While collector Leon Black continues to face controversy over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, he has found a defender in Glenn Lowry, a former director of the Museum of Modern Art, the New York institution where Black is currently a board member.
Black was previously chair of MoMA’s board, but he left that position in 2021 following the publication of reports on his friendship and business relationship with Epstein. Prior to his departure from that position, activists and high-profile artists had called for Black’s ejection.
That year, Black also departed his role as CEO of the investment firm Apollo Global Management. In 2023, Black paid $62.5 million to the US Virgin Islands to settle all Epstein-related claims against him. Black’s lawyer said at the time that he had “engaged and made payments to Jeffrey Epstein for legitimate financial advisory services, which based on everything now known, he very much regrets.”
Black made yet more headlines in 2026, with the release of new Epstein-related files, one of which featured a lengthy list of works held by companies linked to Black. Though not accused of involvement in Epstein’s crimes, Black has been requested to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on his role in managing Epstein’s wealth.
With scrutiny over Black’s ties to Epstein continuing on, Lowry, who directed MoMA from 1995 to 2025, was queried about Black by the Wall Street Journal this week.
“As far as I know, Leon has never been charged with a crime related to Epstein,” Lowry said. “He’s certainly been subject to various suits, but he’s also been a very supportive trustee. He chose not to run for re-election for chair because he wanted to make a decision that was not going to be harmful to the museum. Our board looked very carefully at Leon and ultimately decided that he was a solid trustee and should remain.”
Pressed by the Journal to clarify whether Black was a “good trustee,” Lowry said, “In the middle of the pandemic, when institutions were laying people off, and many of our trustees brought up the possibility of laying people off, it was Leon Black who insisted, ‘We are not laying anybody off in the middle of a pandemic on my watch.’” (A Bloomberg report from 2020 stated that MoMA had shrunk its staff from 960 workers to 800, but MoMA said at the time that it made no layoffs.)
Black, who regularly appeared on the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list alongside his wife Debra, has provided significant support to MoMA across the years. In 2018, he and Debra gave $40 million to the museum in support of its renovation and expansion, which opened the following year.
