For years, rumors have circulated on the internet that the late, convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein had a painting of former President Bill Clinton in a blue suit.
The image resurfaced on social media after the US Department of Justice released the first installment of additional Epstein files following the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which ordered the release of these documents.
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The image and its alleged connection to Epstein had been spread on Reddit, Facebook and X.
A photo of Clinton’s painting hanging on a wall was, indeed, included in Epstein’s files (see page 17 and download EFTA00000862.pdf). As such, we have rated this claim true.
It was not clear if Epstein had a copy of the photo or the original painting. The original was painted by Australian-American artist Petrina Ryan-Kield in oil on canvas, as Snopes first reported in 2019.
As of this writing, prints of the painting, titled “Parsing Bill,” were available for purchase from prominent online art gallery Saatchi. A photo also showed Ryan-Kield standing next to the work at the 2012 Tribeca Ball, an annual art show run by the New York Academy of Art and a popular event for New York socialites.
In a 2019 interview with Snopes, Ryan-Kield told us that she didn’t know who, in the end, ended up with her original painting. Here’s what she said in an email:
In 2012, as a graduate student at the New York Academy of Art, I painted portraits of Presidents Clinton and Bush as part of my Master’s thesis. When the school held a Tribeca Ball fundraiser that year, they sold my painting to one of the attendees. I had no idea who the buyer was at the time. As with most of my paintings, I had completely lost sight of this piece when it was sold seven years ago. So it was a complete surprise to me to learn yesterday that she ended up at Epstein’s house.
Ryan-Kield said Artnet News that Clinton’s outfit in the painting is a reference to Monica Lewinsky’s blue dress, a central part of the media circle surrounding his affair with his ex-intern, who later became an activist against cyberbullying. According to ArtNet, Ryan-Kield said the painting, which was part of a series of works she did, was supposed to be about “how the opposition parties caricatured the presidents.”
Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking of minors. His ties to the likes of Clinton and US President Donald Trump have come under renewed scrutiny amid the congressional investigation into the handling of the Epstein case.
Sources:
Arcara, Kenneth. “New York Academy of Art 2012 Tribeca Ball.” Guest of Guesthttps://archive.is/XIhjY
EFTA00000862.Pdf. US Department of Justice, https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%201/EFTA00000862.pdf.
US Department of Justice. Data Set 1 Files. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/doj-disclosures/data-set-1-files?page=17.
MacGuill, Dan. “Did Epstein Have a Painting of Bill Clinton Wearing a Suit in His Flat?” Snopes15 Aug. 2019, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/epstein-clinton-dress-painting/.
“Parsing Bill Painting by Petrina Ryan-Kleid.” Saatchi Arthttps://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Parsing-Bill/488702/12801699/view. Accessed 25 November 2025.
“Costume art by Petrina Ryan.” Saatchi Arthttps://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/488702. Accessed 25 November 2025.
US Department of Justice. Data Set 1 Files. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/doj-disclosures/data-set-1-files?page=17.
Walters, Isolde. “Jeffrey Epstein Had a Photo of Bill Clinton in a Blue Suit in His Home.” Mail Online14 Aug. 2019, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7353967/Did-Jeffrey-Epstein-portrait-Bill-Clinton-blue-dress-red-heels-NYC-mansion.html.