Leon Black’s Secret Multi-Million Dollar Art Collection Revealed

New documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files reveal billionaire Leon Black's vast private art collection, featuring works by Picasso and Michelangelo, and detail his controversial financial ties to Epstein.

Unveiling the Secret Collection

But the file does state these art work– by artists ranging from Michelangelo to Picasso– belong to entities classified Tightens and AP Narrows. The New york city Times formerly reported that Tightens Holdings and AP Holdings are company entities operated by Black.

While these works were formerly identified on their corresponding galleries’ website, lots of provided on the record were not openly linked to Black before. If the file is precise, it might offer an extensive consider among the wealthiest art collections in the United States– much of which has actually been shut out of the public eye. The 2017 record is recreated in full at the end of this article.

The file does not name Black, a trustee and previous board chair at the Museum of Modern Art. The file with the Sotheby’s evaluations names establishments stewarding some of them along with Black. On MoMA’s site, the sculpture is detailed as a fractional and guaranteed present from Black and his partner Debra, both of whom regularly appear on the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors checklist.

The Epstein Connection and Financial Ties

While these jobs were formerly recognized on their respective museums’ internet site, numerous provided on the paper were not publicly connected to Black prior to.” As openly reported, Mr. Black involved and made settlements to Jeffrey Epstein for legit financial advising solutions, which based on everything currently recognized, he extremely a lot regrets,” a lawyer for Black claimed at the time.

“As openly reported, Mr. Black engaged and made payments to Jeffrey Epstein for genuine financial consultatory solutions, which based on whatever now known, he significantly regrets,” an attorney for Black said at the time. “Regular with settlements of other major U.S. banks, Mr. Black solved the USVI’s possible insurance claims occurring out of the unplanned repercussions of those settlements. There is no tip in the USVI negotiation that Mr. Black understood or took part in any misconduct.”

Institutional Philanthropy and Ownership

For instance, the file with the 2013 appraisals lists Sentinel (1961 ), a sculpture by the Abstract Expressionist musician David Smith. It was after that valued at $8 million and under the partial ownership of MoMA. On MoMA’s internet site, the sculpture is detailed as a fractional and guaranteed present from Black and his partner Debra, both of whom routinely show up on the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors checklist.

The file does not name Black, a trustee and previous board chair at the Gallery of Modern Art. His links to Epstein, a convicted sex transgressor, fully emerged in 2021, resulting in him not seeking reelection as chair. At the time, a number of high-profile musicians asked for his elimination from the board entirely.

Black and Epstein were both job partners and pals, with Epstein giving monetary solutions to Black, who at the time was chief executive officer at Apollo Global Administration, the investment firm he has actually considering that left. Previously released files recommend that Epstein was likewise involved in Black’s attempts to acquire art, supposedly even liaising with Gagosian to acquire a Picasso for him.

Masterpieces of Western Art History

The artworks noted in the 2017 record work as a who’s that 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 likewise postwar icons such as Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock.

A minimum of one service the 2017 checklist offered around the time of the record’s production. A job by Wassily Kandinsky, entitled Oben und web links, appears on this list, which is dated to March 19 of that year and which values that item at $6 million. On Might 17, 2017, Katya Kazakina reported in Bloomberg that Black was the seller of a 1925 painting of that very same name at Christie’s, where it brought in $8.3 million.

This record is dated to 2017 and contains lots of artworks listed on one more record featuring assessments by Sotheby’s from 2013. The record with the Sotheby’s evaluations names institutions stewarding a few of them together with Black. By cross-referencing those galleries’ internet sites, ARTnews was able to develop that the art work in question are possessed by Black.

Massive Valuations of Rare Works

Noted here is what shows up to be a two-sided Michelangelo illustration called The Climbed Christ. It was evidently valued at $25 million and is likewise stated to be own by Narrows. Various other entries include a Kazimir Malevich work reportedly priced at $50 million, a Constantin Brancusi piece claimed to be worth $40 million, and a Claude Monet presumably valued at $45 million.

The file additionally lists The Archangel Gabriel introducing the birth of Christ, an illustration 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 Gallery of Art, which additionally provides the piece as a guaranteed present from Leon and Debra Black.

The newly launched Jeffrey Epstein files consist of a 51-page file cataloging a host of masterworks that show up to belong to Leon Black, a major art enthusiast and entrepreneur whose negotiations with Epstein are well-documented.

Among one of the most highly valued jobs noted right here is a Paul Cézanne piece billed as being a part of his precious “Château Noir” collection. The 2017 document does not include years for the art work, which makes it tough to inform which work is being referenced, yet various other relevant pieces are owned by MoMA and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. This is claimed to have been worth $50 million at the time and is detailed as being owned by Narrows.