Caricature Graphic Journalism Illustration

Court Sketch Artists Draw Ghislaine Maxwell as Ghislaine Maxwell Draws Court Sketch Artists

Skip to comments

D. D. Degg December 6, 2021 1 minute 0 comments

A COURTROOM sketch artist in the Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking trial has told of the bizarre moment the socialite twice turned around to draw her.

Illustrator Elizabeth Williams, who has been sketching people in court for 40 years, was at a pre-trial hearing in November when Maxwell began staring at her while drawing.

© Associated Press/Elizabeth Williams

Elizabeth Williams and Jane Rosenberg, court sketch artists for the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, were surprised to find the tables turned as the defendant drew portraits of them.

From The Sun:

New York-based Ms Williams revealed that Maxwell swiveled round in her chair to draw her and Ms Rosenberg a second time, at jury selection later in the month.

At the time of the tense encounter, Reuters wrote in its description of Rosenberg’s sketch: “Ghislaine Maxwell, the Jeffrey Epstein associate accused of sex trafficking, makes a sketch of court artists while seated between defense attorneys Bobbi Sternheim and Jeffrey Pagliuca, during a pre-trial hearing ahead of jury selection.”

© Reuters/Jane Rosenberg

The incident has gone viral according to Newsweek:

A courtroom illustration of Ghislaine Maxwell staring directly at her court sketch artist and drawing her back has gone viral.

The courtroom sketch was drawn on November 1 during a pre-trial hearing in New York City ahead of jury selection by artist Jane Rosenberg, who is currently covering the sex abuse trial of Maxwell.

“Ghislaine Maxwell, the Jeffrey Epstein associate accused of sex trafficking, makes a sketch of court artists while seated between defense attorneys Bobbi Sternheim and Jeffrey Pagliuca, during a pre-trial hearing ahead of jury selection, in a courtroom sketch in New York City, U.S.,” Reuters wrote in its description of the sketch last month.

From Hyperallergic:

Rosenberg says it’s not the first time this happens. In her 40-year-plus career as a courtroom artist, she’s caught herself being drawn twice before: during the 1987 trial of actor Eddie Murphy and in the much more recent trial of Lev Parnas, convicted of campaign finance violations this October. 

“When it first happened, I was like, what’s going on? Why are people sketching me?

 
above: Elizabeth Williams (left) and Jane Rosenberg (right)