Sir Jacob Epstein (British, 1880-1959)

Sir Jacob Epstein (British, 1880-1959)
Portrait of Anna Neagle
signed 'Epstein' (on the back of the neck)
bronze with a black patina
68.5 cm. (27 in.) high (including the base)
Conceived circa 1953

Please note this work is accompanied by a photograph of Anna Neagle with Sir Jacob Epstein by Ida Kar.

Provenance
Dame Florence Marjorie Wilcox (Anna Neagle) (1904-1986), whom bequeathed to
Joyce Wright (1922-2020), 29 October 1996, from whom purchased by the present owner

Literature
Richard Buckle, Jacob Epstein Sculptor, Faber and Faber Limited, 1963, p.428 (dated 1949)
Evelyn Silber, The Sculpture of Jacob Epstein: A Complete Catalogue, Phaidon Press, Oxford, 1986, p.215, cat.no.460 (ill.b&w.)

We are grateful to Dr. Evelyn Silber for her assistance cataloguing the present lot

‘By the 1950s almost all Epstein’s portraits were commissioned by the famous, rich and beautiful!’
(Dr. Evelyn Silber)

Dame Anna Neagle (1904-1986) was an English film and stage actress, known for her elegance and charm. Named Florence Marjorie Roberston, and born in 1904, Florence rose to fame in the 1930s, using Anna Neagle as her stage name. Neagle was perhaps best known for her role as Queen Victoria in Victoria the Great (1937). In 1943 she married film producer and director, Herbet Sydney Wilcox CBE (1890-1977).

The bust of Anna Neagle is dated to circa 1953 and is just one example of many of the public and culturally significant figures that Sir Jacob Epstein created portraits of. These figures included Winston Churchill, George Bernard Shaw and Albert Einstein. This bust, like many others by Epstein, captures the depth and craftmanship in the artist's execution. However, the photograph, taken by photographer Ida Kar, provides a further insight into Epstein’s working practice. Kar took three known photographs of Anna Neagle, Jacob Epstein and the bronze Epstein created. These photographs date to circa 1953, artworks in their own right, documenting the length of the process in the creation of Epstein’s bronze and also the relationship between artist and sitter. The photographs capture Epstein in the act of making and moulding, and Neagle both posing and observing the work. Neagle is dressed differently across the photographs: in one picture she appears to be wearing the outfit featured in Epstein's bronze, the other she wears a blazer and poses next to work, which appears to be almost completed. This gives us an indication that perhaps there were multiple sittings and encounters between Epstein and Neagle.

Epstein’s influences are clear in much of his sculptural works. These included classical sculpture and African and Oceanic art, in addition to the work of Augustus Rodin. During his time at both École des Beaux-Arts and Académie Julian, Epstein would have experienced works by the artist.

The freedom in which Epstein approached the sculpting process was an obvious point of similarity. Both artists used clay for preliminary modelling and bronze for casting, exchanging an expressive quality and capturing the maker’s markings. Rodin and Epstein also shared their realistic depictions of people, they both had direct interactions with their sitters.

It wasn’t until the 1950s that many of Epstein’s works were commissioned by and for the rich. He produced over 100 portrait busts, but perhaps the most notable was his work of Winston Churchill (1947) commissioned by both Private Collectors and the State, specifically War Artist’s Advisory Committee in 1946.

In 1954, Epstein received a Knighthood for his services to art making. This clearly marked a departure from the controversy which followed his early works that explored non-Western influences, nudity and a more raw approach. Epstein now remains one of the most significant founders of modern British sculpture.