Everything to know about Jeffrey Epstein’s strange paintings

Jeffrey Epstein had a strange taste in art – as his decor suggests in virtually every one of his numerous residences. Whether it was life-sized dolls hanging from chandeliers or a hallway studded with framed eyeballs, Epstein certainly knew how to pick pieces that would elicit a reaction. 

Jeffrey Epstein owned a substantial art collection which he dispersed across his various houses. The paintings owned by Epstein frequently showed nude erotic scenes – sometimes featuring young subjects. Other times the paintings were just as bizarre as the rest of Epstein’s interior design. Here are some of the strangest & most disturbing paintings Epstein had in his collection. 

Bill Clinton lounging in a blue dress

Perhaps one of the most notorious pieces in Epstein’s art collection is his eye-catching portrait of former President Bill Clinton looking saucy in a royal blue frock & a pair of bright red pumps. The painting raised a lot of eyebrows, particularly since Bill Clinton was friendly with Epstein. 

Guests who visited Epstein’s New York City townhouse reported seeing the painting of Bill Clinton on the wall and one source stated that, “It was hanging up there prominently—as soon as you walked in—in a room to the right. Everybody who saw it laughed and smirked.”

The painting of Bill Clinton, titled Parsing Bill,  was done by Petrina Ryan-Kleid who painted other satirical portraits of political figures, such as a scene depicting George W. Bush with a paper airplane amongst the ruins of two Jenga towers. The satirical undertones of the Clinton painting point towards Clinton’s sexual misconduct scandal involving Monica Lewinsky & the infamous stain on her blue dress. 

Lady in Epstein’s office

Back when Jeffrey Epstein was still at large, a hedge fund trader caught a glimpse of the millionaire’s office and besides the giant taxidermied tiger, he was struck by a painting hanging behind Epstein’s desk. The painting showed a woman cupping her left exposed breast. 

The trader recognized the painting as being painted by a “decent artist”. The work was later identified as Femme Fatale, a painting done by Dutch-French artist Kees van Dongen in 1905 and valued at around $5.9 million. 

Painting from one of Epstein’s victims

Maria Farmer painted the scene of a young man in his underwear watching a woman sleeping on a couch. Farmer described the painting as an allusion to Edgar Degas’s work Interior, also known as The Rape. 

In 1995, Maria Farmer met Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell at her thesis show where she was pressured to sell Epstein the painting of the young man. Epstein took an interest in Farmer’s work and offered to help her by connecting her with prominent artists & paying for a private studio space. 

Farmer alleges that she was sexually assaulted by Jeffrey Epstein when he invited her to the Ohio mansion of his former mentor Les Wexner, a clothing magnate & art collector. Epstein had asked Farmer to work on an art project for him as Epstein had previously employed Farmer as an art consultant. 

Nude paintings in the Palm Beach property

In 2005, Jeffrey Epstein’s estate in Palm Beach, Florida was raided by the police during a thirteen-month investigation of Epstein due to claims that he had solicited & paid for sex with a minor. 

In the raid on the Palm Beach property, police uncovered a slew of disturbing items including soap shaped like genitalia, sex toys & lotions next to at least two massage tables, and a fully equipped dentist’s chair in one of the bathrooms. 

The police recorded the raid that took place on October 20, 2005, and uncovered a stash of photos featuring teenage girls. In many rooms of the house, there were paintings of nude women with some appearing to be underage though that was never verified 

Epstein was eventually convicted of soliciting sex from a prostitute under the age of eighteen and was sentenced to eighteen months in prison. Epstein was housed in a private wing of the Palm Beach County Stockade and was released in 2010 after thirteen months served.