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

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].

© Copyright. All rights reserved.