Maquette for Madonna and Child, former Convent of the Holy Child Jesus, Cavendish Square, London

Details

Sir Jacob Epstein (1880-1959)
Maquette for Madonna and Child, former Convent of the Holy Child Jesus, Cavendish Square, London
lead
13¾ in. (35cm.) high
Conceived in 1950.

Provenance

with Tib Lane Gallery, London, where purchased by the present owner in 1966.

Literature

R. Buckle, Jacob Epstein Sculpture, London, 1963, p. 350, pl. 534-5.
E.P. & B.A. (ed.), Jacob Epstein A Catalogue of the Collection of Edward P. Schinman, Farleigh, Dickinson, University Press, 1970, p. 84, another cast illustated.
E. Silber, The Sculpture of Epstein, Oxford, 1986, pp. 208-209, no. 437, another cast illustrated.

Special Notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The architect Louis Osman was working on the buildings in Cavendish Square, London, occupied by the Convent of the Holy Child Jesus when he commissioned Epstein to 'prepare a maquette ... The maquette was produced within a week and approved by the nuns without the sculptor's name being disclosed'. Once the nuns discovered it was Epstein a crisis developed. The nuns were alarmed at the choice of Epstein and refused to approve the sculpture. At this stage, the head of the Madonna was based on Epstein's then mistress, Kathleen Garman. Once the model for the head had been changed and Epstein 'had been called before the community and catechized on his attitude to the work ... the nuns gave their final approval to the scheme' (see E. Silber, The Sculpture of Epstein, Oxford, 1986, p. 209).

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