Jeffrey Epstein had Bill Clinton painting in blue dress, red heels. Artist explains what it means
Jeffrey Epstein had a painting of former US President Bill Clinton in a blue dress and red heels, displayed in his Manhattan mansion.
Jeffrey Epstein, child sex offender, reportedly had a painting of former US President Bill Clinton in a blue dress and red heels displayed prominently in his Manhattan mansion.
The existence of this artwork first came to light after the Daily Mail interviewed a person who'd been to Epstein's and managed to click a photo of the unique piece.
In the painting, Clinton is seen with his legs thrown over a chair in the Oval Office, and he appears to be pointing a la Uncle Sam. At the time, some opined that the blue dress is a reference to the infamous stained one at the center of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, while others posited that it is like the one Hillary Clinton wore to the 2009 Kennedy Center Honors.
Amid the many accounts, the artist too came forward to explain the meaning of the artwork.
Who is the artist behind the Clinton painting
Petrina Ryan-Kleid is the artist behind the Clinton painting titled ‘Parsing Bill.’ She is originally from Australia.
She got her MFA from New York Academy of Art. The painting was purchased from the 2012 Tribeca Ball, and though the artist says she does not remember the buyer, she shared that it likely fetched $1300. She also posted about the painting on her Saatchi Art website.
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Ryan-Kleid worked with model Christophe Nayel for the painting, and the latter told Artnet News that he was on vacation when the artwork went viral.
"I was absolutely stunned to find out that Epstein bought her painting during a major event at the school,” he said, adding, “Some past students even recognized my legs in that painting.”
What the artist had to say about the Clinton painting
Speaking about the painting to the publication, Ryan-Kleid said “I live a quiet life, and I really just had a naive, newly arrived foreigner’s idea for a thesis,” and added, “It was just a silly school artwork that was supposed to show, pictorially, the messages we are bombarded with in regards to these presidents.” She also confirmed that the blue dress was a nod to Lewinsky and not Clinton.
Expressing she felt bad about the artwork, Ryan-Kleid shared, “Since I’m Australian, I wasn’t then, nor am I now, partisan about American politics,” adding, “At the time, most of my ideas were fresh from the Daily Show or from Australian cable TV.”
She clarified that in no way was Clinton in a blue dress meant to make fun of the idea of a man wearing a dress; rather, it was about “how opposition parties caricature presidents”.
She emphasized that the painting should not be taken literally.
