STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SVMoA

In 2017 philanthropist and art collector Agnes Gund sold Roy Lichtenstein’s “Masterpiece” for $165 million to start the Art for Justice Fund.

The proceeds from one of the highest grossing artworks ever sold fueled a monumental effort to reform the American criminal justice system and end mass incarceration. Gund said she was motivated to sell the work by Michelle Alexander’s book “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” and Ava DuVernay’s documentary “!3th” about African Americans in the prison system.  

Aggie Gund tried to achieve social justice for Black Americans.

Learn more about the nexus of art, race and justice through the story of the woman known as “Aggie” when the Sun Valley Museum of Art and Merlin’s Magic Lantern screen “Aggie.”

The feature-length documentary will be screened at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4, at Merlin’s Magic Lantern.

Directed by Aggie’s daughter Catherine Gund, it offers a look at the woman who supported artists, particularly women and people of color, and her unwavering commitment to social justice issues.

Gund, who passed away in September at 87, fell in love with art as a 15-year-old high school student at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Conn., thanks to what she called “a magical art history teacher who….showed you how to look at artwork.”

Aggie Gund talks about her passion in the documentary “Aggie.”

With art showing her a new way of looking at the world, she received a master’s degree in art history from Harvard University after receiving a bachelor’s degree in history. And she became a maverick who demonstrated the role and potential of collectors to use art to fight justice.

She also served on the boards of such organizations as the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and the J. Paul Getty Trust.

She was the daughter of George Gund II. And, yes, her family had a connection to Sun Valley with her brother George Gund III helping tp establish the Sun Valley Suns hockey team, in addition to owning NHL and NBA teams.

Tickets are $10 for SVMoA members and $12 for nonmembers. The screening is part of a series of “Art on Film” monthly screenings offered SVMoA at Merlin’s Magic Lantern.