The newly released Jeffrey Epstein files contain a 51-page document cataloging a host of masterworks that appear to belong to Leon Black, a major art collector and businessman whose dealings with Epstein are well-documented.
The document does not name Black, a trustee and former board chair at the Museum of Modern Art. His connections to Epstein, a convicted sex offender, fully came to light in 2021, resulting in him not seeking reelection as chair. At the time, several high-profile artists called for his removal from the board altogether. But it does state these artworks—by artists ranging from Michelangelo to Picasso—belong to entities labeled Narrows and AP Narrows. The New York Times previously reported that Narrows Holdings and AP Holdings are corporate entities operated by Black.
This document is dated to 2017 and contains many artworks listed on another document featuring valuations by Sotheby’s from 2013. The document with the Sotheby’s valuations names institutions stewarding some of them alongside Black. By cross-referencing those museums’ websites, ARTnews was able to establish that the artworks in question are owned by Black.
For example, the document with the 2013 valuations lists Sentinel (1961), a sculpture by the Abstract Expressionist artist David Smith. It was then valued at $8 million and under the partial ownership of MoMA. On MoMA’s website, the sculpture is listed as a fractional and promised gift from Black and his wife Debra, both of whom regularly appear on the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list.
The document also lists The Archangel Gabriel announcing the birth of Christ, a drawing from the 1520s by the Dutch painter Lucas van Leyden. Reportedly valued at $4.5 million by Sotheby’s in 2013, the van Leyden is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which also lists the piece as a promised gift from Leon and Debra Black.
While these works were previously identified on their respective museums’ website, many listed on the document were not publicly linked to Black before. If the document is accurate, it could provide an in-depth look at one of the richest art collections in the US—much of which has been kept out of the public eye. The 2017 document is reproduced in full at the bottom of this article.
The artworks listed in the 2017 document act as a who’s who of Western art history, from Italian greats like Leonardo da Vinci and Pontormo to Dutch Old Masters such as Rembrandt. There are modernists such as Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, and Piet Mondrian, and there are also postwar icons such as Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock.
Among the most highly valued works listed here is a Paul Cézanne piece billed as being a part of his beloved “Château Noir” series. The 2017 document does not include years for the artworks, which makes it difficult to tell which work is being referenced, but other related pieces are owned by MoMA and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. This one is said to have been worth $50 million at the time and is listed as being owned by Narrows.
Also listed here is what appears to be a two-sided Michelangelo drawing called The Risen Christ. It was apparently valued at $25 million and is also said to be own by Narrows. Other entries include a Kazimir Malevich work reportedly priced at $50 million, a Constantin Brancusi piece said to be worth $40 million, and a Claude Monet allegedly valued at $45 million.
At least one work on the 2017 list sold around the time of the document’s production. A work by Wassily Kandinsky, titled Oben und links, appears on this list, which is dated to March 19 of that year and which values that piece at $6 million. On May 17, 2017, Katya Kazakina reported in Bloomberg that Black was the seller of a 1925 painting of that same name at Christie’s, where it brought in $8.3 million.
A lawyer for Black declined to comment.
Black and Epstein were both work associates and friends, with Epstein providing financial services to Black, who at the time was CEO at Apollo Global Management, the investment firm he has since departed. Previously released files suggest that Epstein was also involved in Black’s attempts to buy art, allegedly even liaising with Gagosian to purchase a Picasso for him.
Having previously attempted to downplay his ties to Epstein, Black agreed to pay $62.5 million to the Virgin Islands government to settle all Epstein-related legal claims in 2023.
“As publicly reported, Mr. Black engaged and made payments to Jeffrey Epstein for legitimate financial advisory services, which based on everything now known, he very much regrets,” a lawyer for Black said at the time. “Consistent with settlements of other major U.S. banks, Mr. Black resolved the USVI’s potential claims arising out of the unintended consequences of those payments. There is no suggestion in the USVI settlement that Mr. Black was aware of or participated in any misconduct.”
