Jacob Epstein

Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 - 19 August 1959) was an American-born sculptor who worked chiefly in England, where he pioneered modern sculpture, often producing controversial works that challenged taboos concerning what public artworks appropriately depict.

Work

In London, Epstein involved himself with a bohemian 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. Brilliantly avant-garde in concept and style, his works often shocked the general public. He often used expressively distorted figures, drawing more on non-Western art than the classical ideal. People in Liverpool are said to have named his nude male sculpture over the door of the John Lewis department store "Swinging Dick". 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. Works condemned in his time as obscene and disgraceful today communicate thought and understanding.

Related Topics:
Bohemian - Realism - Avant-garde - Liverpool - Department store - Sexuality - Obscene

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London was not ready for Epstein's first major commission — 18 large nude sculptures made in 1907 for the outside walls of Charles Holden's building for the British Medical Association on The Strand (now Zimbabwe House). Considered shocking by Edwardian standards, they were later hacked and mutilated for "decency".

Related Topics:
Charles Holden - British Medical Association - The Strand - Edwardian

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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.

Related Topics:
Bronze - National Portrait Gallery

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His larger sculpture was 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.

Related Topics:
W. H. Hudson - Hyde Park

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Enthusiastic about his work, Epstein would 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.

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