{"id":1749812,"date":"2026-02-03T11:00:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1749812"},"modified":"2026-02-03T11:00:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:00:52","slug":"when-jeff-koons-met-epstein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1749812","title":{"rendered":"When Jeff Koons Met Epstein"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p><main class=\"gh-main\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"gh-article post tag-daily-newsletter tag-newsletter no-image\">\n<header class=\"gh-article-header gh-canvas\">\n<p>                Daily Newsletter<\/p>\n<h1 class=\"gh-article-title is-title\">When Jeff Koons Met Epstein<\/h1>\n<p class=\"gh-article-excerpt is-body\">New revelations from the Epstein files, a hilarious protest against Melania&#8217;s doc, the problem with archival art, our monthly crossword, and more.<\/p>\n<div class=\"gh-article-meta\">\n<div class=\"gh-article-author-image instapaper_ignore\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-profile-image\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/size\/w160\/2025\/11\/hyperallergic-favicon-d-blank-r-g-s-500.png\" alt=\"Hyperallergic\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"gh-article-meta-wrapper\">\n<h4 class=\"gh-article-author-name\">Hyperallergic<\/h4>\n<div class=\"gh-article-meta-content\"><time class=\"gh-article-meta-date\" datetime=\"2026-02-03\">February 3, 2026<\/time><span class=\"gh-article-meta-length\"><span class=\"bull\">\u2014<\/span> 4 min read<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<section class=\"gh-content gh-canvas is-body\">\n<p>Another batch of the Epstein files is out, and unsurprisingly, the art world makes an appearance. Jeff Koons confirmed that he attended a dinner party at the convicted sex trafficker&#8217;s Upper East Side home in 2013. Other emails indicate that Epstein also tried to visit his studio that same year. <\/p>\n<p>Staff Writer Isa Farfan has a thorough report on the documents, which are a drop in the bucket of the damning files that also implicate dozens of other art-world and public figures. It&#8217;s a reminder of the justice owed to Epstein&#8217;s victims, and that the commercial art sphere \u2014 whose benefactors often make millions while working artists struggle to make ends meet \u2014 demands our scrutiny as much as any institution.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014<em>Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor<\/em><\/p>\n<hr>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-1354564842-1-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><figcaption><span>Jeff Koons with his work at Qatar Museums Gallery Al Riwaq on November 20, 2021 (photo by Cindy Ord\/Getty Images for Qatar Museums)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"jeff-koons-attended-dinner-party-at-jeffrey-epstein%E2%80%99s-house\">Jeff Koons Attended Dinner Party at Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s House<\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;In 2013, Epstein specifically requested that Koons attend a September 4 dinner party at his Upper East Side residence, an invitation Koons and his wife accepted via email,&#8221; reports Farfan, adding that the guest list also included director Woody Allen and MIT professor Neil Gershenfeld.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div class=\"kg-card kg-cta-card kg-cta-bg-white kg-cta-immersive  kg-cta-has-img  \" data-layout=\"immersive\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-sponsor-label-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-sponsor-label\"><span>SPONSORED<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-image-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/for_which_it_stands.png\" alt=\"CTA Image\" data-image-dimensions=\"1200x675\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content-inner\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-text\">\n<p><b><strong>For Which It Stands\u2026<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>Commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States, this major loan exhibition at the Fairfield University Art Museum explores more than a century of artists taking on the American flag.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>                            Learn more<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"news\">News<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/melania-protest-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\"><figcaption><span>Demonstrators held signs that read &#8220;Let them eat cake&#8221; and &#8220;Melania is no Jackie O.&#8221; (photo by and courtesy Jonathan Kincade)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>The only notable thing about the Melania Trump documentary is the backlash against it: Protesters dressed up like Marie Antoinette and held a rally outside the film&#8217;s premiere at the Kennedy Center last Thursday, &#8220;Let them eat cake&#8221; signs and all.<\/li>\n<li>Today in botched restoration, a refreshed Roman fresco now bears suspicious resemblance to Italy&#8217;s far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni, butthe artist maintains it&#8217;spurely coincidental.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h3 id=\"art-and-protest\">Art and Protest<\/h3>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/ag-sims-1-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><figcaption><span>John Wilson, \u201cStudy for the Mural \u2018The Incident\u2019\u201d (1952), opaque and transparent watercolor, ink, and graphite (photo courtesy the Estate of John Woodrow Wilson \/ Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"how-richard-wright-shaped-john-wilson%E2%80%99s-protest-art\">How Richard Wright Shaped John Wilson\u2019s Protest Art<\/h3>\n<p>A.G. Sims illuminates the impact of Richard Wright&#8217;s protest fiction on painter John Wilson&#8217;s protest art, some of which is currently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. &#8220;Walk through the retrospective, and you\u2019ll see Wilson, like Wright before him, wrestling with the psychic toll of racial violence on Black families in his paintings and lithographs,&#8221; Sims writes  <\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"opinion\">Opinion<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/nwr-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><figcaption><span>Still from <\/span><i><em class=\"italic\">New Wave: Rebellion and Reinvention in the Vietnamese Diaspora<\/em><\/i><span> (2024), dir. Elizabeth Ai (image courtesy New Wave Documentary)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"archival-art-will-not-save-us\">Archival Art Will Not Save Us<\/h3>\n<p>There&#8217;s a reason &#8220;archival practice&#8221; has become such a popular concept in recent years, but writer Vinh Phu Pham argues that the conversation too often stops there.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But the conversations accompanying such remarkable works of art, as with artist talks everywhere, must also perform that generative labor rather than simply invoke a discursive shorthand to explain their own significance,&#8221; he explains in an opinion. &#8220;Yes, they contribute to an archive, but then the more interesting question becomes: &#8216;So what?&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"member-comment\">Member Comment<\/h2>\n<p>Denise Sanabria on Rob Fields&#8217;s &#8220;How Trump Is Jeopardizing the US Art Market&#8221;:<\/p>\n<div class=\"kg-card kg-cta-card kg-cta-bg-yellow kg-cta-minimal    \" data-layout=\"minimal\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content-inner\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-text\">\n<p><span>Trump&#8217;s meddling has already infiltrated and disrupted the programing of major museums domestically. Exhibits have been canceled, censored, and meddled with, especially in DC. Everyone is under a level of threat. As for performing arts and the Kennedy Center \u2014 what he did to them is almost a death sentence. The world is watching.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"the-art-crossword-renaissance-edition\">The Art Crossword: Renaissance Edition<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/feb-2026_cross-1-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\"><figcaption><span>&#8220;The Triumph of Galatea&#8221; with a puzzling twist (edit <\/span><i><em class=\"italic\">Hyperallergic<\/em><\/i><span>)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>What do you call the artistic technique that creates contrasts of light and dark? | Natan Last<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"art-guide\">Art Guide<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/tt-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><figcaption><span>Sandy Skoglund, &#8220;Revenge of the Goldfish&#8221; (1981), cibachrome print (edition 7 of 30) (\u00a91981 Sandy Skoglund; image courtesy Hudson River Museum)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"10-art-shows-to-see-in-upstate-new-york-this-february\">10 Art Shows to See in Upstate New York This February<\/h3>\n<p>A seminal Vito Acconci performance, Nona Faustine and Ocean Vuong\u2019s explorations of identity, Sita G\u00f3mez\u2019s celebrations of womanhood, and a group show celebrating creative courage in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. are among Taliesin Thomas&#8217;s recommendations this month. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"from-the-archive\">From the Archive<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/biancia-fontana-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\"><figcaption><span>Lavinia Fontana, &#8220;Bianca degli Utili Maselli and Six of Her Children\u201d (c. 1604\u20135), oil on canvas (image via <\/span><span>Wikimedia Commons<\/span><span>)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"lavinia-fontana-the-self-fashioned-painter\">Lavinia Fontana, the Self-Fashioned Painter<\/h3>\n<p>The first woman to make her living from painting captured herself and other women in the ways they wished to be perceived. | Ed Simon<\/p>\n<ul class=\"post-tags\">\n<li>\n                        Daily Newsletter\n                      <\/li>\n<li>\n                        Newsletter\n                      <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/main><\/p>\n<article class=\"gh-article post tag-daily-newsletter tag-newsletter no-image\">\n<header class=\"gh-article-header gh-canvas\">\n<p>                Daily Newsletter<\/p>\n<h1 class=\"gh-article-title is-title\">When Jeff Koons Met Epstein<\/h1>\n<p class=\"gh-article-excerpt is-body\">New revelations from the Epstein files, a hilarious protest against Melania&#8217;s doc, the problem with archival art, our monthly crossword, and more.<\/p>\n<div class=\"gh-article-meta\">\n<div class=\"gh-article-author-image instapaper_ignore\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-profile-image\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/size\/w160\/2025\/11\/hyperallergic-favicon-d-blank-r-g-s-500.png\" alt=\"Hyperallergic\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"gh-article-meta-wrapper\">\n<h4 class=\"gh-article-author-name\">Hyperallergic<\/h4>\n<div class=\"gh-article-meta-content\"><time class=\"gh-article-meta-date\" datetime=\"2026-02-03\">February 3, 2026<\/time><span class=\"gh-article-meta-length\"><span class=\"bull\">\u2014<\/span> 4 min read<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<section class=\"gh-content gh-canvas is-body\">\n<p>Another batch of the Epstein files is out, and unsurprisingly, the art world makes an appearance. Jeff Koons confirmed that he attended a dinner party at the convicted sex trafficker&#8217;s Upper East Side home in 2013. Other emails indicate that Epstein also tried to visit his studio that same year. <\/p>\n<p>Staff Writer Isa Farfan has a thorough report on the documents, which are a drop in the bucket of the damning files that also implicate dozens of other art-world and public figures. It&#8217;s a reminder of the justice owed to Epstein&#8217;s victims, and that the commercial art sphere \u2014 whose benefactors often make millions while working artists struggle to make ends meet \u2014 demands our scrutiny as much as any institution.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014<em>Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor<\/em><\/p>\n<hr>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-1354564842-1-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><figcaption><span>Jeff Koons with his work at Qatar Museums Gallery Al Riwaq on November 20, 2021 (photo by Cindy Ord\/Getty Images for Qatar Museums)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"jeff-koons-attended-dinner-party-at-jeffrey-epstein%E2%80%99s-house\">Jeff Koons Attended Dinner Party at Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s House<\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;In 2013, Epstein specifically requested that Koons attend a September 4 dinner party at his Upper East Side residence, an invitation Koons and his wife accepted via email,&#8221; reports Farfan, adding that the guest list also included director Woody Allen and MIT professor Neil Gershenfeld.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div class=\"kg-card kg-cta-card kg-cta-bg-white kg-cta-immersive  kg-cta-has-img  \" data-layout=\"immersive\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-sponsor-label-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-sponsor-label\"><span>SPONSORED<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-image-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/for_which_it_stands.png\" alt=\"CTA Image\" data-image-dimensions=\"1200x675\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content-inner\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-text\">\n<p><b><strong>For Which It Stands\u2026<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>Commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States, this major loan exhibition at the Fairfield University Art Museum explores more than a century of artists taking on the American flag.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>                            Learn more<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"news\">News<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/melania-protest-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\"><figcaption><span>Demonstrators held signs that read &#8220;Let them eat cake&#8221; and &#8220;Melania is no Jackie O.&#8221; (photo by and courtesy Jonathan Kincade)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>The only notable thing about the Melania Trump documentary is the backlash against it: Protesters dressed up like Marie Antoinette and held a rally outside the film&#8217;s premiere at the Kennedy Center last Thursday, &#8220;Let them eat cake&#8221; signs and all.<\/li>\n<li>Today in botched restoration, a refreshed Roman fresco now bears suspicious resemblance to Italy&#8217;s far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni, butthe artist maintains it&#8217;spurely coincidental.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h3 id=\"art-and-protest\">Art and Protest<\/h3>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/ag-sims-1-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><figcaption><span>John Wilson, \u201cStudy for the Mural \u2018The Incident\u2019\u201d (1952), opaque and transparent watercolor, ink, and graphite (photo courtesy the Estate of John Woodrow Wilson \/ Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"how-richard-wright-shaped-john-wilson%E2%80%99s-protest-art\">How Richard Wright Shaped John Wilson\u2019s Protest Art<\/h3>\n<p>A.G. Sims illuminates the impact of Richard Wright&#8217;s protest fiction on painter John Wilson&#8217;s protest art, some of which is currently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. &#8220;Walk through the retrospective, and you\u2019ll see Wilson, like Wright before him, wrestling with the psychic toll of racial violence on Black families in his paintings and lithographs,&#8221; Sims writes  <\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"opinion\">Opinion<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/nwr-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><figcaption><span>Still from <\/span><i><em class=\"italic\">New Wave: Rebellion and Reinvention in the Vietnamese Diaspora<\/em><\/i><span> (2024), dir. Elizabeth Ai (image courtesy New Wave Documentary)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"archival-art-will-not-save-us\">Archival Art Will Not Save Us<\/h3>\n<p>There&#8217;s a reason &#8220;archival practice&#8221; has become such a popular concept in recent years, but writer Vinh Phu Pham argues that the conversation too often stops there.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But the conversations accompanying such remarkable works of art, as with artist talks everywhere, must also perform that generative labor rather than simply invoke a discursive shorthand to explain their own significance,&#8221; he explains in an opinion. &#8220;Yes, they contribute to an archive, but then the more interesting question becomes: &#8216;So what?&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"member-comment\">Member Comment<\/h2>\n<p>Denise Sanabria on Rob Fields&#8217;s &#8220;How Trump Is Jeopardizing the US Art Market&#8221;:<\/p>\n<div class=\"kg-card kg-cta-card kg-cta-bg-yellow kg-cta-minimal    \" data-layout=\"minimal\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content-inner\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-text\">\n<p><span>Trump&#8217;s meddling has already infiltrated and disrupted the programing of major museums domestically. Exhibits have been canceled, censored, and meddled with, especially in DC. Everyone is under a level of threat. As for performing arts and the Kennedy Center \u2014 what he did to them is almost a death sentence. The world is watching.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"the-art-crossword-renaissance-edition\">The Art Crossword: Renaissance Edition<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/feb-2026_cross-1-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\"><figcaption><span>&#8220;The Triumph of Galatea&#8221; with a puzzling twist (edit <\/span><i><em class=\"italic\">Hyperallergic<\/em><\/i><span>)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>What do you call the artistic technique that creates contrasts of light and dark? | Natan Last<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"art-guide\">Art Guide<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/tt-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><figcaption><span>Sandy Skoglund, &#8220;Revenge of the Goldfish&#8221; (1981), cibachrome print (edition 7 of 30) (\u00a91981 Sandy Skoglund; image courtesy Hudson River Museum)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"10-art-shows-to-see-in-upstate-new-york-this-february\">10 Art Shows to See in Upstate New York This February<\/h3>\n<p>A seminal Vito Acconci performance, Nona Faustine and Ocean Vuong\u2019s explorations of identity, Sita G\u00f3mez\u2019s celebrations of womanhood, and a group show celebrating creative courage in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. are among Taliesin Thomas&#8217;s recommendations this month. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"from-the-archive\">From the Archive<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/biancia-fontana-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\"><figcaption><span>Lavinia Fontana, &#8220;Bianca degli Utili Maselli and Six of Her Children\u201d (c. 1604\u20135), oil on canvas (image via <\/span><span>Wikimedia Commons<\/span><span>)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"lavinia-fontana-the-self-fashioned-painter\">Lavinia Fontana, the Self-Fashioned Painter<\/h3>\n<p>The first woman to make her living from painting captured herself and other women in the ways they wished to be perceived. | Ed Simon<\/p>\n<ul class=\"post-tags\">\n<li>\n                        Daily Newsletter\n                      <\/li>\n<li>\n                        Newsletter\n                      <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n<section class=\"gh-content gh-canvas is-body\">\n<p>Another batch of the Epstein files is out, and unsurprisingly, the art world makes an appearance. Jeff Koons confirmed that he attended a dinner party at the convicted sex trafficker&#8217;s Upper East Side home in 2013. Other emails indicate that Epstein also tried to visit his studio that same year. <\/p>\n<p>Staff Writer Isa Farfan has a thorough report on the documents, which are a drop in the bucket of the damning files that also implicate dozens of other art-world and public figures. It&#8217;s a reminder of the justice owed to Epstein&#8217;s victims, and that the commercial art sphere \u2014 whose benefactors often make millions while working artists struggle to make ends meet \u2014 demands our scrutiny as much as any institution.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014<em>Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor<\/em><\/p>\n<hr>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-1354564842-1-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><figcaption><span>Jeff Koons with his work at Qatar Museums Gallery Al Riwaq on November 20, 2021 (photo by Cindy Ord\/Getty Images for Qatar Museums)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"jeff-koons-attended-dinner-party-at-jeffrey-epstein%E2%80%99s-house\">Jeff Koons Attended Dinner Party at Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s House<\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;In 2013, Epstein specifically requested that Koons attend a September 4 dinner party at his Upper East Side residence, an invitation Koons and his wife accepted via email,&#8221; reports Farfan, adding that the guest list also included director Woody Allen and MIT professor Neil Gershenfeld.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div class=\"kg-card kg-cta-card kg-cta-bg-white kg-cta-immersive  kg-cta-has-img  \" data-layout=\"immersive\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-sponsor-label-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-sponsor-label\"><span>SPONSORED<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-image-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/for_which_it_stands.png\" alt=\"CTA Image\" data-image-dimensions=\"1200x675\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content-inner\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-text\">\n<p><b><strong>For Which It Stands\u2026<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>Commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States, this major loan exhibition at the Fairfield University Art Museum explores more than a century of artists taking on the American flag.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>                            Learn more<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"news\">News<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/melania-protest-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\"><figcaption><span>Demonstrators held signs that read &#8220;Let them eat cake&#8221; and &#8220;Melania is no Jackie O.&#8221; (photo by and courtesy Jonathan Kincade)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>The only notable thing about the Melania Trump documentary is the backlash against it: Protesters dressed up like Marie Antoinette and held a rally outside the film&#8217;s premiere at the Kennedy Center last Thursday, &#8220;Let them eat cake&#8221; signs and all.<\/li>\n<li>Today in botched restoration, a refreshed Roman fresco now bears suspicious resemblance to Italy&#8217;s far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni, butthe artist maintains it&#8217;spurely coincidental.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h3 id=\"art-and-protest\">Art and Protest<\/h3>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/ag-sims-1-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><figcaption><span>John Wilson, \u201cStudy for the Mural \u2018The Incident\u2019\u201d (1952), opaque and transparent watercolor, ink, and graphite (photo courtesy the Estate of John Woodrow Wilson \/ Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"how-richard-wright-shaped-john-wilson%E2%80%99s-protest-art\">How Richard Wright Shaped John Wilson\u2019s Protest Art<\/h3>\n<p>A.G. Sims illuminates the impact of Richard Wright&#8217;s protest fiction on painter John Wilson&#8217;s protest art, some of which is currently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. &#8220;Walk through the retrospective, and you\u2019ll see Wilson, like Wright before him, wrestling with the psychic toll of racial violence on Black families in his paintings and lithographs,&#8221; Sims writes  <\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"opinion\">Opinion<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/nwr-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><figcaption><span>Still from <\/span><i><em class=\"italic\">New Wave: Rebellion and Reinvention in the Vietnamese Diaspora<\/em><\/i><span> (2024), dir. Elizabeth Ai (image courtesy New Wave Documentary)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"archival-art-will-not-save-us\">Archival Art Will Not Save Us<\/h3>\n<p>There&#8217;s a reason &#8220;archival practice&#8221; has become such a popular concept in recent years, but writer Vinh Phu Pham argues that the conversation too often stops there.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But the conversations accompanying such remarkable works of art, as with artist talks everywhere, must also perform that generative labor rather than simply invoke a discursive shorthand to explain their own significance,&#8221; he explains in an opinion. &#8220;Yes, they contribute to an archive, but then the more interesting question becomes: &#8216;So what?&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"member-comment\">Member Comment<\/h2>\n<p>Denise Sanabria on Rob Fields&#8217;s &#8220;How Trump Is Jeopardizing the US Art Market&#8221;:<\/p>\n<div class=\"kg-card kg-cta-card kg-cta-bg-yellow kg-cta-minimal    \" data-layout=\"minimal\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-content-inner\">\n<div class=\"kg-cta-text\">\n<p><span>Trump&#8217;s meddling has already infiltrated and disrupted the programing of major museums domestically. Exhibits have been canceled, censored, and meddled with, especially in DC. Everyone is under a level of threat. As for performing arts and the Kennedy Center \u2014 what he did to them is almost a death sentence. The world is watching.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"the-art-crossword-renaissance-edition\">The Art Crossword: Renaissance Edition<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/feb-2026_cross-1-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\"><figcaption><span>&#8220;The Triumph of Galatea&#8221; with a puzzling twist (edit <\/span><i><em class=\"italic\">Hyperallergic<\/em><\/i><span>)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>What do you call the artistic technique that creates contrasts of light and dark? | Natan Last<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"art-guide\">Art Guide<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/tt-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><figcaption><span>Sandy Skoglund, &#8220;Revenge of the Goldfish&#8221; (1981), cibachrome print (edition 7 of 30) (\u00a91981 Sandy Skoglund; image courtesy Hudson River Museum)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"10-art-shows-to-see-in-upstate-new-york-this-february\">10 Art Shows to See in Upstate New York This February<\/h3>\n<p>A seminal Vito Acconci performance, Nona Faustine and Ocean Vuong\u2019s explorations of identity, Sita G\u00f3mez\u2019s celebrations of womanhood, and a group show celebrating creative courage in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. are among Taliesin Thomas&#8217;s recommendations this month. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 id=\"from-the-archive\">From the Archive<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/2026\/02\/biancia-fontana-1.jpg\" class=\"kg-image\" alt loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\"><figcaption><span>Lavinia Fontana, &#8220;Bianca degli Utili Maselli and Six of Her Children\u201d (c. 1604\u20135), oil on canvas (image via <\/span><span>Wikimedia Commons<\/span><span>)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"lavinia-fontana-the-self-fashioned-painter\">Lavinia Fontana, the Self-Fashioned Painter<\/h3>\n<p>The first woman to make her living from painting captured herself and other women in the ways they wished to be perceived. | Ed Simon<\/p>\n<ul class=\"post-tags\">\n<li>\n                        Daily Newsletter\n                      <\/li>\n<li>\n                        Newsletter\n                      <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<article class=\"gh-card post\">\n<figure class=\"gh-card-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/size\/w600\/2026\/02\/Hyperallergic-Announcement---F-C_-All.jpg\" alt=\"Vilcek Foundation Awards Five Immigrants $250,000 for Fashion Documentation\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gh-card-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"gh-card-title is-title\">Vilcek Foundation Awards Five Immigrants $250,000 for Fashion Documentation<\/h3>\n<p class=\"gh-card-excerpt is-body\">Tanya Mel\u00e9ndez-Escalante, Diego Bendezu, Jalan and Jibril Durimel, and Natalie Nudell received the 2026 Vilcek Prizes in Fashion &amp; Culture for their contributions to fashion representation.<\/p>\n<footer class=\"gh-card-meta\"><span class=\"gh-card-author\">The Vilcek Foundation<\/span><\/footer>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"gh-card post\">\n<figure class=\"gh-card-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/size\/w600\/2026\/01\/Hyperallergic-3.48.38---PM-1.jpg\" alt=\"Onassis AiR Opens Applications for 2026\u201327 Residencies in Athens\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gh-card-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"gh-card-title is-title\">Onassis AiR Opens Applications for 2026\u201327 Residencies in Athens<\/h3>\n<p class=\"gh-card-excerpt is-body\">Participants receive an artist\u2019s fee, a research budget, housing, round-trip travel, mentoring, and other resources to support their work.<\/p>\n<footer class=\"gh-card-meta\"><span class=\"gh-card-author\">Onassis AiR<\/span><\/footer>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"gh-card post\">\n<figure class=\"gh-card-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/size\/w600\/2026\/01\/PrattManhattanGallery_RugLifeLevchenya.jpg\" alt=\"Pratt Manhattan Gallery Presents \u201cRugLife\u201d\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gh-card-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"gh-card-title is-title\">Pratt Manhattan Gallery Presents \u201cRugLife\u201d<\/h3>\n<p class=\"gh-card-excerpt is-body\">Sculptural carpets, woven works, and reimagined textiles by 14 contemporary artists examine housing, technology, social justice, and the environment.<\/p>\n<footer class=\"gh-card-meta\"><span class=\"gh-card-author\">Pratt Manhattan Gallery<\/span><\/footer>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"gh-card post\">\n<figure class=\"gh-card-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/content\/images\/size\/w600\/2026\/01\/NYCEDC-HABG-RFP2025-HyperallergicAnnouncementAd-1.jpg\" alt=\"Request for Proposals: Operator for the Harlem African Burial Ground Cultural Education Center\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"gh-card-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"gh-card-title is-title\">Request for Proposals: Operator for the Harlem African Burial Ground Cultural Education Center<\/h3>\n<p class=\"gh-card-excerpt is-body\">Learn about this opportunity to develop a cultural education center at the historic East Harlem site during informational sessions in January and February.<\/p>\n<footer class=\"gh-card-meta\"><span class=\"gh-card-author\">New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC)<\/span><\/footer>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/when-jeff-koons-met-epstein\/&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;&#8221;] Daily Newsletter When Jeff Koons Met Epstein New revelations from the Epstein files, a hilarious protest against Melania&#8217;s doc, the problem with archival art, our monthly crossword, and more. Hyperallergic February 3, 2026\u2014 4 min read Another batch of the Epstein files is out, and unsurprisingly, the art world makes an appearance. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,69],"class_list":["post-1749812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-hyperallergic-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1749812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749812\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1749812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1749812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1749812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}