Epstein, Jacob

bronze, 495 x 195mm. (height)

EXHIBITED:
London, Leicester Galleries, Carvings and Bronzes by Jacob Epstein, May 1933, cat. no.2 (another cast);
Leeds, Temple Newsam, Exhibition of Sculpture and Paintings by Jacob Epstein and Matthew Smith, 12 July – 14 September 1942, cat. no.33, illustrated (another cast, where lent by Muirhead Bone);
London, Arts Council of Britain at the Tate Gallery, Epstein, 25 September – 9 November 1952, cat. no.23, illustrated (another cast, where lent by Muirhead Bone);
London, Arts Council Memorial Exhibition, Epstein, 1961, cat. no.25 (another cast, where lent by the artist’s estate);
Lisbon, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Twentieth Century British Art, 1962, cat. no.79 (another cast);
Midland Area Service, Epstein: An Exhibition of Sculpture and Drawings, 1962-3, cat. no.9 (another cast);
Folkestone, New Metropole Arts Centre, Jacob Epstein: Sculpture and Painting, 1965, cat. no.61 (another cast);
New Jersey, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Rutherford, Exhibition of Sir Jacob Epstein work from the Collection of Mr. Edward P. Schinman, 1967, illustrated (another cast);
Iowa, Des Moines Art Centre, Selections from the B. Gerald Cantor Collection, December 1970 – January 1971, with tour to Indianapolis Museum of Art, University Art Museum Albuquerque, Santa Barbara Museum of Art and Fort Worth Art Centre, Texas (another cast);
Bucharest, British Council, English Portraits, 1972-3, (details untraced, another cast);
Folkestone, Edwardian Festival (details untraced, another cast);
Birmingham, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Rebel Angel: Sculpture and Watercolours by Sir Jacob Epstein 1880-1959, 16 October – 30 November 1980, cat. no.13, illustrated (another cast);
Leeds, City Art Galleries and London, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Jacob Epstein Sculpture and Drawings, 16 April – 21 June 1987, cat. no.93, illustrated (another cast)
London, National Portrait Gallery, Jacob Epstein: Portrait Sculptor, 30 March – 24 November 2013 (another cast)

LITERATURE:
Hubert Wellington, Jacob Epstein, Benn, London, 1925, p.27, illustrated pl.35 (another cast);
Arnold Haskell, The Sculptor Speaks: Jacob Epstein to Arnold Haskell: A Series of Conversations on Art, Heinemann, 1931, pp.69 and 182;
L.B. Powell, Jacob Epstein, Chapman and Hall, London, 1932, pp.67 and 93;
Robert Black, The Art of Jacob Epstein, World Publishing Company, New York and Cleveland, 1942, no.109, illustrated pl.19 (another cast);
Jacob Epstein, Let There Be Sculpture, Michael Joseph, 1940, pp.89-94, illustrated (another cast);
Jacob Epstein, An Autobiography, Hulton, London, 1955, pp.73-77, illustrated (another cast);
Richard Buckle, Jacob Epstein Sculptor, Faber and Faber, London, 1963, pp.130-1, illustrated fig.202-3 (another cast);
Evelyn Silber, The Sculpture of Epstein, Phaidon, Oxford, 1986, cat. no.148, illustrated pl.15 (another cast);
Jeffrey Meyers, Joseph Conrad: A Biography, Cooper Square Press, New York, 2001, p.356;
June Rose, Daemons and Angels, A Life of Jacob Epstein, Constable, London, 2002, p.153.

There is minor surface dirt and dust to the crevices, with a tiny, isolated fleck of very minor oxidisation to the bottom of the left lapel, visible upon very close inspection. There are one or two very find scratches and slightly grazes to the back of the work. There are two very slight, minor visible casting defects, one to the back of the head and the other to the back of the left underarm. This excepting the work appears to be in very good overall condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Having been a keen admirer of Joseph Conrad’s work since his early days in New York, Epstein gladly took up the commission proposed to him by his close friend and supporter Muirhead Bone to create a bust of the writer. With the growing infamy surrounding much of his public work, and the large body of critical attention that it received, the artist was always keen for these popular portrait commissions, bringing with them a steady and much-needed source of income to support his ever-growing family. Originally intended as a commission for the Polish government (although never purchased), Epstein arrived at Conrad’s house, Oswalds, near Canterbury, in March 1924. He disliked staying with his subjects and instead lodged in the nearby village of Bridge, soon joined by his five-year-old daughter Peggy Jean.

Taking three weeks to complete, Epstein later recalled of Conrad that "he had a head that appealed to a sculptor, massive and fine at the same time... he was a good sitter, always strictly punctual… [he] had a demon expression in the left eye, while his right eye was smothered by a drooping lid, but the eyes glowed with a great intensity of feeling. The drooping, weary lids intensified the impression of brooding thought. The whole head revealed the man who had suffered much" (Jacob Epstein, Let There be Sculpture, London, 1940, pp.90-92).

Standing as a lasting testament to the writer, Epstein’s strong, stoic bust displays well the sculptor’s great aptitude at capturing the character of his sitters, presenting him as a distinguished and esteemed intellectual. Conrad too was clearly impressed with the result, writing to his biographer Richard Curle that “the bust of Ep. has grown truly monumental. It is a marvellously effective piece of sculpture with even something more than a masterly interpretation… It is wonderful to go down to posterity like that” (quoted ibid, p.94). Conrad died five months after the bust was completed, and despite Bone’s attempts the commission fell through.