MODERN   SCULPTURE  COLLECTION

                        Sir  JACOB  EPSTEIN 
                                 [1880-1959]


                  JACOB  EPSTEIN

                        Kathleen ll
                              1922
                            bronze
                       edition of 6
                            signed
                       39 cm high
   Provenance: Leicester Galleries             Arthur Andrews [1906-66] 
      pre-1950; Bournemouth and                  Poole College collection.
    Literature: 'Epstein' Silber 130



                   JACOB  EPSTEIN

               Madonna and Child
                            1926-7
                            bronze
                       edition of 6
             48 cm and 29 cm high
  Provenance: Edward Schinman
       collection, USA  [the greatest           collection of Epstein's work]
      Literature: 'The Sculpture of          Epstein', E Silber, 1986 Phaidon, 
          p. 161, no. 176 [cast no. 2].
    'Jacob Epstein - the Schinman               collection', 1970, Fairleigh            Dickinson', p. 65 [illustrated].


                   JACOB  EPSTEIN

                         Oriel Ross
                     [2nd portrait]
                              1926
                            bronze
                        edition of 3
                        41 cm high
    Provenance: Leicester Galleries
        c. 1943; Sir Michael Kroyer-           Kielberg [died 1958] collection; 
           Literature: Silber no. 168 

   
                   JACOB  EPSTEIN

                             Sheila
                              1924
                            bronze
                       edition of 6
                  [cast pre-1959]
                     35.5 cm high Provenance: Private collection, UK
 Literature: 'Epstein' Silber no. 154
            [only 2-3 known casts]

      
                  JACOB  EPSTEIN

                            Deirdre
           [2nd portrait - in a slip]
                            1941-2
                            bronze
                       edition of 8
                            signed
                        55 cm high
   Provenance: Leicester Galleries,
           1959; Max Aitkin [Lord                       Beaverbrook] collection;
      Sothebys, 15 Dec. 2010, lot 118
     Literature: 'Epstein', E Silber
                  no. 321 [cast no. 3]
  Deirdre was his housekeeper and        cook - one of his best models

                
                   JACOB  EPSTEIN

                              Lydia
                           1929-30
                            bronze
                        edition of 6
                             signed
                        52 cm high
            Provenance: The artist;
  Dr Leonard Hamilton [pre-1949];
            Millea Bros., USA, 2020
   Literature: 'Epstein', Silber 193
  

                   JACOB  EPSTEIN

                             Night
      [maquette for stone carving]
                              1 928
                            bronze
                       edition of 6
                            signed
                       36 cm high
  Provenance: Jeffrey Sherwin coll.
   Literature: 'Epstein', Silber, 188
   Exhibited: 'Jacob Epstein', 1987
        major one-man exhibition, 
       Whitechapel & Leeds City AG
p. 226, pl. 131 [this cast illustrated]


                   JACOB  EPSTEIN
        
                   Sir John Gielgud
                               1933
                             bronze
                        edition of 2
                                1/2                       
                       56.5 cm high
             Provenance: The artist; 
                   May Govett, 1933;
                   Alec Clunes, 1960
Exhibited: Arthur Tooth, Dec. 1933
[this was the only sculpture in the                 one-man exhibition]
   Literature: 'Epstein', Silber 235
Gielgud was only 28 when this was        modelled and just becoming                                  famous



                    JACOB  EPSTEIN  -  Nude A, 1943-5, bronze, edition of 6
                                                                 72.5 cm long
  Provenance: Leicester Galleries, c. 1947; Herbert Kayden collection, USA
                                             Literature: 'Epstein', Silber 341

                       
  JACOB  EPSTEIN  -  Juanita Forbes, 1945, bronze, edition of 6, 51 cm long
   Provenance: Leicester Galleries, 1947; David & Laura Finn, USA, coll'n.
                              Literature: 'Epstein', E Silber, 1986, no. 366



                  JACOB  EPSTEIN

                     Sandra Dorne
                          [actress]
                              1950
                            bronze
                                1/3
                            signed
                       46 cm high
   Provenance: Leicester Galleries,
 1953, no. 12; Private collection, UK
   Literature: 'Epstein', Silber 463
  Dorne was a UK actress - one of          the British Marilyn Monroe's

 

                   JACOB  EPSTEIN

                Man with Serpents
             [Le Serpent au Coeur]
                          1938-9
                          bronze
                       [unique ?]
                       11 cm high

            Provenance: the artist;
   Private collection, San Francisco.
            Bonhams, Los Angeles, 
              12 March 2024, lot 77

                        Literature: 
   'The Sculpture of Jacob Epstein'
      E. Silber, catalogue raisonne,                         Phaidon, no. 299 
  [only one cast listed - no plaster].

         Related to Epstein's great 
 'Fleurs du Mal' series of drawings                       and Laocoon


               Sir  JACOB  EPSTEIN

                         Old Smith
                              1922
                           bronze
                       edition of 3
                     37.0 cm high
                        Silber 129
   

                                           DRAWINGS

                   JACOB  EPSTEIN

            The Fountain of Blood
                            1936-8
                     pencil on card
                             signed                
                         56 x 43 cm
  Provenance: Arthur Tooth Gallery
1938; Edward Schinman collection
   Exhibited: Arthur Tooth Gallery
  December 1938, one-man exhib.
                no. 28 [illustrated];
 'Epstein', Tate Gallery, 1961, 127
 'Epstein', Whitechapel, 1987, 203



                   JACOB  EPSTEIN

                   Hymn to Beauty
                            1936-8
                    pencil on card
                             signed
                        56 x 43 cm
  Provenance: Arthur Tooth, 1938;



                   JACOB  EPSTEIN

                           Beatrice
                            1936-8
                     pencil on card
                            signed
                        56 x 43 cm
   Provenance: Arthur Tooth, 1938
        Literature: 'Flowers of Evil'
 James Laver, 1940, p. 244, pl. CXL



                   JACOB  EPSTEIN

                  The Irremediable
                            1936-8
                     pencil on card
                             signed
                        56 x 44 cm
  Provenance: Arthur Tooth, 1938
        Literature: 'Flowers of Evil'
   James Laver, 1940, p. 172, pl. CVI



                   JACOB  EPSTEIN

                              Icarus
            [The Lament of Icarus]
                             1936-8
                      pencil on card
                              signed
                         56 x 45 cm
   Provenance: Arthur Tooth, 1938
 

                   JACOB  EPSTEIN

                   Hymn to Beauty
                            1936-8
                     pencil on card
                             signed
                        56 x 44 cm
  Provenance: Arthur Tooth, 1938,        no. 37; Jeffrey Sherwin coll'n.;                 David Bowie collection;
      Sothebys, 10 Nov. 2016, lot 11
          Exhibited: 'Jacob Epstein'
 Whitechapel, one-man exhibition
          1987, no. 107 [illustrated]

                   JACOB  EPSTEIN

                Mournful Madrigal
                            1936-8
                     pencil on card
                             signed
                        56 x 44 cm
   Provenance: Arthur Tooth, 1938,  no. 16; Jeffrey Sherwin collection;
                    Christies, 2019
        Literature: 'Flowers of Evil'
     James Laver, 1940, illustrated


                   JACOB  EPSTEIN

                       Benediction
                            1936-8
                     pencil on card
                             signed 
                        56 x 44 cm
  Provenance: Arthur Tooth, 1938;
             Private Collection, USA
       Literature: 'Flowers of Evil' 
    James Laver, 1940, p. 10, pl. lB

Jacob Epstein is one of the greatest sculptors of all time - any artist who produced 'Rockdrill' in 1913 could rest on his laurels for the remainder of his life - but Epstein went on to produce many magnificent carvings including 'Jacob and the Angel' [1940] at the Tate Gallery. 
His greatest achievements were his modelled heads and busts - no other artist could put life into a head in the way Epstein did [certainly not Rodin, whose bodies were good but heads dead].
One of my first sculpture purchases was an Epstein bronze head, so I was able to live with one very early on - and you do need to live with them to fully appreciate his genius. 
Most public galleries around the world have Epsteins in their collection - the Tate Gallery has many.
There are numerous books on his work, including 2 catalogue raisonnes, the first by Richard Buckle and the best by Evelyn Silber [1986].

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