Kathleen Garman
Encyclopedia
Kathleen Garman, Lady Epstein (1901 – 1979) 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 sculptor, and finally his second wife. They met in 1921 and immediately began a relationship that lasted until Epstein's death and produced three of Epstein's five children. Their daughter, Kitty Garman, was the first wife of Lucian Freud
.
at Oakeswell Hall, Wednesbury
, England
. In her youth, Kathleen, known affectionately as Kitty, and her elder sister Mary pilfered family possessions and made their brothers and sisters sell the items for money to buy cigarettes, drinks at the local miners' pub, French novels, and tickets to the cinema. When Mary was 21 years old and Kathleen 17, they ran away to London and lived together in a one-room studio at 13 Regent Square, Camden
, part of Bloomsbury
.
In the inter-war years, Kathleen and her sisters were prominent in London's Bohemian
Bloomsbury set. Their circle of friends and acquaintances now included high-brows, Jews, poets, authoresses, painters, singers, ballet dancers, and an economist (probably John Maynard Keynes
), and they frequented West End
clubs such as the Gargoyle, the Harlequin and the The Cave of the Golden Calf
. Collectively, Kathleen and her sisters Mary
and Lorna
engaged in affairs with: writer Vita Sackville-West
; composer Ferruccio Busoni
; painter Bernard Meninsky
; poet and novelist Laurie Lee
; and the sculptor Jacob Epstein.
In 1921 Kathleen met the already famous sculptor at the Harlequin restaurant in London. Their adulterous affair incited the wrath of Epstein's wife Margaret; she shot and wounded Kathleen in the shoulder in 1923, and encouraged her husband into multiple affairs in the hope that he would lose interest in his mistress and "return home." One such affair produced a son in 1934 whose existence was hidden from Kathleen until five years after his birth. (The bastard child was raised by Margaret, who supported or at least tolerated her husband's brief affair with the boy's art student mother.) But despite Margaret's keenest efforts, Kathleen remained Epstein's lover and bore him three illegitimate children; a son in 1924, and two daughters in 1926 and 1929. Another child died suddenly
as an infant, while Kathleen was playing the piano in the same room.
Presumably for the duration of her affair with Epstein, which spanned three decades, Kathleen lived with her sister Helen in a one-room London studio, until Margaret fractured her skull in a fall and died in 1949, which allowed her to move into Epstein's home in Hyde Park Gate
. Kathleen's son lived with his mother and aunt Helen in the cramped studio, but due to the limited space and Kathleen's lack of money, her daughters were sent to live with relatives. Kathleen made occasional weekend visits to her daughters' separate residences in Herefordshire
and Walsall
, and the girls would sometimes go to London to stay with their mother, but Kathleen and her daughters did not spend much time together until the children were in their teens. In stark contrast, Kathleen devoted much of her time to her son's upbringing.
At some point, Kathleen allegedly had a lesbian
affair with her younger brother Douglas's first wife. Meanwhile, Douglas, an ardent Communist and poet, was involved in an anguished love affair with the American heiress Peggy Guggenheim
.
In 1954 the Queen Mother
extended to Epstein an offer of a knighthood, which he accepted. In June of the next year Kathleen and the newly knighted Sir Epstein married at a private ceremony, and thus she became Lady Epstein and his sole beneficiary. As his widow she donated his works to the Israel Museum
, and many can be seen in the Garman Ryan Collection at the New Art Gallery
in Walsall.
Her first daughter, also named Kathleen Garman (1926-2011), called "Kitty" http://epstein.3forming.com/Assets/Images/Gallery/itemGalleryFull/kitty_and_annie_freud.jpg, became the first wife of the painter Lucian Freud
. Their marriage was short-lived but produced two daughters, Annie and Annabel. Freud had had a previous affair with Lorna Garman
, Kitty's aunt. Kitty is the subject of many of Freud's paintings, notably Girl with a white dog (1951–52), held at the Tate Gallery
.
Kathleen's son, Theo, was a talented painter. He suffered mental illness, probably schizophrenia
, and, after his condition worsened considerably, died in 1954 in "still unexplained circumstances." Her younger daughter, Esther, was so devastated by her brother's death that she committed suicide
in November of the same year. Said a friend of Esther's: "In that family, there was a chair for suicide by the hearth, long before anyone occupied it."
To a friend, to explain why she would never write her memoirs.
London
London 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...
, renowned for their beauty and scandalousness. She was the muse
Muse
The Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...
and longtime mistress
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
of Jacob Epstein
Jacob Epstein
Sir Jacob Epstein KBE 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...
, the famous British/American sculptor, and finally his second wife. They met in 1921 and immediately began a relationship that lasted until Epstein's death and produced three of Epstein's five children. Their daughter, Kitty Garman, was the first wife of 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...
.
Biography
Her parents were Walter Garman, an eccentric provincial doctor, and his wife Margaret, also known as Marjorie. She and her eight siblings grew up in the bleak surroundings of the Black CountryBlack Country
The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...
at Oakeswell Hall, Wednesbury
Wednesbury
Wednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the source of the River Tame. Similarly to the word Wednesday, it is pronounced .-Pre-Medieval and Medieval times:...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. In her youth, Kathleen, known affectionately as Kitty, and her elder sister Mary pilfered family possessions and made their brothers and sisters sell the items for money to buy cigarettes, drinks at the local miners' pub, French novels, and tickets to the cinema. When Mary was 21 years old and Kathleen 17, they ran away to London and lived together in a one-room studio at 13 Regent Square, Camden
London Borough of Camden
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
, part of Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury
-Places:* Bloomsbury is an area in central London.* Bloomsbury , related local government unit* Bloomsbury, New Jersey, New Jersey, USA* Bloomsbury , listed on the NRHP in Maryland...
.
In the inter-war years, Kathleen and her sisters were prominent in London's Bohemian
Bohemianism
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...
Bloomsbury set. Their circle of friends and acquaintances now included high-brows, Jews, poets, authoresses, painters, singers, ballet dancers, and an economist (probably John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes, Baron Keynes of Tilton, CB FBA , was a British economist whose ideas have profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics, as well as the economic policies of governments...
), and they frequented West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
clubs such as the Gargoyle, the Harlequin and the The Cave of the Golden Calf
The Cave of the Golden Calf
The Cave of the Golden Calf was a night club in London. It opened in an underground location at 9 Heddon Street, just off Regent Street, in 1912 and became a haunt for the wealthy, aristocratic and bohemian...
. Collectively, Kathleen and her sisters Mary
Mary Garman
Mary Margaret Garman Campbell was the eldest of seven sisters known for their glamorous, bohemian lifestyles and their many love affairs with famous artists, writers and musicians of interwar London...
and Lorna
Lorna Garman
Lorna Cecilia Garman Wishart was the youngest of the seven daughters of Walter and Margaret Garman, an eccentric Victorian doctor, led notoriously high profile lives within mid 20th century artistic circles....
engaged in affairs with: writer Vita Sackville-West
Vita Sackville-West
The Hon Victoria Mary Sackville-West, Lady Nicolson, CH , best known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author, poet and gardener. She won the Hawthornden Prize in 1927 and 1933...
; composer Ferruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni was an Italian composer, pianist, editor, writer, piano and composition teacher, and conductor.-Biography:...
; painter Bernard Meninsky
Bernard Meninsky
Bernard Meninsky was a figurative artist, painter of figures and landscape in oils, watercolour and gouache, draughtsman and teacher. He was born in Karotopin now in the Ukraine but raised in Liverpool where he attended the Liverpool School of Art in 1906 after initially attending evening classes...
; poet and novelist Laurie Lee
Laurie Lee
Laurence Edward Alan "Laurie" Lee, MBE was an English poet, novelist, and screenwriter, raised in the village of Slad, and went to Marling School, Gloucestershire. His most famous work was an autobiographical trilogy which consisted of Cider with Rosie , As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and...
; and the sculptor Jacob Epstein.
In 1921 Kathleen met the already famous sculptor at the Harlequin restaurant in London. Their adulterous affair incited the wrath of Epstein's wife Margaret; she shot and wounded Kathleen in the shoulder in 1923, and encouraged her husband into multiple affairs in the hope that he would lose interest in his mistress and "return home." One such affair produced a son in 1934 whose existence was hidden from Kathleen until five years after his birth. (The bastard child was raised by Margaret, who supported or at least tolerated her husband's brief affair with the boy's art student mother.) But despite Margaret's keenest efforts, Kathleen remained Epstein's lover and bore him three illegitimate children; a son in 1924, and two daughters in 1926 and 1929. Another child died suddenly
Sudden infant death syndrome
Sudden infant death syndrome is marked by the sudden death of an infant that is unexpected by medical history, and remains unexplained after a thorough forensic autopsy and a detailed death scene investigation. An infant is at the highest risk for SIDS during sleep, which is why it is sometimes...
as an infant, while Kathleen was playing the piano in the same room.
Presumably for the duration of her affair with Epstein, which spanned three decades, Kathleen lived with her sister Helen in a one-room London studio, until Margaret fractured her skull in a fall and died in 1949, which allowed her to move into Epstein's home in Hyde Park Gate
Hyde Park Gate
Hyde Park Gate is an address in central London, England, which applies to two parallel roads in Kensington on the southern boundary of Kensington Gardens. It is probably most famous for being the death place of Sir Winston Churchill...
. Kathleen's son lived with his mother and aunt Helen in the cramped studio, but due to the limited space and Kathleen's lack of money, her daughters were sent to live with relatives. Kathleen made occasional weekend visits to her daughters' separate residences in Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
and 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...
, and the girls would sometimes go to London to stay with their mother, but Kathleen and her daughters did not spend much time together until the children were in their teens. In stark contrast, Kathleen devoted much of her time to her son's upbringing.
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
affair with her younger brother Douglas's first wife. Meanwhile, Douglas, an ardent Communist and poet, was involved in an anguished love affair with the American heiress Peggy Guggenheim
Peggy Guggenheim
Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim was an American art collector. Born to a wealthy New York City family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who went down with the Titanic in 1912 and the niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim, who would establish the Solomon R...
.
In 1954 the Queen Mother
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
extended to Epstein an offer of a knighthood, which he accepted. In June of the next year Kathleen and the newly knighted Sir Epstein married at a private ceremony, and thus she became Lady Epstein and his sole beneficiary. As his widow she donated his works to the Israel Museum
Israel Museum
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem was founded in 1965 as Israel's national museum. It is situated on a hill in the Givat Ram neighborhood of Jerusalem, near the Bible Lands Museum, the Knesset, the Israeli Supreme Court, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
, and many can be seen in the Garman Ryan Collection at the New 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...
in Walsall.
Her first daughter, also named Kathleen Garman (1926-2011), called "Kitty" http://epstein.3forming.com/Assets/Images/Gallery/itemGalleryFull/kitty_and_annie_freud.jpg, became the first wife of the 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...
. Their marriage was short-lived but produced two daughters, Annie and Annabel. Freud had had a previous affair with Lorna Garman
Lorna Garman
Lorna Cecilia Garman Wishart was the youngest of the seven daughters of Walter and Margaret Garman, an eccentric Victorian doctor, led notoriously high profile lives within mid 20th century artistic circles....
, Kitty's aunt. Kitty is the subject of many of Freud's paintings, notably Girl with a white dog (1951–52), held at the Tate Gallery
Tate Gallery
The Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
.
Kathleen's son, Theo, was a talented painter. He suffered mental illness, probably schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, and, after his condition worsened considerably, died in 1954 in "still unexplained circumstances." Her younger daughter, Esther, was so devastated by her brother's death that she committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in November of the same year. Said a friend of Esther's: "In that family, there was a chair for suicide by the hearth, long before anyone occupied it."
Quotes
- "What muddy pitfalls one inadvertently steps into in search of the rare and the beautiful."
To a friend, to explain why she would never write her memoirs.