Epstein, Sir Jacob

Epstein, Sir Jacob (1880-1959), British sculptor of portraits and monumental figures. He was born in New York of Russian-Polish parentage. He studied at the Art Students League (1894-1902) there, and in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts (1902) with Auguste Rodin, then (1902-1904) at the Académie Julian. After 1905 Epstein lived in England, becoming a British subject in 1910.

Epstein's sculpture, influenced by Rodin's style, is distinguished for its rough-hewn realism and vigour. His portraits display a strikingly unconventional manipulation of small surface planes and facial details, such as wrinkles, creating an expressive individuality. His important works in stone include the following: 18 figures for the British Medical Association Building, London (1907-1908; destroyed); the tomb of Oscar Wilde in Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris (1912); the figures Day and Night on the Underground Headquarters Building, London (1928-1929); and Ecce Homo (1933) for Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. Epstein's notable bronze busts include Joseph Conrad (1924), Albert Einstein (1933), George Bernard Shaw (1934), and Yehudi Menuhin (1945). He was knighted in 1954. His autobiographical work Let There Be Sculpture was published in 1940 (revised 1955).