Artist Petrina Ryan-Kleid Surprised Epstein Owned Her Clinton-in-Dress Painting

The artist behind a painting of Bill Clinton in a blue dress and red heels said it was a “complete surprise” to learn that it ended up in Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion. The Daily Mail was the first to report that the artwork was hanging on the wall of the accused sex trafficker’s Manhattan townhouse. Artist Petrina Ryan-Kleid said she painted it while a grad student at the New York Academy of Art in 2012 and it was sold at a school fundraiser. “I had no idea who the buyer was at the time. As with most of my paintings, I had completely lost track of this piece when it was sold seven years,” she said in a statement. Epstein’s ownership of the painting raised eyebrows because of his ties to Clinton, who distanced himself from the financier after he was accused of sex-trafficking.