Art museum curator and director David A. Ross has left his post at the School of Visual Arts in New York after the latest release of documents about Jeffrey Epstein revealed his friendship with the convicted sex offender.
Ross, who was chair of the MFA art practice program, resigned Tuesday, the school said in a statement, adding that it was “aware of correspondence” between him and Epstein. Ross’ online page at the school was offline Wednesday.
The resignation was first reported by ARTnews.
In emails dating from 2009, Ross banters with, reaches out to meet and consoles Epstein, calling him “incredible” and “I’m still proud to call you a friend.”
In one exchange in 2009, Epstein suggests an exhibition called “Statutory” that would feature “girls and boys ages 14-25 “where they look nothing like their true ages.” Replied Ross: “You are incredible” and noted that Brooke Shields posed nude at age 10.
Also that year, Ross wrote to console Epstein after the financier had been deposed. “Damn, this was not what you needed or deserved,” Ross wrote. “I know how tough you are, and in fact, it probably bothers me as your friend more than it does you.”
In an email to ARTnews after his resignation, Ross said that he met Epstein in the mid-1990s when he was director of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. “It was part of my job to befriend people who had the capacity and interest in supporting the museum,” he said.
The Whitney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to Florida charges of soliciting prostitution and soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. Ross said he believed Epstein when the financier told him it was “a political frame-up.”
Ross told ARTnews that when Epstein was being investigated again in 2019, he reached out to show his support. “That was a terrible mistake of judgement. When the reality of his crimes became clear, I was mortified and remain ashamed that I fell for his lies.”
Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Ross have been unsuccessful.
In addition to the Whitney, Ross previously held posts at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, the Berkeley Art Museum and the Long Beach Museum of Art.
The emails are part of more than 3 million pages of documents the U.S. Department of Justice released on Friday that reveal some of Epstein’s famous associates.
