained characteristically modest about her legacy in interviews. Instead of focusing on her own significance, she preferred to highlight the museums, artworks, and artists she had supported throughout her remarkable life. As she told ARTnews in 2018, "I've loved collecting and I've had so much fun doing it." Her words reflect the joy and passion that drove her transformative impact on American cultural life, leaving behind a legacy that will inspire future generations of collectors, philanthropists, and art lovers.
