The Epstein files, released by the US Department of Justice in January, reveal that investor Leon Black owned Van Gogh's painting Quarry near Saint-Rémy, valued at $60m in 2016. He also had one of the artist’s most expensive drawings, Garden with Flowers, then worth $25m, along with three other Van Gogh works on paper.
All seem to have been bought privately, rather than through auctions. It is only now that Black has emerged as one of the most important Van Gogh collectors of the early 21st century.
He has amassed a massive art collection, hitting the headlines in 2012 when he was named as the buyer of a pastel version of Edvard Munch’s The Scream (1895) for $120m, then the highest price paid for an artwork at auction.
Black figures in the newly released documents because Jeffrey Epstein provided him with extensive financial advice, apparently paying fees totalling at least $158m. An American billionaire businessman, Black was also chairman of New York’s Museum of Modern Art from 2018 to 2021, but he did not seek re-election in the wake of revelations about his links with Epstein (although he still remains a MoMA trustee).
Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008. He died in prison in 2019 in what was ruled a suicide, while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
On 26 June Black testified before a House of Representatives committee investigating the Epstein affair. When asked about possible non-disclosure agreements with Epstein victims, Black refused to answer questions - and left the hearing. He has now been subpoenaed to produce any such agreements and appear before the committee on 16 July.
Black’s appearance in the Epstein files does not imply wrongdoing. Black has previously denied any wrongdoing in his dealings with Epstein and knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities until 2019. His representative has not responded to The Art Newspaper’s request for comment.
Leon and Debra Black at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 2018
Photo: Andrew Toth; Getty Images for the Museum of Modern Art
Quarry near Saint-Rémy (September 1889), which had earlier been owned by Las Vegas casino owner Steve Wynn, was bought by Black for $46m, probably in the early 2000s. By 2016, when it was valued by one of the major auction houses, it was worth an estimated $60m (the sum would likely be considerably more today).
This made it among the most valuable Van Gogh paintings to have changed hands (as it was bought privately, not at auction, it does not normally figure in lists of the most expensive pictures). In 2014 Black lent the landscape to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, for its exhibition Van Gogh/Artaud: Le Suicidé de la Société.
Van Gogh’s Garden of Flowers (August 1888)
Black also owned an important large drawing, Garden of Flowers (August 1888), purchased via a private sale at Christie's. The work featured on the cover of the catalogue for the 2005 exhibition of Van Gogh’s drawings at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum. Black bought the picture for $8.5m, but by 2016 its value had rocketed up to $25m. Up until now the most expensive Van Gogh drawing at auction has been Sower in a Wheatfield with setting Sun (July 1888), which sold last November at Sotheby’s for $11.2m.
Van Gogh’s Roofs, Arles (March-April 1888)
Black also owned two other Arles drawings, from the artist’s finest period. Roofs, Arles (March-April 1888) was bought for $1.25m, but was later valued at $3m. He paid $2.3m for Wheatfield with Sheaves (July-August 1888), which in 2016 was estimated to be worth $7m. In addition, Black owned a copy of Van Gogh’s only etching, Portrait of Dr Paul Gachet (June 1890), paying $287,000.
Van Gogh’s Wheatfield with Sheaves (July-August 1888)
Ownership of the Van Goghs may have resided with Black alone, with his family or with one of his companies, trusts or foundations (such as the entities Narrows and APO). The documents suggest that the Van Gogh works were in around 2016 used as collateral for massive bank loans. It remains unclear whether he still owns the Van Goghs, although none have publicly surfaced at auction.
As for Epstein himself, he is not known to have owned any Van Goghs, but in 2012 he was emailed with an enquiry to ask if he was interested in an Arles work Les Meules (Wheat Stacks, dimensions 79.7 x 90.2cm), along with four Old Masters. The message to Epstein read: “Extremely off Market! But absolutely real transaction. I only have for this for two weeks. Qatari group will acquire after that.”
There is no known Arles painting of wheat stacks in a private collection (and no Arles paintings of quite such large dimensions), so the identity of the work remains unclear. Whatever it was, Epstein apparently passed on the offer.
