Jacob Epstein
Encyclopedia
Sir Jacob Epstein KBE (10 November 1880 19 August 1959) was an American-born British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture
. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British citizen in 1911. He often produced controversial works which challenged taboos on what was appropriate subject matter for public artworks. He also made paintings and drawings, and often exhibited his work.
. His family was middle-class, and he was the third of five children. His interest in drawing came from long periods of illness; as a child he suffered from pleurisy
.
He studied art in his native New York as a teenager, sketching the city, and joined the Art Students League of New York
in 1900. For his livelihood, he worked in a bronze foundry
by day, studying drawing and sculptural modeling at night. Epstein's first major commission was to illustrate Hutchins Hapgood
's Spirit of the Ghetto. The money from the commission was used by Epstein to move to Paris.
at the Académie Julian
and the École des Beaux-Arts
. He settled in London in 1905 and married Margaret Dunlop in 1906. In 1911 he became a British subject
. Many of Epstein's works were sculpted at his two cottages in Loughton
, Essex, where he lived first at number 49 then 50, Baldwin's Hill (there is a blue plaque
on number 50). He served briefly in the 38th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers aka the Jewish Legion
during World War I
.
and artistic crowd. Revolting against ornate, pretty art, he made bold, often harsh and massive forms of bronze or stone. His sculpture is distinguished by its vigorous rough-hewn realism
. Avant-garde
in concept and style, his works often shocked his audience. This was not only a result of their (often explicit) sexual content, but also because they deliberately abandoned the conventions of classical Greek sculpture favoured by European Academic sculptors
to experiment instead with the aesthetics of art traditions as diverse as those of India, West Africa, and the Pacific Islands. People in Liverpool
, however, nicknamed his nude male sculpture over the door of Lewis's
department store "Dickie Lewis". Such factors may have focused disproportionate attention on certain aspects of Epstein's long and productive career, throughout which he aroused hostility, especially challenging taboos surrounding the depiction of sexuality.
London was not ready for Epstein's first major commission — 18 large nude sculptures made in 1908 for the façade of Charles Holden
's building for the British Medical Association
on The Strand
(now Zimbabwe House
) were initially considered shocking to Edwardian
sensibilities, again mainly due to the perception that they were overly explicit sexually. In art-historical terms, however, the Strand sculptures were controversial for quite a different reason: they represented Epstein's first thoroughgoing attempt to break away from traditional European iconography in favour of elements derived from an alternative sculptural milieu - that of classical India
. The female figures in particular may be seen to incorporate the posture and hand gestures of Buddhist
, Jain
and Hindu
art from the subcontinent in no uncertain terms. The current, mutilated condition of many of the sculptures is also not entirely connected with prudish censorship; the damage was caused in the 1930s when possibly dangerous projecting features were hacked-off after pieces fell from one of the statues.
One of the most famous of Epstein's early commissions is the tomb of Oscar Wilde
in Pere Lachaise cemetery, Paris, "which was condemned as indecent and at one point was covered in tarpaulin by the French police."
Between 1913 and 1915 Epstein was associated with the short-lived Vorticism
movement and produced one of his best known sculptures The Rock Drill. In 1915, John Quinn
, wealthy American collector and patron to the modernists, bought an Epstein sculpture to add his private collection.
In 1916 Epstein was commmissined by Viscount Tredegar
to produces a bronze head of Newport poet W. H. Davies
. The bronze, regarded by many as the most accurate artistic impression of Davies and a copy of which Davies owned himself, may be found at Newport Museum and Art Gallery
In 1928, Epstein sculpted the head of the popular singer and film star Paul Robeson
. A commission from Holden for the new headquarters building of the London Electric Railway generated another controversy in 1929. His nude sculptures Day and Night above the entrances of 55 Broadway
were again considered indecent and a debate raged for some time regarding demands to remove the offending statues which had been carved in-situ. Eventually a compromise was reached to modify the smaller of the two figures represented on Day. But the controversy affected his commissions for public work which dried up until World War II.
Between the late 1930s and the mid 1950s, numerous works by Epstein were exhibited in Blackpool
. Adam, Consummatum Est, Jacob and the Angel and Genesis (amongst other less notable works) were initially displayed in an old drapery shop surrounded by red velvet curtains. The crowds were ushered in at the cost of a shilling by a barker on the street. After a small tour of American fun fairs, the works were returned to Blackpool and were exhibited in the anatomical curiosities section of the Louis Tussaud's waxworks. The works were displayed alongside dancing marionette
s, diseased body parts and Siamese twin babies in jars. Placing Epstein within the context of freakish curiosity, especially at a time of such hostility towards the Jews, perhaps added to Epstein's decision not to create further large-scale direct carvings.
Bronze
portrait sculpture formed one of Epstein's staple products, and perhaps the best known. These sculptures were often executed with roughly textured surfaces, expressively manipulating small surface planes and facial details. Some fine examples are in the National Portrait Gallery. Another famous example is the bust of legendary Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman
that sat in the marble halls of Highbury
for many years before being moved to the new Emirates Stadium
.
Epstein's aluminium figure of Christ in Majesty (1954-5), is suspended above the nave in Llandaff Cathedral
, Cardiff
, on a concrete arch designed by George Pace
.
His larger sculptures were his most expressive and experimental, but also his most vulnerable. His depiction of Rima, one of author W. H. Hudson's most famous characters, graces a serene enclosure in Hyde Park
. Even here, a visitor became so outraged as to defile it with paint. He was one of 250 sculptors who exhibited in the 3rd Sculpture International
held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
in the summer of 1949.
Epstein would often sculpt the images of friends, casual acquaintances, and even people dragged from the street into his studio almost at random. He worked even on his dying day. He also painted; many of his watercolours and gouaches were of Epping Forest
, where he lived (at Loughton
) and sculpted. These were often exhibited at the Leicester Gallery in London. His Monkwood Autumn and Pool, Epping Forest date from 1944-45.
Epstein was Jewish, and negative reviews of his work sometimes took on an antisemitic flavor, though he did not attribute the "average unfavorable criticism" of his work to antisemitism.
Epstein met Albert Einstein at Roughton Heath
, Norfolk
, in 1933 and had three sittings for a bust. He remembered his meeting with Einstein as, "His glance contained a mxture of the humane, the humorous and the profound. This was a combination which delighted me. He resembled the aging Rembrandt."
, one of the Garman sisters
, mother of his three middle children, which continued until his death. Margaret "tolerated Epstein's infidelities, allowed his models and lovers to live in the family home and raised Epstein's first child, Peggy Jean, who was the daughter of Meum Lindsell, one of Epstein's previous lovers. However, Margaret's tolerance did not extend to Epstein's relationship with Kathleen Garman, and in 1923 Margaret shot and wounded Kathleen in the shoulder."
Margaret Epstein died in 1947, and after Epstein was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1954 New Year Honours
he married Kathleen Garman in 1955.
Kitty married painter Lucian Freud
in 1948 and is mother of two of his daughters, Annie and Annabel. In 1953 they divorced. She married a second time in 1955, to economist Wynne Godley
. They have one daughter.
. A blue plaque may be found at "Deerhurst", 50 Baldwins Hill in Loughton
, which was his home from 1933 to 1950.
The Garman Ryan Collection, including several works by Epstein, was donated to the people of Walsall
, by Lady Epstein
in 1973. It is on display in Walsall Art Gallery
.
His art is displayed all over the world; highly original for its time, its influence on the younger generation of sculptors such as Henry Moore
and Barbara Hepworth
was significant. According to June Rose, in her biography, Moore was befriended by the older sculptor during the early 1920s and visited Epstein in his studio. Epstein, along with Moore and Hepworth, all expressed a deep fascination with the non-western art from the British Museum
.
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British citizen in 1911. He often produced controversial works which challenged taboos on what was appropriate subject matter for public artworks. He also made paintings and drawings, and often exhibited his work.
Early life and education
Epstein's parents were Polish Jewish refugees, living on New York's Lower East SideLower East Side, Manhattan
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
. His family was middle-class, and he was the third of five children. His interest in drawing came from long periods of illness; as a child he suffered from pleurisy
Pleurisy
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....
.
He studied art in his native New York as a teenager, sketching the city, and joined the Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
in 1900. For his livelihood, he worked in a bronze foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
by day, studying drawing and sculptural modeling at night. Epstein's first major commission was to illustrate Hutchins Hapgood
Hutchins Hapgood
Hutchins Hapgood was an U.S. journalist, author, individualist anarchist/philosophical anarchist....
's Spirit of the Ghetto. The money from the commission was used by Epstein to move to Paris.
Move to Europe
Moving to Europe in 1902, he studied in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
at the Académie Julian
Académie Julian
The Académie Julian was an art school in Paris, France.Rodolphe Julian established the Académie Julian in 1868 at the Passage des Panoramas, as a private studio school for art students. The Académie Julian not only prepared students to the exams at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, but offered...
and the École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
. He settled in London in 1905 and married Margaret Dunlop in 1906. In 1911 he became a British subject
British subject
In British nationality law, the term British subject has at different times had different meanings. The current definition of the term British subject is contained in the British Nationality Act 1981.- Prior to 1949 :...
. Many of Epstein's works were sculpted at his two cottages in Loughton
Loughton
Loughton is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located between 11 and 13 miles north east of Charing Cross in London, south of the M25 and west of the M11 motorway and has boundaries with Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill...
, Essex, where he lived first at number 49 then 50, Baldwin's Hill (there is a blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
on number 50). He served briefly in the 38th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers aka the Jewish Legion
Jewish Legion
The Jewish Legion was the name for five battalions of Jewish volunteers established as the British Army's 38th through 42nd Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Work
In London, Epstein involved himself with a bohemianBohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
and artistic crowd. Revolting against ornate, pretty art, he made bold, often harsh and massive forms of bronze or stone. His sculpture is distinguished by its vigorous rough-hewn realism
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
. Avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
in concept and style, his works often shocked his audience. This was not only a result of their (often explicit) sexual content, but also because they deliberately abandoned the conventions of classical Greek sculpture favoured by European Academic sculptors
Academic art
Academic art is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts, which practiced under the movements of Neoclassicism and Romanticism,...
to experiment instead with the aesthetics of art traditions as diverse as those of India, West Africa, and the Pacific Islands. People in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, however, nicknamed his nude male sculpture over the door of Lewis's
Lewis's
Lewis's was a large department store in Liverpool city centre. It was formerly the flagship of a chain of department stores under the Lewis's name, that operated from 1856 to 1991, when the company went into administration. Several stores in the chain were bought by the company Owen Owen and...
department store "Dickie Lewis". Such factors may have focused disproportionate attention on certain aspects of Epstein's long and productive career, throughout which he aroused hostility, especially challenging taboos surrounding the depiction of sexuality.
London was not ready for Epstein's first major commission — 18 large nude sculptures made in 1908 for the façade of Charles Holden
Charles Holden
Charles Henry Holden, Litt. D., FRIBA, MRTPI, RDI was a Bolton-born English architect best known for designing many London Underground stations during the 1920s and 1930s, for Bristol Central Library, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London's headquarters at 55 Broadway and for the...
's building for the British Medical Association
British Medical Association
The British Medical Association is the professional association and registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association’s headquarters are located in BMA House,...
on The Strand
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
(now Zimbabwe House
Zimbabwe House
The Embassy of Zimbabwe in London is located in Zimbabwe House at 429 Strand in central London. It was previously a High Commission rather than an embassy, until Zimbabwe's departure from the Commonwealth on 7 December 2003 in protest at international criticism of Robert Mugabe's regime's human...
) were initially considered shocking to Edwardian
Edwardian period
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period in the United Kingdom is the period covering the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910.The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 and the succession of her son Edward marked the end of the Victorian era...
sensibilities, again mainly due to the perception that they were overly explicit sexually. In art-historical terms, however, the Strand sculptures were controversial for quite a different reason: they represented Epstein's first thoroughgoing attempt to break away from traditional European iconography in favour of elements derived from an alternative sculptural milieu - that of classical India
Sculpture in India
The first sculptures in the Indian subcontinent date back to the Indus Valley civilization, where stone and bronze carvings have been discovered. This is one of the earliest instances of sculpture in the world. Later, as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism developed further, India produced some of the...
. The female figures in particular may be seen to incorporate the posture and hand gestures of Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, Jain
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
and Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
art from the subcontinent in no uncertain terms. The current, mutilated condition of many of the sculptures is also not entirely connected with prudish censorship; the damage was caused in the 1930s when possibly dangerous projecting features were hacked-off after pieces fell from one of the statues.
One of the most famous of Epstein's early commissions is the tomb of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
in Pere Lachaise cemetery, Paris, "which was condemned as indecent and at one point was covered in tarpaulin by the French police."
Between 1913 and 1915 Epstein was associated with the short-lived Vorticism
Vorticism
Vorticism, an offshoot of Cubism, was a short-lived modernist movement in British art and poetry of the early 20th century. It was based in London but international in make-up and ambition.-Origins:...
movement and produced one of his best known sculptures The Rock Drill. In 1915, John Quinn
John Quinn (collector)
John Quinn was a second generation Irish-American corporate lawyer in New York, who for a time was an important patron of major figures of post-impressionism and literary modernism, and collector in particular of original manuscripts.- Life :...
, wealthy American collector and patron to the modernists, bought an Epstein sculpture to add his private collection.
In 1916 Epstein was commmissined by Viscount Tredegar
Godfrey Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar
Godfrey Charles Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar was a British Army officer and British politician.Tredegar was born on 28 April 1831 in Ruperra Castle, Glamorganshire...
to produces a bronze head of Newport poet W. H. Davies
W. H. Davies
William Henry Davies or W. H. Davies was a Welsh poet and writer. Davies spent a significant part of his life as a tramp or vagabond in the United States and United Kingdom, but became known as one of the most popular poets of his time...
. The bronze, regarded by many as the most accurate artistic impression of Davies and a copy of which Davies owned himself, may be found at Newport Museum and Art Gallery
Newport Museum
Newport Museum is a museum and art gallery in the city of Newport, Wales. It is located in Newport city centre on John Frost Square and is adjoined to the Kingsway Shopping Centre.-The museum collection:...
In 1928, Epstein sculpted the head of the popular singer and film star Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
. A commission from Holden for the new headquarters building of the London Electric Railway generated another controversy in 1929. His nude sculptures Day and Night above the entrances of 55 Broadway
55 Broadway
55 Broadway is a notable building overlooking St. James's Park in London. It was designed by Charles Holden and built between 1927 and 1929, and in 1931 the building earned him the RIBA London Architecture Medal...
were again considered indecent and a debate raged for some time regarding demands to remove the offending statues which had been carved in-situ. Eventually a compromise was reached to modify the smaller of the two figures represented on Day. But the controversy affected his commissions for public work which dried up until World War II.
Between the late 1930s and the mid 1950s, numerous works by Epstein were exhibited in Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
. Adam, Consummatum Est, Jacob and the Angel and Genesis (amongst other less notable works) were initially displayed in an old drapery shop surrounded by red velvet curtains. The crowds were ushered in at the cost of a shilling by a barker on the street. After a small tour of American fun fairs, the works were returned to Blackpool and were exhibited in the anatomical curiosities section of the Louis Tussaud's waxworks. The works were displayed alongside dancing marionette
Marionette
A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms...
s, diseased body parts and Siamese twin babies in jars. Placing Epstein within the context of freakish curiosity, especially at a time of such hostility towards the Jews, perhaps added to Epstein's decision not to create further large-scale direct carvings.
Bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
portrait sculpture formed one of Epstein's staple products, and perhaps the best known. These sculptures were often executed with roughly textured surfaces, expressively manipulating small surface planes and facial details. Some fine examples are in the National Portrait Gallery. Another famous example is the bust of legendary Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman
Herbert Chapman
Herbert Chapman was an English association football player and manager. Though he had an undistinguished playing career, he went on to become one of the most successful and influential managers in early 20th century English football, before his sudden death in 1934.As a player, Chapman played for...
that sat in the marble halls of Highbury
Highbury
- Early Highbury :The area now known as Islington was part of the larger manor of Tolentone, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Tolentone was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Road. The manor house was situated by what is now...
for many years before being moved to the new Emirates Stadium
Emirates Stadium
Ashburton Grove, currently known as the Emirates Stadium, is a UEFA elite football stadium which is home to Arsenal FC, where they moved from Highbury in 2006. It has an current capacity of 60,361, and there have been rumours of an expansion...
.
Epstein's aluminium figure of Christ in Majesty (1954-5), is suspended above the nave in Llandaff Cathedral
Llandaff Cathedral
Llandaff Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, head of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. It is situated in the district of Llandaff in the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The current building was constructed in the 12th century over the site of an earlier church...
, Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, on a concrete arch designed by George Pace
George Pace
George Pace , English architect, was born in Croydon, Surrey.He won many prizes as a student including the Pugin Studentship in 1937 and the RIBA Asphitel Prize for the best architectural student in England....
.
His larger sculptures were his most expressive and experimental, but also his most vulnerable. His depiction of Rima, one of author W. H. Hudson's most famous characters, graces a serene enclosure in Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
. Even here, a visitor became so outraged as to defile it with paint. He was one of 250 sculptors who exhibited in the 3rd Sculpture International
3rd Sculpture International
3rd Sculpture International was an exhibition of sculpture that included works from 250 sculptors from around the world. It was "organized by the Fairmount Park Art Association under the terms of a bequest made to the Association by the late Ellen Phillips Samuel." It was held at the Philadelphia...
held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...
in the summer of 1949.
Epstein would often sculpt the images of friends, casual acquaintances, and even people dragged from the street into his studio almost at random. He worked even on his dying day. He also painted; many of his watercolours and gouaches were of Epping Forest
Epping Forest
Epping Forest is an area of ancient woodland in south-east England, straddling the border between north-east Greater London and Essex. It is a former royal forest, and is managed by the City of London Corporation....
, where he lived (at Loughton
Loughton
Loughton is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located between 11 and 13 miles north east of Charing Cross in London, south of the M25 and west of the M11 motorway and has boundaries with Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill...
) and sculpted. These were often exhibited at the Leicester Gallery in London. His Monkwood Autumn and Pool, Epping Forest date from 1944-45.
Epstein was Jewish, and negative reviews of his work sometimes took on an antisemitic flavor, though he did not attribute the "average unfavorable criticism" of his work to antisemitism.
Epstein met Albert Einstein at Roughton Heath
Roughton, Norfolk
Roughton is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is south of Cromer, north of Norwich and north-west of North Walsham. The village straddles the A140 between Cromer and Norwich and the B1463. The nearest railway station is at Roughton Road for the Bittern...
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, in 1933 and had three sittings for a bust. He remembered his meeting with Einstein as, "His glance contained a mxture of the humane, the humorous and the profound. This was a combination which delighted me. He resembled the aging Rembrandt."
Personal life
Despite being married to and continuing to live with Margaret, Epstein had a number of relationships with other women that brought him his five children: Peggy Jean (born 1918), Theo (1924–1954), Kathleen (Kitty, born 1926), Esther (1929–1954) and Jackie (born 1934). Margaret generally tolerated these relationships — even to the extent of bringing up his first and last children. In 1921 Epstein began the longest of these relationships with Kathleen GarmanKathleen Garman
Kathleen Garman, Lady Epstein was the third of the seven notorious Garman sisters, who were high profile members of artistic circles in mid-twentieth century London, renowned for their beauty and scandalousness. She was the muse and longtime mistress of Jacob Epstein, the famous British/American...
, one of the Garman sisters
Garman Sisters
The Garman sisters were members of London's bohemian Bloomsbury set. The complex lives of Mary, Kathleen and Lorna included affairs with writer Vita Sackville-West, composer Ferruccio Busoni, painter Bernard Meninsky, sculptor Jacob Epstein, poet Laurie Lee and painter Lucian Freud-Mary :Mary...
, mother of his three middle children, which continued until his death. Margaret "tolerated Epstein's infidelities, allowed his models and lovers to live in the family home and raised Epstein's first child, Peggy Jean, who was the daughter of Meum Lindsell, one of Epstein's previous lovers. However, Margaret's tolerance did not extend to Epstein's relationship with Kathleen Garman, and in 1923 Margaret shot and wounded Kathleen in the shoulder."
Margaret Epstein died in 1947, and after Epstein was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1954 New Year Honours
New Year Honours
The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the New Year annually in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen Elizabeth II...
he married Kathleen Garman in 1955.
Kitty married painter Lucian Freud
Lucian Freud
Lucian Michael Freud, OM, CH was a British painter. Known chiefly for his thickly impasted portrait and figure paintings, he was widely considered the pre-eminent British artist of his time...
in 1948 and is mother of two of his daughters, Annie and Annabel. In 1953 they divorced. She married a second time in 1955, to economist Wynne Godley
Wynne Godley
Wynne Godley was an economist famous for his pessimism toward the British economy and his criticism of the British government....
. They have one daughter.
Death and legacy
Epstein died 21 August 1959 in London and is buried in Putney Vale CemeteryPutney Vale Cemetery
Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium in London is surrounded by Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park, and is located within forty-seven acres of parkland. The cemetery was opened in 1891 and the crematorium in 1938...
. A blue plaque may be found at "Deerhurst", 50 Baldwins Hill in Loughton
Loughton
Loughton is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located between 11 and 13 miles north east of Charing Cross in London, south of the M25 and west of the M11 motorway and has boundaries with Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill...
, which was his home from 1933 to 1950.
The Garman Ryan Collection, including several works by Epstein, was donated to the people of Walsall
Walsall
Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
, by Lady Epstein
Kathleen Garman
Kathleen Garman, Lady Epstein was the third of the seven notorious Garman sisters, who were high profile members of artistic circles in mid-twentieth century London, renowned for their beauty and scandalousness. She was the muse and longtime mistress of Jacob Epstein, the famous British/American...
in 1973. It is on display in Walsall Art Gallery
Walsall Art Gallery
The New Art Gallery Walsall is a modern and contemporary art gallery sited in the centre of the West Midlands town of Walsall, England. It was built with £21 million of public funding, including £15.75 million from the UK National Lottery and additional money from the European Regional Development...
.
His art is displayed all over the world; highly original for its time, its influence on the younger generation of sculptors such as Henry Moore
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....
and Barbara Hepworth
Barbara Hepworth
Dame Barbara Hepworth DBE was an English sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism, and with such contemporaries as Ivon Hitchens, Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, Naum Gabo she helped to develop modern art in Britain.-Life and work:Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth was born on 10 January 1903 in Wakefield,...
was significant. According to June Rose, in her biography, Moore was befriended by the older sculptor during the early 1920s and visited Epstein in his studio. Epstein, along with Moore and Hepworth, all expressed a deep fascination with the non-western art from the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
.
Selected major pieces
- 1907–8 Ages of Man http://www.londonist.com/attachments/Matt/Zimbabwe%20House.jpg - British Medical AssociationBritish Medical AssociationThe British Medical Association is the professional association and registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association’s headquarters are located in BMA House,...
headquarters, The StrandStrand, LondonStrand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
— mutilated/destroyed - 1911 Oscar WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
Memorial — the Père Lachaise Cemetery, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... - 1913–4 The Rock Drill Bronze http://www.tate.org.uk/collection/T/T00/T00340_9.jpg — the TateTate-Places:*Tate, Georgia, a town in the United States*Tate County, Mississippi, a county in the United States*Táté, the Hungarian name for Totoi village, Sântimbru Commune, Alba County, Romania*Tate, Filipino word for States...
Collection(symbolising 'the terrible Frankenstein's monster we have made ourselves into') - 1917 Venus marble — YaleYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
Center for British ArtYale Center for British ArtThe Yale Center for British Art is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut at Yale University which houses the most comprehensive collection of British Art outside the United Kingdom...
, New Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and... - 1919 Christ Bronze — WheathampsteadWheathampsteadWheathampstead is a village and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans, in Hertfordshire, England. It is north of St Albans and in the Hitchin and Harpenden parliamentary constituency....
, England - 1923 W. H. Hudson Memorial, Rima http://www.londonist.com/attachments/Matt/Rima.jpg — Hyde Park, LondonHyde Park, LondonHyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
- 1928–9 Night and Day Portland Stone — 55 Broadway55 Broadway55 Broadway is a notable building overlooking St. James's Park in London. It was designed by Charles Holden and built between 1927 and 1929, and in 1931 the building earned him the RIBA London Architecture Medal...
, St. James', London - 1933 Head of Albert Einstein Bronze — Honolulu Academy of ArtsHonolulu Academy of ArtsThe Honolulu Academy of Arts is an art museum in Honolulu in the state of Hawaii. Since its founding in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke and opening April 8, 1927, its collections have grown to over 40,000 works of art.-Description:...
- 1939 Adam Alabaster — BlackpoolBlackpoolBlackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
, England. Now residing in Harewood HouseHarewood HouseHarewood House is a country house located in Harewood , near Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is a member of Treasure Houses of England, a marketing consortium for nine of the foremost stately homes in England...
, Leeds - 1940-1 Jacob and the Angel Alabaster http://www.tate.org.uk/collection/T/T07/T07139_9.jpg — the TateTate-Places:*Tate, Georgia, a town in the United States*Tate County, Mississippi, a county in the United States*Táté, the Hungarian name for Totoi village, Sântimbru Commune, Alba County, Romania*Tate, Filipino word for States...
Collection (originally controversially "anatomical") - 1947 Lazarus Alabaster — New College, OxfordNew College, OxfordNew College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
- 1950 Madonna and Child Bronze http://www.londonist.com/attachments/Matt/Madonna.jpg — Convent of the Holy Child Jesus, London
- 1954 Social Consciousness http://titilos.sorocabana.com/thumbnails.php?album=27 — Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia
- 1956 Liverpool Resurgent http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2011/07/27/french-leisure-chains-breate-new-life-into-liverpool-s-lewis-s-building-100252-29125398/2/ — Lewis'sLewis'sLewis's was a large department store in Liverpool city centre. It was formerly the flagship of a chain of department stores under the Lewis's name, that operated from 1856 to 1991, when the company went into administration. Several stores in the chain were bought by the company Owen Owen and...
Building, Liverpool - 1958 St Michael's Victory over the Devil Bronze — Coventry CathedralCoventry CathedralCoventry Cathedral, also known as St Michael's Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry, in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The current bishop is the Right Revd Christopher Cocksworth....
- 1959 Rush of Green http://www.londonist.com/attachments/Matt/Pan%20et%20al.jpg — Hyde Park, LondonHyde Park, LondonHyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
External links
- Jacob Epstein An article on Jacob Epstein's work on The National Archives website. Includes references to files held at The National Archives.
- Jonathan Cronshaw, Carving a Legacy: The Identity of Jacob Epstein
- Tate Gallery - Jacob Epstein
- Londonist.com - Jacob Epstein in London
- Sculptor Jacob Epstein: Time for a Reappraisal?
- Jacob Epstein: Sculptor in Revolt (art and architecture)