Agnes Gund sold her Roy Lichtenstein painting sometime in the last year. Josh Baer reported the sale in January. Now Gund is going public with an off-key appeal. She is using $100m of the $165m Steven Cohen paid for Lichtenstein’s Masterpiece (above) to establish the “Art for Justice” fund to support criminal justice reform in the US.

Make no mistake, Gund’s philanthropy is profound and her willingness to use any network to attract donors is both valid and laudable. But trying to make it the particular responsibility of art collectors to support a charity requires factitious assertions like this one:Continue Reading