Ken Griffin's Leonardo And Gentileschi Loans Expand His Public Art Profile

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, known for collecting modern and postwar masterpieces, has expanded the public scope of his art holdings with recent loans, including a Leonardo da Vinci painting to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Since the arrival of art historian Megan Kincaid as the collection's new curator in June 2025, the billionaire has made several notable public loans. These include a 10-work Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibition at the Pérez Art Museum Miami, which showcased the depth of his collection by the artist, who died in 1988 at the age of 27.

Griffin also owns two privately held copies of the first official printing of the U.S. Constitution, acquired for a record $43.2 million at Sotheby's in 2021 after a bidding war with ConstitutionDAO. In 2024, he purchased“Apex,” a 150-million-year-old Stegosaurus skeleton, for $44.6 million at Sotheby's, setting a fossil auction record at the time.

A small painting by Leonardo da Vinci and his studio, Madonna of the Yarnwinder (The Lansdowne Madonna), dated 1501, appeared in Gallery 609 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York this spring. The wall text identifies the lender as the Kenneth C. Griffin Collection.

This loan effectively doubles the number of Leonardo paintings on public view in the U.S., with the only other one being Ginevra de' Benci ( 1474–78 ) at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

The Lansdowne Madonna was acquired by Griffin in a private transaction through Christie's in 2024, the same year he purchased the Stegosaurus. Alex Rotter, Christie's global president, brokered the deal, though a spokesperson for the auction house declined to comment on the transaction. The purchase price remains undisclosed.

In 2017, Old Master dealer Otto Naumann estimated that either of the two versions of the Madonna of the Yarnwinder could sell for $200 million. Art expert Nanne Dekking suggested this week that it might be worth as much as $250 million. Dekking oversaw a research and restoration project on the painting from 2002 to 2006 at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence, financially supported by Siemens.

During this restoration, a basket of spindles at the Christ child's feet, mentioned in a historical document but missing from the composition, was discovered beneath three layers of sfumato using CAT scans and X-rays, Dekking confirmed.

Griffin's interest in Old Masters also includes Artemisia Gentileschi. He was the anonymous buyer of Gentileschi's Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria ( 1613 ), which set a record price of $5.7 million at Christie's in February. Griffin will lend this painting to“Artemisia Gentileschi: The Triumph of Painting” at the Nivaagaard Collection in Nivå, Denmark, in 2028, his spokesperson confirmed. The Leonardo will remain at the Met through 2028.

Evan Beard, a private dealer who observed the Leonardo at the Met, noted that these developments align with the rapid growth of Griffin's company, Citadel. Beard remarked that Griffin is dedicating part of his wealth to acquiring“great works of art, civilizational works of art, and then lending them back to public institutions that will care for them, keep them in the right environment, build the provenance, and allow people to evaluate and enjoy them.”

Source: Artnet News

MENAFN28082026005694012507ID1111593877