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Jacob Epstein (1880-1959), Sculptor

Sir Jacob Epstein

Sitter associated with 66 portraits
Artist of 14 portraits
The leading modernist sculptor of his day, Epstein was born in New York to Polish-Jewish parents and studied in Paris before moving to London in 1905. He quickly gained a reputation as a brilliant sculptor, creating monuments, portraits and controversial depictions of nudity. His bold work courted controversy and may have cost him an appointment as war artist and a professorship at the Royal College of Art. In spite of criticism, he regularly and successfully exhibited life-size bronzes and portraits at the Leicester Galleries. He received public recognition late in life, being knighted in 1954, and completed large commissions and numerous portraits in his last decade.

List Thumbnail

4126

Jacob Epstein

by Sir Jacob Epstein
bronze head, 1912
On display in Room 33 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 4126

3885

William Henry Davies

by Sir Jacob Epstein
bronze head, 1916
On display in Room 33 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 3885

4295

Augustus John

by Sir Jacob Epstein
bronze bust, 1916
On display in Room 33 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 4295

4220

Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham

by Sir Jacob Epstein
bronze head, 1923
On display in Room 33 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 4220

4159

Joseph Conrad

by Sir Jacob Epstein
bronze bust, 1924
On display in Room 33 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 4159

5976

Dame Sybil Thorndike

by Sir Jacob Epstein
bronze bust, 1925
On display in Room 33 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 5976

6060

Michael Balcon

by Sir Jacob Epstein
bronze bust, 1933
On display in Room 33 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 6060

2934

Ramsay MacDonald

by Sir Jacob Epstein
bronze bust, 1934
On display in Room 33 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 2934

4047

George Bernard Shaw

by Sir Jacob Epstein
bronze bust, 1934
On display in Room 33 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 4047

6209

Sir Ronald Henry Amherst Storrs

by Sir Jacob Epstein
pencil, 1935
NPG 6209

6905

Jawaharlal Nehru

by Sir Jacob Epstein
bronze bust, 1948
On display in Room 33 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 6905

5199

Lucian Freud

by Sir Jacob Epstein
bronze head, 1949
On display in Room 33 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 5199

4762

Ralph Vaughan Williams

by Sir Jacob Epstein
bronze bust, 1950
On display in Room 33 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 4762

4440

T.S. Eliot

by Sir Jacob Epstein
plaster cast of bust, 1951
On display in Room 33 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 4440

Family Tree
Freud
Related People
Esther Epstein (daughter)
Kathleen Esther (née Garman), Lady Epstein (wife)
Links
Hull University Art Collection, East Yorkshire
Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, North Yorkshire
New Art Gallery, Walsall, West Midlands
Places
United States
Yorkshire