"He patronized the New York Academy of Art, owned that creepy painting of President Bill Clinton in a blue dress and red heels, and advised billionaire Leon Black, a mega collector and Museum of Modern Art trustee, on tax and estate-planning matters. But he was not a collector, and he was not seen on the international art circuit. However, it turns out that there's a lot more to it than that."
"In the documents released so far, there 1,129 references to Christie's and 895 references to Sotheby's. There are 414 mentions of Gagosian, including 119 of Larry Gagosian and 376 of Jeff Koons. Many other prominent art world names also appear. Some invited Epstein to parties and others corresponded with Black's accountants and lawyers, who deferred to Epstein. Did they all know Epstein was lurking in the background, reading their notes and making decisions?"
Thousands of U.S. Department of Justice documents identify Jeffrey Epstein as the operator behind Leon Black's art investment machine, managing Black's holdings from 2012 to 2017. Epstein deployed the collection to maximize value for Black's family; art accounted for $2.8 billion of Black's estimated $4.9 billion fortune in 2015. The files contain extensive references to major auction houses and galleries and show communications with prominent dealers, accountants, and lawyers who often deferred to Epstein. Epstein had been convicted in 2008 and died by suicide in prison in 2019. No art-world figures have been accused of criminal wrongdoing in these records.
Read at Artnet News
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