Sir Jacob Epstein
(1880 - 1959)
Rabindranath Tagore
Sir Jacob Epstein was well regarded for his portraiture and the ability to capture in his sculptures, the nuances of his sitters. Born in New York, Epstein attended art classes at the Art Students League, and eventually turned to sculpture as his eyesight deteriorated. He attended night school in 1899 where he studied under George Grey Bernard. Later, after two years at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and the Academie Julian in Paris, Epstein moved to...
Sir Jacob Epstein was well regarded for his portraiture and the ability to capture in his sculptures, the nuances of his sitters. Born in New York, Epstein attended art classes at the Art Students League, and eventually turned to sculpture as his eyesight deteriorated. He attended night school in 1899 where he studied under George Grey Bernard. Later, after two years at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and the Academie Julian in Paris, Epstein moved to London, set up his own sculpture studio, and became a British citizen in 1907. He was a founding member of the London Group, an association of writers and artists promoting modern art in England. During this period, Epstein came into contact with leading contemporary artists, including Picasso, Brancusi and Modigliani and met leading figures from around the world. As a result, he received many commissions which included famous personalities, such as Rabindranath Tagore, Albert Einstein, Jawaharlal Nehru, and the Maharaja and Maharani of Baroda, among others. The present lot is a cast of Tagore from an edition of sixteen thought to have been originally conceived in 1926. "Epstein modelled Tagore's head over life-size with big, bold strokes, so that the poet with his intense stare and flowing beard took on the monumental grandeur of a baroque apostle." (R Buckle, Jacob Epstein Sculptor London: Faber & Faber, 1963 p. 149)
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Lot
29
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65
EVENING SALE | MUMBAI, LIVE
Estimate
Rs 8,00,000 - 10,00,000
Winning Bid
Rs 21,60,000
ARTWORK DETAILS
Sir Jacob Epstein Rabindranath Tagore
Signed 'Epstein' (lower right)
Conceived in 1926 and cast in an edition of 16
EXHIBITED:Bronze Sculpture by Jacob Epstein, Birmingham: Ruskin Gallery, 1927, no.1 (another cast)Sculpture by Jacob Epstein, New York: Ferargil Gallery, 1927, no. 19 (another cast)Fifty Years of Bronzes and Drawings by Sir Jacob Epstein (1880-1959), London: Leicester Galleries, June - July 1960, no. 22 (another cast)Jacob Epstein: Sculpture and Drawings, Leeds: City Art Galleries and London: Whitechapel Art Gallery, April - September 1987, no. 91 (another cast)The Sculptor Speaks: Jacob Epstein to Arnold Haskell: A Series of Conversations on Art, London: Heinemann, 1931, p. 185 (illustrated, another cast)Jacob Epstein, London: Chapman & Hall, 1932 (illustrated, another cast)Let There be Sculpture, London: Michael Joseph Ltd, 1940, pp. 111-12 (illustrated, another cast)The Art of Jacob Epstein, New York and Cleveland: World Publishing Company, 1942, p. 236, no. 125 (illustrated, another cast)Epstein: An Autobiography, London: Hulton Press, 1955, p. 92 (illustrated, another cast)Jacob Epstein, Sculptor, London: Faber & Faber, 1963, pp. 146-8, pl. 224-5 (illustrated, another cast)Jacob Epstein: A Catalogue of the Collection of Edward P. Schinman, Vancouver: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1970, p. 37 (illustrated, another cast)The Sculpture of Epstein, Oxford: Phaidon, 1986, no. 172, p. 160 (illustrated, another cast)
Category: Sculpture