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DISSERTATIONS A CARICATURE OF A SCULPTOR JACOB EPSTEIN AND THE BRITISH PRESS: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF OLD HISTORY AND NEW EVIDENCE. BY COLIN TURNER

PHD Dissertation by the same title submitted at Loughborough University DATE 2009 SOURCE Courtesy of the Author

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A caricature of a sculptor PLEASE CITE THE PUBLISHED VERSION PUBLISHER Loughborough University LICENCE CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 REPOSITORY RECORD Turner, Colin. 2009. “A Caricature of a Sculptor”. Loughborough University. https://hdl.handle.net/2134/8139.

For my Parents

Christopher Turner and Constance Myfanwy Turner

A Caricature of a Sculptor Jacob Epstein and the British press: a critical analysis of history old and new evidence.

Colin Turner A Doctoral Thesis Submission in partial fulfilment of the for the award of requirements Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University

June 2009

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with how the press has an influence on the reputation and success of an artist.

It explores what factors are at work in

making a particular artist and his work the subject of so much press attention, including written reviews, photographs, cartoons and caricatures. Jacob Epstein was the recipient of an extraordinary amount of newspaper attention, from his first public work in 1908, through to his death in 1959, but there has not yet been any detailed analysis of what it was that made stories him his or sculptures such good copy. Some of his work was certainly about controversial, challenging many of the established standards of decency of the day, but as an American and a Jew he was also the victim of bias and prejudice.

Although a largely negative image was presented to the British

public through the newspapers, it is clear that Epstein managed to exploit the further his career through sales and commissions. to publicity This thesis is an evidence-based analysis of the existing, flawed history of one of the most interesting sculptors of the first half of the twentieth century, allied to an introduction of previously unpublished, or overlooked, written and visual Chapter evidence. one deals with the question of Epstein's race and how this became such an intrinsic element of the way he was perceived, both as an artist and, ultimately, as an Englishman.

To explain and illustrate the

exceptional prurient interest of the press and public, chapter two reports on a close critical examination of the physical features of his most newsworthy creations, highlighting the previously unmentionable detailing. Woven into the thesis, throughout the text, are a number of cartoons and caricatures, serving as visual evidence of the arguments being addressed, while the final chapter form the this and particular unique properties of of visual explores specifically in the their least through publication popular press. art, not

Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................... Preface ......................................................................................................... Introduction ...................................................................................................

iv V 1

Chapter One: The Question of Race 11 ...................................................... 1 The Jewish Stereotype 18 .1 ........................................... ......................... 1 Anti-Semitism 38 .2 ......................................................... ......................... Stereotypes in the Arts 1 46 .3 ........................................... ......................... 1 Assimilation 48 .4 ............................................................ ......................... The Jewish Artist 1 55 .5 .................................................... ......................... The Jewish Mark in Art 1 69 .6 ........................................... ......................... History & Timing 1 73 ..................................................... ......................... .7 Visibility and Image of Epstein and Jewish Artists 1 79 .8 .. ......................... 2

Chapter Two: Private Parts in Public Places 86 ........................................... The Artist who Desires to 8pater 2.1 90 ..................................................... The Tomb of Oscar Wilde 2.2 95 ................................................................ Adam 2.3 97 ............................................................................................... 2.4 The Strand Statues 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12

102 ....................................... ................................. The London Underground Building 113 ............... ................................. The Sun God and Primeval Gods 117 .................................................. The Rock Drill 118 ............................................... ................................. Jacob and the Angel 120 ...................................................................... The Hudson Memorial - Rima 122 ....................................................... Genesis 124 ...... .......... 126 The Jewish Mark? , ... ,...... ........ ...... 127 The Risen Christ ............................................................................

141 Chapter Three: Epstein Lampooned ..................................................... 145 Why Cartoons? 3.1 .............................................................................. 149

3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10

Context .......................................................................................... Definitions ...................................................................................... Cartoons and Art ............................................................................ Caricature Theory .......................................................................... Topicality and Ephemerality ........................................................... Jews, Stereotypes and Anti-Semitism ........................................... Targeting Epstein ........................................................................... Case Studies ................................................................................. Verse .............................................................................................

Conclusion Images

...................................................................................................

.........................................................................................................

Appendices

..................................................................................................

Bibliography .................................................................................................

157 160 163 169 176 180 189 204

211 218 316 320

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Loughborough University School of Art and Design for providing me with the funding to undertake this project. Throughout the research process I have received valuable assistance from a number of individuals, archives and libraries, and my thanks go to the staff at The Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, The British Cartoon Archive at the University of Kent, the Tate Britain Archive, the New York Public Library, The British Library Newspaper Archive, The Brotherton Collection at the University of Leeds, and especially to Heather Griffiths at Harewood House and Jo Digger and the staff at the New Art Gallery Walsall.

I was also fortunate

Manson, June Rose David time the to and spend some authors, enough with Their Kramer, Jacob Epstein respectively. and publishers of recent works on support, encouragement and hospitality was much appreciated. Special thanks go to my supervisor, Dr Anja Baumhoff, for her tireless this throughout project. support, guidance and encouragement

Preface

According to Charles Harrison 'modern art had been established as good " for the popular press by the first of [Roger] Fry's exhibitions, and it is copy evident that these exhibitions were a bold move to create sensational events in order to shake the art world in Britain into the twentieth century.

Logic

dictates that Fry would have needed the press to further his aims, since the press was clearly the most likely medium for the public to be made aware of modern art.

It was clearly the conduit through which information on major

being disseminated but to the the particular question events was public, (1880-1959) [Fig 1], focussed Jacob Epstein in is this thesis addressed on This fine interesting in the time. the the of art most characters world of one of in the is the the ways press and power of primarily concerned with research Epstein's What hindered have be it to artist. was an seen aided or which can his history how has impacted this the on and press, particular relationship with and reputation? The title of the thesis proposes that this is a 'caricature' of a sculptor. This is that the existing a carefully considered statement, essentially acknowledging history of Epstein is itself effectively something of a caricature, concentrating life, in his traits does it and and events on exaggeration of particular as his the balanced failing to or artist thereby portrait of present a rounded and literal the this thesis, throughout become time, At the clear as will same work. issues, his Epstein, to work and other related present use of caricature the been has in revealing the and most unexpected of one press, especially his his More than into investigation of the other artist any story. aspects of he that is of it something as perceived was widely clear quite now generation, first he the be that is true it but fun, one of can seen as also a figure of Evidently, this to the in was as celebrity culture. refer now we what characters his extraordinary of works art. of account on simply not

1 Harrison, Charles. English Art and Modernism 1900-1939. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1994, p 86 V

On the assumption that it is indisputable that the press itself contributes to making some artists more successful than others, what of its potential power and influence? According to RA Scott-James, writing in 1913, if the press is powerful it is as an aggregate, as a multitude of writings, each of small importance when taken by itself. It is in its vast bulk, its incessant repetitions, its routine utterance of truth and falsehood, its ubiquity, its permeation of the whole fabric of modern life, that the press, however blatant, rather conceals than reveals its insidious power of 2 suggestion. Earlier, the same author had likened the press to 'the [incessant] pattering of 3 down rain which wears rocks confirming this sense of the news media's forcing relentlessness, change by persistent repetition of the same views, and it is here that the power of the press is so significant.

He continued by

pointing out that the knowing [people] of the world have learnt that the press is a manifold engine for moulding, controlling, reforming, degrading, cajoling, or its it the the paper as eats great public reads coercing public, whilst 4 bread, without a thought of the mighty trick that is being played upon it. It is just a small step from acknowledging the potential influence of press in in the in to the particular. arts, power of press coverage general, coverage Indeed, shortly before Scott-James's publication, the art critic, C Lewis Hind (1862-1927) [Fig 2], remarking on the extended press coverage of Fry's first Post-Impressionist

in 1911 surprised, writing exhibition, seemed genuinely

that this whirl of argument had continued, [in the press] week by week, ever Why does What this the the should mean? exhibition. opening of since it Moreover, England? a mere picture exhibition stir phlegmatic art Why this in interested should art. stirred people who are not particularly is there Behind but the be There a be? movement one answer. can Mere the than the idea material. spiritual partaking more of purpose, an 5 lifted into larger a region. was picture-making here line is 'stirred important that the the people who are press Perhaps most ' in interested art. particularly not

Similarly, writing about Epstein's work in

2 Scott-James, RA. The Influence of the Press. London: Partridge & Co, 1913, p 27 3 Scott-James, ibid, p 13 4 Scott-James, ibid, pp 13-14 5 Lewis Hind, C. 'The Post Impressionists P 911]' in Bullen, JB [Ed]. Post-Impressionists in Routledge, York: 1988, New 189 London p and England.

1925, Hubert Wellington made the comment that 'we do not habitually oppose sculpture - we ignore it,v6so it is clear that there was a shift in interest in fine art, encouraged by regular press attention. Meanwhile, evidence can be found in the Observer where its critic, PG Konody (11872-1933), commented on Epstein's The Risen Christ (1919), noting that 'the real sensation was not the untraditional and debatable gaunt figure of Christ in his winding sheet, but the fact that the public had awakened to an appreciation of sculpture. P7 In each of these examples, the point is that the press was alert to the new phenomenon of the general public taking an interest in art in general, and sculpture in particular.

Newspapers were thus in a position to exploit and

influence this new interest by increasing the coverage afforded to art and artists. Bearing in mind the date of these remarks, it is reassuring that there 8 have are also relatively recent sources which recognised the same qualities. It is apparent that even though journalists were often not best suited to be commenting on the art of the day, the constant barrage of stories inevitably influenced the public. Epstein himself noted that 'under the title "Sacrilege

, the Daily Mirror started to influence public opinion. '9 Emphasising the point, 6 Wellington, Hubert. Contemporary British Artists: Jacob Epstein. London: Ernest Benn, 1925, p7 7 Cited from the Observer, 27th January 1924, p 8, in Silber, Evelyn. The Sculpture of Epstein: with a complete catalogue. Oxford: Phaidon, 1986, p 37 8 For example, Lisa Tickner agrees that "Futurism' in 1912 term an elastic - offered See for ' Tickner, Lisa. 'English topic popular satire. newspapers and entertainers a new modernism in the cultural field, ' in Peters Corbett, David and Lara Perry [Eds]. English Art 1860-1914: Modem Artists and Identity. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000, p 29. Anna Gruetzner Robins adds further weight to the perception of the impact of the press when she writes of 'the vivid iconography of modern art as constructed by the press.' Gruetzner Robins, Anna. Modem Art in Britain 1910-1914. (Exhibition Catalogue). London: Merrell Holberton in association with the Barbican Art Gallery, 1997, p 28. Juliet Steyn writes in Century [Twentieth discuss the 'will how which critics ways represented exhibition of she Art, at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1914] and argue that these not only articulated and installed dominant definitions of modern art in Britain but also replicated social categories.' Steyn, Juliet. 'Inside-Out: Assumptions of 'English' Modernism in the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, 1914', in Pointon, Marcia [Ed]. Art Apart: Art Institutions and Ideology Across England and North America. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994, p 221-213. Certainly, positive or negative critical appraisals could have a direct impact on visitor numbers Shone, by Richard illustrated who explains how a good review in The Times to exhibitions, as Fitzroy Square [i.e. the Omega workshops] in thise to the induce to visit customers 'did much Bloomsbury Richard. Portraits: Vanessa Shone, Bell, Duncan ' Grant Their and months. early Meanwhile 103. 1993, JB Bullen makes the telling observation Phaidon, London: p Circle. journals better the and newspapers rather than the specialist art journals quality 'it that was to the their directed exhibitions of modern art.' Bullen (1988), op cit, p6 attention readers' that 9 Epstein, Jacob. Let there be Sculpture: an Autobiography. New York: GP Putnam's Sons, 1940, p 325

vii

Wilson Harris states quite clearly that 'through the papers [everyone] form[s] their estimates [ ] to a large extent of current literature and art"O before he ... later acknowledges that 'most men must confess themselves to be largely blank in the matter of music or art, ý11implying that any opinion on the arts, informed or otherwise, could readily be impressed on a large part of the public, through the medium of the popular press. Surely the most tangible power of the press, insofar as its relationship with the arts was concerned, was that it could impact ultimately on the audience figures or encourage new business, and this is nicely illustrated in a case cited by Evelyn Silber, the pre-eminent scholar of Epstein. She explains how one ordinary citizen 'decided to go and see for herself what the recent hullabaloo in the newspapers was about [and she then] became a dedicated 12 Silber asserts that this individual then went on to admirer [of Epstein]. it Although just Epstein's bronzes. it is one minor example, purchase one of does indicate that there was a concrete connection between press publicity, (however bad it may be), sales and success.

10Harris, Wilson. The Daily Press. London: Cambridge University Press, 1943, pp 1-2 Harris, ibid, p 94 12 Silber, Evelyn. 'Epstein and his Patrons,' in Silber, Evelyn and Terry Friedman [Eds]. Leeds: The Drawings. Henry Centre Moore for Study Sculpture the Epstein: and of Jacob Sculpture, 1987, p4 viii

Introduction He took the brickbats, he took the insults, he faced the howls of derision [ ] and as far as sculpture in this century is concerned, he took them ... first. Henry Moore (1959) 13 I question whether any great artist of our time or of any time has been so 14 Cecil Jacob Epstein. Gray (1948) consistently maligned or vilified as He became the most vilified artist of the century, the subject of every kind of abuse from malicious rumour-mongering to the ridicule and 15 his Stephen Gardiner (1992) vandalism of sculpture. I never met any artist whose work was so continuously abused as Jacob Epstein's was, but his faith in himself and his work was unlimited. The continuous hostility of the popular press is difficult to explain. Abuse went on for most of his life. Oliver Brown (194816 This small sample of quotations is a typical example of the type of comments made about Jacob Epstein.

It remains puzzling, therefore, that an artist,

become hated, have so apparently so reviled, criticised and shunned, should well known and so successful.

Why was he commissioned for so many

he for is now remembered, albeit such major public works, why portraits and factors that British the fringes the were at and what were of modernism, on headlines? him the in to newspaper make allowing work Looking at Epstein's oeuvre, some fifty years after his death, initially it is very difficult to understand or even imagine how he achieved such a prominent Having now undertaken a sustained period of research, one of press profile. the most interesting facets to have emerged from Epstein's story is that his in his then, him throughout spite of a major career, reputation grew with

13 Moore, Henry. 'Obituary. Jacob Epstein (1880-1959).' The Sunday Times, 23rd August Tate (1986), in Cork, Richard. Jacob Epstein. London: Silber by p9 and 1959. Also cited Gallery Publishing, 1999, p9 14Cited in Gardiner, Stephen. Epstein: Artist Against the Establishment. London: Flamingo, 1993, p 209 15 Gardiner, ibid, p2 16 Brown, Oliver. Exhibition: The Memoirs of Oliver Brown. London: Evelyn, Adams & further A 140. 1968, wide selection of quotations, repeating or echoing these can p Mackay, A Appendix in found be 1

17 in Edinburgh death it virtually retrospective in 1961, just two years after his , died with him, only to be revived almost thirty years later. In order to understand the curious course of his career and reputation, it soon became clear that an investigation into his relationship with the newspapers was necessary, not least because an overarching concern with his press coverage is clearly evident both in Epstein's autobiography,

and in the existing

published texts dealing with his history. It has also become clear that Epstein himself had an extraordinary and exceptional interest in the power of the newspapers, as far as their influence and impact on his reputation was concerned. The focus of attention in this research is on the factors that were at work in making Epstein such good copy for the newspapers. From the beginning, the dominant theme driving this research has been the part played by the British press in helping or hindering the success of Epstein's career.

This particular angle of investigation came directly after a

first reading of his autobiography, which has an undeniably excessive and 18 Undoubtedly, with exceptional reliance on press reports and comment. regard to his public profile, Epstein was particularly fortunate, because from his earliest public commission, he was made known to a wide audience through the pages of the British newspapers. Furthermore, as a sculptor, his 17Some of the critical responses to the 1961 exhibition were less than favourable. According to Silber, he was 'relegated to the minor leagues of art history, written off as a belated Romantic or Jewish expressionist, and thus as 'a very old-fashioned sculptor indeed, picking up influences when other European sculptors had laid them to rest forever.' Douglas Cooper, the great authority on Cubism, was still more crushing: 'Was Epstein a great sculptor? The ... Why? Because Epstein's is "No". is the it to sculpture unequivocally me, answer, seems full his because it lacks depth, make and proper of medium, not use work of a man who could because he little it is by invention, marred cheap effects achieved more and strength and ... than high relief. ' Silber (1986), op cit, p9 (citing A Brookner and D Cooper). In addition to the 1961 exhibition, Stephen Gardiner claimed that 'many felt [ ... ] that his centenary exhibition at the Tate Gallery in 1980, shown in a corridor with only thirteen pieces on display, was a Gardiner, ' 479. A decline insult to op artist. cit, p similar case of and neglect great a singular is evident in the case of Augustus John. His biographer notes that 'John's work, blown here fall history, the to by and conventional criticism there art off map appeared contemporary and from Royal Academy the Twentieth 'British Art in the it 1987 in omitted exhibition was when Century: the Modern Movement'. This technical knockout, unthinkable in the first half of this difficulty historians have the individual treating talents critics and when emphasized century, ' See Holroyd, ideological Michael. fit into Augustus John. or narrative patterns. do that not 1996, Windus, & Chatto p xxxii London: 18 It merits emphasising that there are some 104 quotations from newspapers and journals, from four This from is from taken 1942 the other sources. citations a count additional an and be Sculpture: Jacob. Let there The Epstein, Autobiography See Jacob Epstein. of edition. Ltd (by Michael Union Joseph), 1942 Readers arrangement with London: 2

work was located in public areas where it could be readily seen by a curious, prurient, public; indeed, a public which had been encouraged to go and see the works for themselves, invariably prompted by sensationalist newspaper headlines. The sites of some of his public sculptures means that they remain highly visible to this day, such that, as a figure in 20th-century British art history, he is still impossible to ignore. In London there are the remains of his work on a building at the junction of the Strand and Agar Street, and there are two huge figures on the London Transport headquarters; there is the infamous memorial to Hudson in Hyde Park, and not far away, the large Bowater House bronze. There is also the Madonna and Child (1950-52) on the convent group in Cavendish Square, and in Cardiff and Coventry there are major works at the cities' cathedrals.

Liverpool has a large work on Lewis's department

store, while outside of Britain, there are major publicly accessible works in the cities of Paris and Philadelphia. Although many artists have a close interest in their relationship with the be doubt in that the the there of newspapers can no role printed media, Epstein's career is especially noteworthy, and it is not difficult to deduce that his early experiences of press controversy in London drew his attention to the his level throughout the for rest of attention of attracting an exceptional means Epstein had Gardiner, the Stephen that His biographer, young claims career. The from in America 'articles in deal of publicity already enjoyed a good Bookman, The Critic, the Boston Transcript, the Evening Post and other periodicals

[which]

brought

[him] a considerable

commission

of eight

drawings. '19 This was an early indicator to the young sculptor, that press invaluable inevitable means of attracting attention and and publicity was an commissions.

In London, following the unveiling of his first major commission,

he soon learnt that large numbers of people were being charged to view his Association from British Medical the the from street premises across work Cork, historian, Richard the Strand, The suggests and although art building on 20 humiliation as a result of this experience, yet there that Epstein suffered 19Gardiner, op cit, p 21 20 Cork, Richard. Art Beyond the Gallery in Early 20th Century England. New Haven and Cork's 29. Press, 1985, is University that 'his humiliation should Yale p assumption London:

must be some acknowledgement that this episode indicated to Epstein exactly what attracted the attention of the press and the public in London at that time. From that point he became increasingly concerned, if not obsessed, with his press profile, making ample use of free publicity opportunities; early negative experiences of 'bad press' showed how public interest was aroused. Indeed, history shows that Epstein's early understanding of the power of the press be in doubt. Direct evidence of this may be found in comments from cannot Charles Holden's unpublished writing, dating from 1940, where he states that 'I was well aware [

] of [Epstein's] strange suspicious nature and his now

... familiar publicity formula but these are things which, being part of this man of 21 be Holden further asserted that '[Epstein] knows genius, must accepted ., how to get publicity whenever he wants it.,22 Now, some recently uncovered information adds an extra piquancy to Holden's observation; in a letter Epstein wrote to his friend and supporter (coincidentally, the rather prophetically 23) in 1901, while he was still a young man, away from his named H Moore New York home and working as a farm-hand near Boston, he commented that: this week I received [a letter] from one Mary B McLean who wished to "boom" me (and eventually to earn a few dollars for herself) in the N[ew] Y[ork] Tribune. But I am not on the look out for "booms" just now and for (if be be long I I I I time think that at glad not a ever will all). am will 24 done am with that sort of thing. Should there be any doubt, this indicates that from an early age, even before he his was well aware of the potential career as a sculptor, embarking on financial advantages offered by press coverage. Meanwhile, Gardiner claims that 'the reference to a "publicity formula" displayed ignorance on Holden's brought his through didn't Epstein publicity rather, publicity work seek part. -

it is just ' Epstein has that be surely although an assumption, since not underestimated, not to such an emotion admitted 21 See Gardiner, op cit, p 89 22See Silber, Evelyn. 'Epstein in Person', in Silber and Friedman, op cit, p3 23 Helen Moore 'was one of the first social workers to aid immigrant families in New York Citys slums. ' See the unidentified newspaper cutting dated August 1954, in the archive of (NAGW). Note Walsall that the papers are held in one large box, and Gallery, Art New the they in logical few there are nor catalogued, any or order, although are a are not numbered identifying some subject areas notes 20th 24 January 1901, (NAGW) See letter to Miss Helen Moore, dated

its originality. 25 Arguably, this is Gardiner himself showing his ignorance of the rather intimate detailing of Epstein's more controversial works, but also of his naivety, and his consistent failure to see Epstein as anything other than an innocent victim of prejudice and jealousy. This research has focussed on an examination of primary and secondary sources, with the introduction in the thesis of previously unpublished evidence wherever appropriate.

It also includes many examples of minor and perhaps

not immediately obvious, but still relevant, items of evidence, such as extracts from novels, details of military service and more general themes from the history of Jews in Britain, in the hope that this will allow the reader to appreciate their influence on those who were exposed to them at the time. The history of Epstein, as it has been written in the latter part of the 20th Century, tends to focus on the controversy, so this thesis aims to unpick and illustrate the primary evidence in order to understand and develop the recurring themes of bias and prejudice. Although there is no space here for a formal literature review, an extensive be body has been included in the and main of the evaluation undertaken will text.

There is, however,

one particular

because has it appeared simply

text to acknowledge

at this point,

since the beginning of this project, and as

Juliet Steyn's article 'Jacob Epstein, 'the artist 26 Journal Third TeXt. The 6pater, 31 in text desires the to was published who recently as November 2005.

presents

a strong emphasis

fact Epstein Jew, that the was a with the on

the text, along with the 27 It inside. 'always the Epstein that even when also on outside was notion

question of race and religion appearing

addresses

throughout

being issues the considered many of

in this thesis, and to that

for 'the text, it is mentioning example meddlesome supporting a useful extent Roger Fry' and the way that the press 'produces

and mediates

[

...

] the

Gardiner, op cit, p 89 26It is not clear why Steyn was inspired or commissioned to write this piece, as it doesn't add history; his the to there factual For information on contrary, are even some errors. any new four (it had he five) he that that discharged from children was and states was she example, Steyn, Juliet. (it 1918). 'Jacob Epstein, Artist 'the 1917 in was who desires to the army November Vol Issue 6, 2005, 19, 665 Text, 675 Third " pp and respectively epSater. 2 2 teyn (6-pater),ibid, p 661 5

28 However, the text does not address normative values of society. adequately the article's theme, as suggested by the subheading, but simply provides a brief potted history of the man whose 'work is perpetually on the border', 'outside the inside' and 'too close for comfort but not close enough. 29 Irrespective of the shortcomings and vagaries, it is most significant that it appeared in a journal in 2005, re-affirming a continuing interest in Epstein, and reinforcing the notion that he was intent on shocking the public through his work, and thereby attracting ongoing newspaper attention. Before moving on to the main argument, there is some revealing new illustrating the strength of the foundation on which underlining and evidence, the thesis is built; namely, that Epstein and the press were inextricably linked. Firstly, in the Walsall Gallery archive, there is an unpublished draft letter (presumably intended for his publisher3o), in which Epstein wrote that: to characterise my book as a catalogue of Mr Epstein's controversies biased My book is the newspapers a most unfair remark. with would not be anything but an exposition of a sculptor's life from the inside with his failures [and] and is a complete picture of the aspirations, achievements, 31 sculptor today. Further comments from the same draft letter are equally revealing.

Firstly,

there had obviously been specific adverse comment about the amount of I Epstein because that his in confirms manuscript, press comment quoted have endeavoured to meet the objection to the inclusion of printed matter by 32 transferring some pages to the appendix, and secondly, he continues that 'in the matter of libel, the few offending passages (if they are offensive) could 33 [Fig 3]. that A legal be point, opinion could easily settle changed. easily These lines leave no doubt as to the importance of the press in Epstein's

28Steyn (6pater), ibid, p 667 29See Steyn (6pater), ibid, p 673 30A draft of this letter is with his manuscript notes in the NAGW. It is clear that this page of letter his draft to indicate because is the of a three publisher, a comments others, notes, and Epstein 'I to the text. in review a pre-publication of it continued: expect that response was but have before to it book is the is criticism, published strong a strange even criticism, and I do not find your reviewers criticisms helpful. ' See the is that trouble The experience. NAGW in the papers archive 31

Archive, NAGW 32 Archive, NAGW 33 Archive, NAGW

story, and they encapsulate two underlying aspects of his case about which, up until now, it has only been possible to make assumptions; that is, that he was certainly aware of an over-dependence

on press comment in his

autobiography, and that he was especially fearful of the libel laws, meaning that his book was not as frank and revealing as it might otherwise have been. Furthermore,

Epstein's protests here are disingenuous,

as it is clearly

ridiculous for him to suggest that his book 'is a complete picture'.

Surely,

the press controversies there would be very little of substance in his without book, so it is clear that Epstein's press profile, indeed his celebrity, was one of the key defining factors in his success as an artist. On a purely practical level, there were so many articles and letters quoted in his autobiography, illustrating the controversies of his career up to the point of writing the book, that he must have had them close to hand while he was actually drafting and From another item of new evidence, also found in the Walsall archive, writing. it is also now clear that Epstein certainly made use of a press cuttings agency, much the same as many other artists, writers, actors, etc.

Included with

Epstein's handwritten manuscript notes, there is one odd piece of paper, which is a different size and colour to all of the others. It still has Epstein's handwriting in pencil, revealing nothing particularly extraordinary, but on the becomes it other side apparent that this is a rather revealing piece of paper. The note is written on the back of subscription application for Durrant's Press Cuttings and includes a handwritten order, in ink, for 'Newspaper Cuttings Mrs Epstein's hand. in Drawings"', "Myself to probably and relating

It is

date is there Epstein's no on the order, although on writing and certainly not the back there is what appears to be a date of 1939, which fits with the time his drafting Epstein autobiography, was when

nor has the rest of the

document been completed with the details of a name and address. Clearly, it is reasonable to assume that a completed subscription form, if any, would have been sent to Durrant's. This find is interesting for at least two reasons. Firstly, the very existence of a press Cuttings agency at the time, speaks of kind for this demand of service, and secondly, it shows that Epstein was the 34 kind This of service and was certainly a subscriber. familiar with this

34 One incontrovertible piece of evidence confirming the collection of articles of newspaper 7

indicates that he was concerned to know what was being written about him in the press, but that he clearly did not have the time nor the inclination to take a wide number of newspapers, if any, in order to keep up to date with the deta ilS.35 Clearly, the fact that Epstein collected cuttings is, not of itself unusual or exceptional, but it does confirm his close attention to what was being printed about him and his work. Confirming this assertion, and to set the tone for the remainder of the thesis, cartoon evidence is available in a pair of drawings to illustrate the phenomenon. The first example is a caricature of George Bernard Shaw shown studying his press Cutting slips [Fig 4], while a second cartoon [Fig 5] illustrates a cynical view of the press cuttings agency, when a man explains to his daughter that the agency is 'an institution, my dear, that sends one hundred and twenty-five insults for a guinea. 36 The structure of the thesis has been designed to make a direct response to some specific published material, having taking its cues from what are hagiographical texts, and the widespread failure of their authors to essentially fully the specifically controversial details of so many of address and analyse Epstein's works.

The aim is to present additional evidence and to improve

coverage is that, in a bank book, which belonged to Mrs Margaret Epstein, there are two entries dating from 1911 and 1912, which log the payment of one guinea to Romeike and th Curtice, a very well-known press cutting agency of the period. Entries dated 18 December 1911 and 25thSeptember 1912. See the document in the Tate Archive, ref: TGA 901.7 35 He did tell Arnold Haskell that 'I always read the papers.' See Haskell, Arnold. The Sculptor Speaks. Jacob Epstein to Arnold L Haskell: A Series of Conversations on Art. London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1931, p 98. Unfortunately, this particular find does not help with the pre-war analysis, but as the subscription document states that the agency was established in 1880, this does indicate that a demand for their services existed to a greater or lesser extent between 1880 and 1939. Following a visit to Durrant's it has now become clear that the phenomenon of the Press Cutting agency was well established, even at the end of the nineteenth century. Evidently, the practice of collecting press cuttings was very common. Stephen Gardiner (who knew Epstein personally) mentions that 'newspaper clippings about Night and Day filled three trunks at Hyde Park Gate by the time the outcry eventually died down' and that there were 'trunkloads of a lifetime of reviews' in Epstein's house. Gardiner, [ ]a he 'carefully Haskell Arnold that 441. 305 sifted mass of vast wrote and op cit, pp ... full, Day. (1931), Night ' Haskell to three trunks referring and op actually newspaper clippings, in Roger Berthoud's biography Henry Moore, that the It is 49. out of pointing worth also cit, p Moore his help he in that the and of wife, noting particular was allowed author acknowledged See ' Berthoud, Roger. The Life Henry thousands 'to newspaper cuttings. of of many access Moore. London and Boston: Faber and Faber, 1987, p 10. He also added that he was filing from in 'some to cabinets of newspaper eighteen cuttings, sent all over allowed access Berthoud, ibid, ' by p 16. Terry Friedman records that 'from the agencies. the world cuttings his ' Friedman, too, Terry. Moore, clippings press collected concerning work. mid-twenties 280, Friedman, Silber " in op cit, p and n1 "Epsteinism, 36 The cartoon is by John Hassall in The Sketch, 18 November 1903. The same line is dated 29th January Evans in 1921 from John OLondon's Howel Weekly by an article repeated 8

upon that which has gone before, and the analysis has been specifically inspired by three particular sources, ranging from an exploratory essay on Epstein's race, through a bizarrely comic television programme made in 1973 and finally on to a purely graphic essay featuring a number of cartoons and caricatures of the man and his work. Taking as its starting point, Elizabeth Barker's essay, The Primitive Within. The Question of Race in Epstein's Career 1917-1929, the opening chapter will Britain the Jews in in order to try to develop an consider subject of Epstein, he have this to of understanding what meant why might perceived it factor in his difference it made to journalists, relationship with and what as a his attitude towards making art in Britain. This will give an illustration of the form Britain Jews, in to take the towards prejudice and with regard will climate held, in identifying the a period which spans range of perceptions of fifty Epstein's in Britain fifty before after arrival years and years approximately in 1905. Matters impacting on prejudice towards, and perceptions of Jewish discussion include this be the of several will examined and artists, will Jewish Jewish including: issues, artists, stereotypes, anti-Semitism, pertinent identity, Jewish identification, and attempts to disguise or prevent such identification, the Jewish mark in art, assimilation, the specific historical Jewish image the the finally, the of visibility and question of context and, Jews in held image This of will give a picture of what was a widely artists. Britain at the time that Jacob Epstein, and his Jewish contemporaries, were the living battling to relate as serious artists and will make a working and findings back to Epstein's specific experience. Chapter two will examine the specific details of his work, which were arguably for the directly negative press reception and criticism, since responsible most is a clear cause and effect relationship to be addressed and form Parts Private in Public Places, itself taken The title a acknowledged.

there

television documentary

made in 1973, is an apposite description of the

insistence Epstein's in on emphasising specific elements of of view problem, his This of most on some visible chapter works. will genitalia and nudity to his he to able that and exploit willing outsider was status challenge illustrate 9

British standards of acceptability, taste and decency, in public works of art. At the same time, this will be considered in relation to Modernism itself, and not only in terms of a biographical interpretation. The final chapter will concentrate on matters of a visual interpretation of his image, analysing how he was depicted and lampooned in the press and elsewhere, with particular reference to the large number of photographs, cartoons, caricatures and examples of verse, in order to reveal how he was identified as an artist, as an outsider, as a foreigner and as a Jew. Analysis the items that explicit of perception of show such give a more version will Epstein, but also that they demonstrate first-hand evidence of the social and cultural climate in Britain at the time.

Examples and case studies will be

developed to confirm the findings of the introduction and the first two chapters.

Chapter One: The Question of Race

Since the late 1980s, scholars and researchers have begun to reconsider the life and work of Jacob Epstein, and one of the central areas of interest is that his of race. In the catalogue for the major retrospective of Epstein's work in 1987, Elizabeth Barker's essay, The Primitive Within. The Question of Race in Epstein's Career 1917-1929, began to explore the subject of Epstein's racial identity. This chapter will develop and explore the same theme, without the constraints of the limited time period. According to Evelyn Silber, Jacob Epstein was the 'scapegoat for modern

37 In he to the addition art. actual work produced, exhibited and sold, there were other matters which contributed to this description of him as the scapegoat,and the primary reason was that he was an outsider; he was an Americanand a Jew. The content of this chapterwill be structuredto analyse the major factors linking the public reception of the artist and his work, his Britishness and his Jewishness,with additional attention to the fact that he was born in America. There were many so-called modern artists working in Britain at the same time as Jacob Epstein, some producing much more challenging, much more avantit in term the the 'futurist' of as was used at sense art, garde work, much more the time, so what made him the scapegoat? The problem with Silbers epithet is that Epstein first found his way into the headlines a couple of years before Britain was introduced seriously to modern art, through the first PostImpressionist Exhibition staged by Roger Fry [Figs 6 and 7] in 1910. It is the the that therefore, problems art not at very perceived of modern was clear,

37Silber (1986), op cit, p 10. The term is also used by Gilbert, Christopher et al. 'Foreword' in Silber and Friedman, op cit, no page number, and also by Friedman ('Epsteinism') in Silber Gaunt William In 1932, in The Studio 35. Epstein 'it that wrote p Friedman, makes cit, op and ' Cited Rose, in June. Daemons and Angels. for the movement. modern whole the scapegoat Constable Robinson, London: 2002, p 178. Gardiner also used Epstein. Jacob and A Life of English 'as the Epstein that of embodiment modern art, was the perfect term, the stating POsflMoming For like the those ' he it. [for wanting a scapegoat, was target right-wingers Gardiner, op cit, p 246 11

root of his negative publicity.

In fact, the controversy over Epstein's Strand

Statues began in the summer of 1908, and exceptional press attention then followed Epstein for the next fifty-one years until his death in 1959. It is indisputable that he was sometimes a difficult man to deal with, and that there were certain sensational episodes in his personal life, and thereby he was fair game for a conservative but aggressive press, which was looking for an excuse to blame someone for what it saw as degenerate and subversive art, capable of corrupting the nation's moral standards.

Of course, there is

sufficient evidence in place to indicate that a widespread general anti-Jewish prejudice was quite commonplace in Britain, at least until after the Second World War, so it follows that modern artists who also happened to be Jews had to overcome

greater levels of negative attention than their native

in in the press. the they contemporaries, particularly way were represented It is clear that, with few exceptions, there is little comment in print which deals directly with aspects of an anti-Semitic bias specifically relating to Epstein, however, when Barker opened the debate about race in Epstein's early 38 'the ideas is her that overtly racist remarks most significant career, one of Twenties, in in the Epstein's many respects, are, art and official censorship of less disturbing than the so-called 'disinterested', purely aesthetic, responses 39 She clarifies this with the assertion that to his sculpture. it is only when one considers the more extreme vocabulary and ideological background of British anti-Semitism during the Twenties that the racist implications of this genteel practice of art criticism becomes Epstein's descriptions post-War art as of apparent and recurrent 'instinctive', 'tragic', 'idiosyncratic', 'eclectic', 'expressionist', 'Romantic', 40 'Oriental', 'Eastern' and 'primitive' are revealed as loaded terms. 38 Unfortunately, she didn't complete her research so there is no thesis to draw on, and it is (now known Barker develop. Attempts to to her as how known persuade was argument not far have discuss her Education, London) for Christie's to so work Lizzie Perrotte, and working ? roved unsuccessful 9 Barker, Elizabeth. 'The Primitive Within. The Question of Race in Epstein's Career 1917Todd Endelman to 44. In Friedman, Silber refers p a ' op cit, similar argument, in 1929, and felt Wolfe 'the English "easy that too Humbert going and good who were the poet and critic ' [which] to their extremes anti-Semitism to only made matters worse. humoured" carry in English Assimilation Jewish Bloomington History, 1656-1945. Radical M. Todd Endelman, Press, 1990, He lack University 129. Wolfe's that Indiana p also adds of Indianapolis: and his Jewishness in for lack difficult him to 'withstand it faith his pride of made in and security (1990), Endelman ibid ' different. being ýhis] sense of 0 Barker (Primitive), op cit, p 44. In a nice example, in 1917 the Chief Constable of Leeds in letter Hebrew to the Home Office concerning youth the 'those persuasion' a to of referred

A second observation in Barkers essay has a direct relevance to this study as

it identifies the very cause of the general dissemination of biased reviews. She points out that whilst the more extreme anti-Semitic outbursts and acts of vandalism against Epstein's sculpture were widely condemned as alien to the British tradition of toleration and moderate behaviour, deviations from this norm of toleration, in the form of verbal assaults, gained wide 41 through the popular press and respectable art criticism. publicity Barker also points to the fact that 'identification of Jews and Bolsheviks, popular in the British press [ ... ] intensified the belief that Jewish immigrants

dangerous force were a within the nation,P42 and a further reference describes 43 Isensation-seeking press articles. It is these direct links with the popular press, which stand out as the key issue, particularly with their additional association with respectable art criticism.

How significant was the influence

delivered it the the through the press? and on artists public, as was With regard to the source and locations of publicity, in spite of the wide lesser form it is journalism is that clear as a of writing, recognised recognition that its influence on the art market cannot be discounted.

Furthermore, in

is there to the columnist, also the case regular newspaper reporter or addition key the indeed, (art) to the critic of one art and critic consider, specialist of from 'insects Nietzsche, that the not sting, who wrote example of period cited It is live. the to because too, but they, same with our critics want malice, 44 It is clear from this statement that there they desire our blood, not our pain. is an inevitable symbiotic relationship between artist and critic. On a similar theme, according to the art historian, Herbert Read, (described by Penelope disturbances in his city. See Holmes, Colin. 'The Myth of Fairness. Racial Violence in Britain, 1911-19.' History Today. October 1985, Vol 35, p 44 41Barker (Primitive), op cit,p 44 42 Barker (Primitive), ibid, p 46. Notably, Endelman asserts that 'the various communist East End London in interwar in the the of period contained that operated groups ' Endelman Jews. (1990), It 189. is there that large of op cit, p clear numbers conspicuously Bomberg described by Richard Cork. and communism, with as connection was a short-lived London & New Bornberg. Haven: Yale University Press, 1987, pp David Richard. See Cork, 196-202 4313arker(Primitive), op cit, p 46 "Quoted by Ludovici in Ludovici, Anthony M. 'Art. An Open Letter to my Friends.' The New st 278 January 1914, 9,1 No. XIV, p Age, Vol. 13

Curtis as 'the pre-eminent 45) period

international

art critic of the immediate

post-war

the contemporary artist must form the taste and recruit the public (through the intermediary of the art critic, in himself a modern phenomenon) on whose patronage he will then depend. The modem artist is miserably dependent on the media of publicity. That is his deepest humiliation. 46 In view of the influence of the likes of Herbert Read, here it should be stressed that, compared to his most significant contemporary, Henry Moore (1898-1986) [Fig 8], Epstein was at a distinct disadvantage. In fact, Read has written of how 'I have had the privilege [ ... ] of a long and close friendship with

[Moore],Y47whereas, by comparison, the two notable early supporters of Epstein, TE Hulme (1883-1917)and RH Wilenski (1887-1975),were destined 48 Curtis Penelope have his impact to also such a significant on reputation. not raises the issue of writers and their support for artists, but in this case she he Epstein, in the as shifted shift emphasis on makes an observation about from carved to modelledwork. She states how Charles Harrison importance in the importance the of establishing of writers emphasized direct carving (singling out Hulme for Epstein and Pound for Gaudier), Wilenski, through the that, among others, of writings and stresses Epstein's modernism was seen to reside entirely in his carved work. On the other hand, Harrison pointed out, by the time Epstein was published in monographic form, his writers concentrated on the modelled work 49 dominated the post-war period. which Thus, the critics and newspaper reporters are an essential and unavoidable between form bridge helping to life the in the artist a modern artist, of element and patron or customer.

45 Curtis, Penelope. 'How Direct Carving Stole the Idea of Modern British Sculpture, ' in Getsy, David [Ed]. Sculpture and the Pursuit of a Modem Ideal in Britain, c. 1880-1930. Aldershot: Ashgate, p 300 46 Read, Herbert. 'The Modern Epoch in Art' in Read, Herbert. The Philosophy of Modem Faber, 1964, Faber 18 London: Essays. p and Art: Collected 47 Read, Herbert. Henry Moore: A Study of His Life and Work. London: Thames and Hudson, 1965, p7 48 Hulme was killed during the First World War and Wilenski 'conceded leadership of the New Causey, See Andrew. ' Read. 'RH Wilenski The Meaning to [criticism] and of Sculpture Ideal), (Modern Getsy 2004, See 279. below ' in op cit, Sculpture, p also comments Modem Jewishness Wilenski's to pertaining 49Curtis (Modern British Sculpture), in Getsy (Modern Ideal), ibid, p 302

Barker's fourth mention of the press identifies how 'the affiliation established between Einstein and Epstein in the popular press provides one example of the way Jewish identity was used as a counterpoint to the idea of British character50 [Fig 9]. In addition to this cartoon by David Low, featuring the sculptor and the scientist, a limerick dating from around the time of the unveiling of the Hudson Memorial (1925) furore stands as a good illustration here. According to Richard Cork, the rhyme is as follows: I don't like the family Stein. There is Gert, there is Ep, there is Ein. Gert's writings are punk, Ep's statues are junk, Nor can anyone understand Ein. 51 50Barker (Primitive), op cit, p 45 51 This is accredited to 'an outspoken yet anonymous versifier, who announced [it] in a celebrated fit of spleen' according to Cork (ABG), op cit, p 250. Richard Cork has advised me that he had no specific source but that 'it was a much-quoted popular rhyrne.' Email dated th 20 October 2006. How could he say that it was announced in 'a celebrated fit of spleen' if he doesn't know the source? It has also been quoted in 'Epstein Lampooned' in Silber and Friedman, op cit, p 73 and Rose, op cit, p xviii. See also Byron, Arthur. London Statues. th Time Out (London), 5 August 1987, no page number. London: Constable, 1981, p 396 and (Copy in the Whitechapel Gallery archive). A slightly different version was quoted in Time Magazine, just after Epstein's death, as follows: There's a wonderful family called Stein There's Gert and there's Ep and there's Ein Gert's poems are bunk Ep's statues are punk And no one can understand Ein. See 'Volcanic Knight' in Time Magazine, 31st August 1959. Six years earlier, yet another differences: The Daily Mirror in the minor with printed rhyme was version of What a curious family is Stein There's Gert and there's Ep and there's Ein Gert's poems are bunk Ep's statues are junk And nobody understands Ein th See Whitcomb, Noel. 'It's a Regular Frame-up.' The Daily Mirror. 15 September 1953, p 2. In 1987 an alternative version appeared in The Standard: There's a notable family named Stein There's Gert and there's Ep and there's Ein Gert's prose is all bunk Ep's sculpture just junk And nobody understands Ein th June 1987, Standard. 25 The Waist. ' Below View. Life the 'Personal no Paul. See Barker, Whitechapel Gallery in the (Copy archive) page number. biography: Rose's June in different A final example, once again, slightly appeared a review of / don't like the family Stein, Ep, Ein. is is there there Gert, is There Gert's writings are punk, Ep Is statues are junk, Ein And no one can understand Smell Success 'The [A Life Daemons Angels: Stephen. of of Bayley, review of and a See th The Observer. 14 July 2002. hftp:// Epstein] Jacob .' th highereducation, February 8 2009 uk/books/2002/J*ul/14/biography. co. viewed www. guardian. 15

Surely

the fact that the rhyme is known in so many versions

significant

is itself a

indicator of the level of interest in, and attention to, anti-Jewish

feeling at the time. the sculptor

On a similar theme, Haskell, illustrating the link between

and the scientist,

includes

a contemporaneous

press cutting

which stated that: 'it was Lord Darling when on the Bench who declared that he always confused Epstein and Einstein -I he said. 52

know they both misuse figures,

In addition to Barkers introductory essay, the most significant factor for this research was that it was Jacob Epstein himself who can now be shown to have made a direct connection between his treatment by the press and his Jewishness; in fact he made the direct connection with anti-Semitism. 53 In previously unpublished evidence in the archive at the New Art Gallery, Walsall, there are documents [Figs 10 and 11] which, at the very least, introduce the idea that Epstein's race or religion was at the centre of his 54 Here is a direct association between the press, publicity and antistory. 52The cutting is from the Children's Newspaper, 15thJune 1929. See Haskell (1931), op cit, p 56. This is also cited in Silber and Friedman, op cit, p 282. Haskell also recounts the story of a city mayor having introduced Epstein as Sir Jacob Einstein. Haskell, Arnold. Balletomane at Large. London: Heinemann, 1972, p 62 53 It is clearly necessary to take care when making assumptions about apparent racial bias. In the introduction to his Thesis, Peter Gross asserts that 'the history of the English Jewry [ ] ... has become an arena of heated debate among contemporary historians' and continues by pointing out that 'Rubinstein has presented a[... ] revisionist view [ ... ] suggesting that some of his contemporaries are wilfully finding reds (or anti-Semites) under every bed.' Gross, Peter. 'Representations of Jews and Jewishness in English Painting 1887-1914.' Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Leeds, 2004, p 13. In The Theory of the Avant-Garde, Renato Poggioli made a similar general argument, stating that 'the proverb says, "one finds what one looks for, " and nothing is easier to find than an enemy, even if you do not go far to look.' Poggioli, Renato [Trans. by Gerald Fitzgerald]. The Theory of the Avant-Garde [1962]. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1968, p 34 54 The New Art Gallery, Walsall, holds the manuscript of his autobiography, on which he worked in 1939/40. It comprises his handwritten text, along with a typed version, which has been annotated by a proofreader (and/or an editor). Many of the correction notes simply amend the text to American English and it is now clear that the edition first published in the United States in 1940 is different to the British version. The manuscript copy of the contents from that in Britain differs which significantly was published and, most tellingly, the page (XIX) titled 'Journalists 19 Jew. Dog Eats Dog, the but this became was and chapter original Publicity' followed 'Journalists by 25, 'Dog Eats Dog' The actual 24, and chapter chapter , typed manuscript for chapter 19 is headed 'Journalists and Publicity but it also has a handwritten addition (in ink) of the words 'and anti-Semitism' although these words and 'Publicity' have all been crossed out and the words 'The Jew. Dog Eats Dog' have been The the text. in this has original above second the sub-heading page pencil of chapter written Anti-Sernitism'but this is absent from the text published in Britain. Each of these examples 16

Semitic racism, and a simple assumption extrapolated from these three subjects suggests that Epstein felt disadvantaged

in terms of his press

coverage as a direct consequence of his Jewishness.

Furthermore, the even

more specific

connection

between journalists made

and anti-Semitism,

apparently suggested as the original title for the chapter, leaves no doubt about the nature of the connection between journalists and Jews. A final connection may be drawn from the original combination of the two chapters Joumalists and the Jew with Dog Eats Dog. This latter chapter constitutes an 55 Epstein 'the in which attack on what called artist turned critic and publicist, Epstein specifically deals with the artists and critics, Roger Fry, Paul Nash and Eric Gill. The intended original combined structure of the chapter implies an explicit inclusion of these three individuals with the themes of antiSemitism and journalism, although Epstein carefully avoids any specific declaration of racism against them, perhaps as it was unlikely that he would have helped his own cause by doing SO.56 Previously there has been no direct and explicit acknowledgement of the connection between the press, anti-Semitism and Jacob Epstein. The outcome of this discovery is that what began as an interest in the (naturalised) British sculptor and his treatment by the British press, has developed

to become an investigation into the

BrifishlJewishlAmerican the between sculptor and press. a relationship One of the first questions to consider is why should it make a difference that Britain Jewish? in twentieth-century the were early prominent artists some of We don't, for example, refer to Epstein's contemporaries, such as Wyndham Lewis in terms of his race, religion or ethnicity; Henry Moore is never described as Anglo Saxon, nor is Eric Gill pigeonholed as a Roman Catholic, (and/or between journalists the Epstein that indicates was concerned a correlation with clearly but his British had that to moderate such overt publisher press) and anti-Semitism, Epstein linked journalists, fact that the term The specifically with anti-Semitism associations. is just to that than else, surely a anything evidence than enough prove more or anyone rather in The further the fact it is that that the bias level press. existed publicity word of minor heading, it is linked is that journalism, the the chapter in and published with word appears interesting particularly 5 Epstein (1942), op cit, p 200 56In addition to these points, it should be noted that a later edition of Epstein's autobiography Co (New York) in 1955, was titled An Autobiography. The Dutton EP by and published This is Experience. MacDougall's in bibliography. See edition Jewish particular cited Modem Gertler. London: John Mark Murray, Sarah. 2002, p 376 MacDougall, 17

and yet they are all known as English or British painter contemporaries,

So why are Epstein and his

. David Bomberg, Mark Gertler and Jacob Kramer

invariably referred to as Jewish? None of these artists conducted anything like an orthodox Jewish way of life ;58 Epstein was brought up in a fairly orthodox Jewish household, as were Gertler and Bomberg, but it seems clear that the maintenance of the Jewish faith was largely unimportant to each of them as individuals.

It is known that Gertler made certain concessions to

family demands or expectations on his visits home, but there is little

evidence

that Epstein was in any way rel igioUS,59 and his lifestyle was hardly compatible with Jewish family values. It has become clear, however, that stereotypical ideas about the image of Jews were commonplace in society, so in order to a add further texture to a picture of the general negative attitude towards Jews in Britain, a number of examples are included in the following discussions, some of which are apparently minor, trivial and inconsequential. Nevertheless, they are included as illustrations of the kind of information that was in the public domain at the time, and how this information helped to mould collective popular perceptions. 1.1

The Jewish Stereotype

Throughout this analysis, cartoons from the popular press are being employed to illustrate and confirm the views and ideas being explored. stereotype

Where the

is concerned, they are especially useful because, as Frank

Felsenstein asserts, they 'can often tell us far more about the endemic beliefs

57The fact that Moore was from Yorkshire raises a flippant similarity with Epstein as a Jew; in Britain the stereotype of the Yorkshireman is that he is thought to be careful with his money, and Donald Hall, when commenting on one of Moore's early girlfriends, highlights this point. Hall suggests that the girlfriend 'spent [Moore's] money too freely, silly tactics in dealing with a Yorkshireman. ' Hall, Donald. Henry Moore. The Life and Work of a Great Sculptor. London: Victor Gollancz, 1966, p 65. Similarly, Roger Berthoud illustrates how Moore was able to make a substantial monetary gain on one particular deal, and quips that 'he was not a Yorkshireman for nothing. ' Berthoud, op cit, p 224. Thus, a particular stereotype also applies to Moore, albeit in a much less serious or sinister manner than his Jewish counterpart 58Although, note that Bomberg's first wife, Alice, was persuaded to adopt the Jewish faith in Bomberg's father. See Cork (Bomberg), 107 to upsetting op cit, p avoid order 59Note that his eldest daughter, Peggy Jean, explained that Epstein was an avid reader of the in She appears a television documentary in which she states thatin a sense Testament. Old he because always read his bible at night, his Old Testament. He was, Daddy was religious Jewish; his house brought Kosher strictly I up that, imagine was and all so some course of er, him. So, he have off and stayed ' See with the rubbed television it yes, was religious. must of Epstein: Rebel Angel. Central Jacob Television & the Arts Council, 1987 documentary, 18

and prejudices of those who are the stereotypers than they can reveal about the stereotyped [original emphasis retained] 60 Felsenstein gives the Oxford ., English Dictionary definition of the stereotype, while also summarising it himself as 'a basic form of social insight [which] may be seen

as a necessary

part of the categorizing process of the human mind, a simple but effective system of abstracting certain features, real or assumed, of a person or group and making those features represent the whole. 61 It is clear that the notion of the stereotype plays a major role in the formulation of our perception of the Other, so I will address the subject in terms of general stereotyping and stereotyping in relation to the creative arts, including where they can be specifically applied to Epstein. A major guide on the subject can be found in the work of Sander Gilman, a scholar who has produced highly regarded work on stereotypes of race and of the Jews' body, so I will draw on his work to examine and address ideas in relation to stereotypes of race, madness and sexuality, and to analyse how these factors could have impinged upon, or formulated, the reception of Epstein and his contemporaries. Gilman's view is that 'stereotypes can assume a life of their own, rooted not in reality but in the myth-making made necessary by our need to control the 62 It is this need to control our world, which is the key point, since world. intervention by the Other creates fear and uncertainty in the established 63 However, the fact that we all create stereotypes is not itself at issue. order. 60Felsenstein, Frank. Anti-Semitic Stereotypes. A Paradigm of Otherness in English Popular Culture, 1660-1830. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995, p xiv. He repeats the point later, commenting that 'stereotypes [ ] are far more revealing of those ... who invoke them than of those they attempt to describe.' lbid, p 12. Yet another assertion of the same point is that 'stereotypes are more reliable as indicators of the values and beliefs of the host group than necessarily of the Other that they claim to define.' lbid, p 20 61Felsenstein, ibid, p 11. The OED definition he cites is that a stereotype is 'a preconceived idea the of characteristics which typify a person, situation, etc.; an attitude and oversimplified based on such a preconception. ' lbid 62 Gilman, Sander L. Difference and Pathology. Stereotypes of Sexuality, Race and Madness. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1985, p 12 63There is a pertinent link with cartoons at this point. According to Gombrich and Kris, 'in all frequently from fear. Gombrich, ' Ernst H laughter result may overcoming unconscious of us London: Penguin, 1940, p 7. This may help to account for the Caricature. Kris. E and Jews, Epstein himself, ridiculing modern through art cartoons and of stereotypical popularity images and associations 19

In fact, as Gilman confirms 'we cannot function in the world without them, 64 while Felsenstein

explains that 'those stereotyped

images of others that we

carry around with us are frequently the defence mechanisms

by which we try

both to protect our own established judge what we perceive as when

certain

individuals,

unable to disassociate the difference where

beliefs and to come to terms with and to 65 Rather, the issue is different or threatening.

the stereotype from the individual.

to what he terms the pathological

'the former

British publicl

or in this case the collective

is consistently

aggressive

objects to which the stereotypical able to repress the aggression

Gilman attributes

and the non-pathological,

toward

representations

are

the real people and

correspond;

the latter is

66 He and deal with people as individuals.

by arguing that 'an image can gain in potency partly as a result of 67SO by the corresponding real entitieS, it can be seen that a (perhaps) actions

continues

latent image of the Jew as degenerate was in fact revealed and proven by the very primitiveness

by Jewish the of art and sculpture created artists.

Gilman

has been by 'a that that arguing group marginally visible can summarises 68 he further become the definition the Other ,

suddenly

and, crucially,

, 69 [ ] idealisations. 'associations that appear as positive may also suggests ...

One of the key problems with the subject is that, according to Felsenstein, 'the blurring of fact into fiction and vice-versa is a common qualification in the blurring that to P70 it is such a assume reasonable and study of stereotypes, was not an uncommon

occurrence

in newspaper

reports.

A further

how 'major Gilman by important categories concerns point made particularly freely been) have (and be associated, even when regularly of stereotypes can their association

71 This idea of a demands a suspension of common sense.

failure human think to suspension of common sense suggests a collective logically and rationally, and this is perhaps inevitable, especially where press

64Gilman (1985), op cit, p 16 65 Felsenstein, op cit, p 12 66Gilman (1985), op cit, p 18 67Gilman (1985), op cit, p 20 68Gilman (1985), op cit, p 20 69Gilman (1985), op cit, p 25 70 Felsenstein, op cit, p5 71Gilman (1985), op cit, p 12

reports themselves

for the perpetuation of a particular are responsible

stereotypical image or perception. Could this explain why the stereotypical English view of the Jew, sustained as it was in the popular press, managed to survive largely unchallenged, albeit in a relatively superficial English state? After all, Britain did at least accept (if not specifically welcome) a small number of Jewish immigrants when much of Europe was openly hostile to them.

There is some primary, late-period, background evidence and information from a study of anti-Semitism, published in 1954,72 which helps with the contextual grounding.

The work, by James Robb, includes case studies of

what he termed 'tolerant' and 'extreme anti-Semite' personalities.

All of the

participants were asked to define the Jewish stereotype and the responses are particularly revealing. For example, excerpts of these responses describe how Jews: 'have been used as scapegoats'; that 'most people don't like the Jews'; that 'the rich ones are high and mighty, like most rich people, but the like they them everyone else'; they'are unpopular are are poor and majority of [

] due to ignorance and jealousy'; that 'they are crafty and beat the ...

Englishmen at business'; that 'you can always tell a Jew by his looks'; that 'like everyone else they are good and bad.

Some have long noses, and

tell foreign have the can't and some you accents, older ones, some, especially from anyone else'; and finally that they 'are easy to pick out in the street, as those from the These taken P73 Negroes. of responses are easy as for As the tolerant. extreme anti-Semites, a sample of as categorised firebugs' [Fig 121; housing in 'they that: include are and get priority comments behind 'Jews talk their to about you 'they engineer wars convenience'; suit foods best the hard, only back, eat wealthy, are cowards, work not will your black 'they English'; the housing to the in are of exclusion priority and get their foreign labour increase to import and put profits 'Jews cheap marketers'; have 'they too much political and economic power'; jobs'; Englishmen out of 72This is based on research completed in Bethnal Green, London, between 1947-9, it is a held by British kinds the the of stereotypical public at indicator views ordinary of very useful the time 73Robb, James H. Working-Class Anti-Semite. A Psychological Study in a London Borough. 126-135 1954, Publications, pp Tavistock London: 21

'Jews are warmongers (for financial reasons), wealthy, live in luxurious West End hotels, and are lazy'; and finally, that 'they are mean, operate the black market, drive hard bargains, are unscrupulous businessmen [Fig 13], full of low cunning, gesticulate.

unpatriotic, dirty in their habits, have foreign accents and Although Robb's study only represents a snapshot of a small

area of the early Post-War East End of London, it is important for the simple reason that it records the actual views of real Londoners, which is rather more indicative of the kind of feelings, assumptions and stereotypical views on the streets, than are the general assumptions found in books or essays. As a record of English characteristics and perceptions, some sixty years ago, it is an extremely powerful piece of evidence.

There is a particularly good

example of a stereotypically unscrupulous figure in a cartoon by Haselden [Fig 14]. 75 The story shows how a furniture salesman 'swindles' two young women who are trying to set up a flat together. The dealer, with the obligatory large nose, hovers in the background, apparently rubbing his hands together in gleeful anticipation of a good sale, whilst the women happily choose items for their new home.

In the final frame one of the women exclaims "Oh-h-h!

What a swindle... " and we can see that the bill for the furniture, totalling E300, is headed with the company name, Shylock & Co. If there was any doubt the this identity the the evaporates name when of salesman, racial about 76 Shylock is revealed in the cartoon. Returning to the wider theme of the perception and depiction of the It further is helpful it to Jew, is examples. specific some consider stereotypical Jew. the long been have difference that associated with clear visual signs of The most common sign, as illustrated by Juliet Steyn for example, makes is 'the Steyn [Fig 15], Jewish the to ultimate claims which nose reference image [and it is that] difference menacing an ambivalent and visual sign of 77 loathed is that and envied. sexuality simultaneously

reminiscent of a primal fascination between disgust line fine and is sense of a sense of and a There a 74

Robb, ibid, pp 106-115

75 See Haselden, WK. 'When Two Girl Workers Take a Flat Together - No. 2,, The Daily th 1918, July p6 15 Mirror,

76 Felsenstein comments on how the Oxford English Dictionary 'defines Shylock as a word describe "an "' Felsenstein, to 178 extortionate be usurer. allusively op cit, p used that may 77Steyn, Juliet. The Jew. Assumptions of Identity. London & New York: Cassell, 1999, p 50 22

the desire to know more about the proclivities of the Other, and this is echoed in the press where scandal attracts readers' interest; collectively, we condemn yet at the same time we take some form of pleasure in learning about such things as we read the newspapers at our breakfast tables.

As Steyn

summarises, in Dickens's Oliver Twist (1837-9), 'Fagin is as seductive as he is vile. Both Sikes and Nancy cannot stand the Jew, yet they are seduced by 78 him. 1 suggest that Epstein's art was characterised in the newspapers as being so vile that the masses flocked to see it, rather than try to avoid it. For example, Augustus John described in a letter how 'the squalid hordes [ ] ... 79 beneath [the Strand Statues], leering This pullulate and vituperative. indicates how Epstein's more explicit carvings, casts, paintings and drawings exhibited an overt sensuality, which simultaneously repelled and attracted his detractors, and the public in general. This suggests that there were recognisable characteristic physical features associated with the Jew, and it barely conceals one belief of the time that Jews had a distinctive personal odour. Indeed, Gilman explains that'olfactory different [and in label that] the had long been to the other as qualities used biology of race in late nineteenth-century Germany, a mephitic odour was one 80 Felsenstein Jews. difference imputed to the asserts central markers of of that a stereotypical belief was that 4as punishment for their crime against 78

Steyn (1999), ibid, p 55 79 See Gardiner, op cit, p 63 80Gilman (1985), op cit, p 114. Implications of a further example of physical stereotyping can be found in an extraordinary passage in Wyndham Lewis's autobiography (published in 1937), where he wrote of an acquaintance who 'had an excellent nose for Jews [ ... ]a gift that Percy. Blasting Lewis, ' Wyndham disguise. Jew detect him to under almost any a enabled former A 273-4. 1937, London: 1914-1926. Autobiography An pp and Bombardiering: Cork See ' bit Cohen, 'Lewis Sonia believed that Bomberg, anti-Semitic. a was girlfriend of (Bomberg), op cit, p 77. Roy Campbell's biographer describes how Lewis 'sent Campbell the leader Nazi lauds he the Hitler, in later his book to he as which print as was series of articles filth Nazis 'cleaning the the the of moral up were 'a man of peace', and praises way Germany. ' In the footnote he suggests that 'it is worth noticing too the reference to a 'a mere Critical Biography. A See Campbell. ' Alexander, Peter. Roy Judenfrage. bagatelle of a Russell, John According Press, 262, 35. to 1982, 144 University Oxford n p and p Oxford: David Times liked York in 1987, 'at Wyndham Lewis to to time New refer the one in writing Art "' Russell, Review; Show Rethinks British John. 'Art Provocative "Bumberg. Bomberg as New Times. ' The York 1st February A joke 1987, Century. no page number. 20th of the in Freud's treatise on humour, as follows: 'Two Jews are the even appears subject addressing " bath I "' "I it take "whether the bathing. a every year, says one, need or not. talking about Relation Joke Its to Unconscious The the [Translated by Joyce Crick]. and Sigmund. Freud, 1905], 60 [First Published, 2003 p Penguin, London: 23

Jesus, Jews emitted a peculiarly foul smell, akin to that of the Devil. 81 Steyn also illustrates that 'by the nineteenth century the racialised science of biology labelled the foetor Judaicus as one of the natural, inherent signs of Jewish 82 difference. Could there have been a

certain perverse curiosity among some

of the Gentile patrons and sifters for Epstein and his fellow Jewish artists that impelled them to visit for first-hand experience the fabled foetor Judaicus? Both the sculptor and his work could readily be seen in the press, but an 83 is detectable to the in his home. Notably, in at odour only close subject, or least two of his cartoons featuring Epstein [Fig 16], David Low includes a bucket close to the sculptor, and one reading is the implication that the buckets are symbolic of some form of foul-smelling waste. A further Review,

consideration

was illustrated

Mervyn Macartney,

by the editor of the Architectural

who acknowledged

a stereotypical

appearance

when he identified what he saw as 'the influences which have given to some heads Strand Statues facial the the the of of angle of criminality. P84The very suggestion

that

acknowledges

criminality

can be perceived

in the features

of a face

the work of the founder of eugenics, Sir Francis Galton (1822-

1911), who produced his photographic amalgams of the typical Jew in the late 85 following he had carried out to create the image of

nineteenth century,

work

Felsenstein, op cit, p 35 82 Steyn (1999), op cit, p 50. The same expression is employed by Felsenstein. See Felsenstein, op cit, p 257-8. See also Todd Endelman, who cited the Jewish novelist Willy Goldman's description of a typical teacher as 'a bearded, unkempt, smelly old man.' Endelman (1990), op cit, p 178 83A relevant piece of evidence here, which is not at all flattering for Epstein, comes from a brief comment in a letter from Ezra Pound to Isabel Pound in November 1913 in which he Michel Angelo but I believe I he is 'Epstein that: wash, would a great sculptor. wish remarks [sic] never did, so I suppose it is part of the tradition. ' See Silber, Evelyn. 'Epstein in Person' in Silber and Friedman, op cit, p 1. This is also cited by Rose, who further added the next line from Pound in which he remarked that 'it is nearly impossible to appear clean in London, in Furthermore, 84. Rose, ' the a does he p op cit, grime. remove some of perhaps Epstein kept in learnt the daughter, Peggy Jean, Rose that Epstein's a goat conversation with basement, 'which might have accounted for [his] 'smell' which some contemporaries Rose's biography Notably, Stephen Bayley's 148. Rose, ' of review op cit, p remarked on. begins and ends with reference to what he terms 'the famously malodorous' sculptor. Bayley, Augustus John, Michael Holroyd listed to the biography his In of visitors op cit. Epstein, described Augustus 'innocent including truculent house, as as and Rothensteins's ' Holroyd, 121 like op cit, a polecat. p himself, smelling 84See Cork (Bomberg), op cit, p 27 85See Steyn (1999), OP Cit, p 24 where she illustrates Galton's 1885 Composite Portraits of The Sander L. Jew's Gilman, Body. New York & London: Routledge, Type, and the Jewish 1991, pp 64-68 24

the typical criminal a few years before.86 Undoubtedly, some of the facial features of Epstein's statues did not conform to a traditional view of typical English men and or women, but was Macartney's reference suggesting that since they were not recognisably decent or English, that they were clearly criminal or degenerate, and by definition, therefore, Jewish? At this early stage of his career, when he was working on the Strand Statues the fact that Epstein was Jewish and American was not necessarily public knowledge, although it may be reasonable to suspect that assumptions were made on account of his non-English sounding surname. In fact, there are a number of examples of Epstein-inspired cartoons making comic capital out of invented surnames suffixed with Stein [Fig 17]. The issue of the sound of the Other introduces a further consideration.

well as the visual and olfactory signs of difference, another of Gilman's arguments deals with the role that language plays in defining the Other. He states that language implies the correct and meaningful use of language [and that] any other use is "crazy. " Thus, one of the inherent definitions of any linguistic group is that it is the norm of sanity. The Other is always " mad" [ and ] the Other's "madness" is what defines the sanity of the ... ... defining gro Up.87

Therefore, the common stereotypical image of Jews indicating that they have a distinctive foreign accent, presupposes that while their English may be language because to the they are unable use properly grammatically correct, Commenting Yiddish, inflection. Jewish, their or on the accent or of apparent 88 Eastern Jew attempting to speak German, Gilman refers to a distinctive Mauscheln. he the calls accent, which

This is illustrated in a number of

best is Jews speaking who are caricatured as with what examples of described as a distinctive lisp, such as in a caption from a cartoon in Punch 86 The Jewish Chronicle published an interview with Galton under the heading 'Eugenics and the Jew' in which the composite photographs of the Jewish boys were recalled. It now seems further Galton's ideas 'distinct to this that newspaper would want a concerning surprising Jewish type, ' although since Galton did describe the boys as 'wonderfully beautiful' perhaps implications his the positive of focus on work. See 'Eugenics and the Jew. ' The the was July (There 1910, 20th 16. is Chronicle. p also an essay: Randall AE. 'Eugenics and Jewish Vol. VIII, December 1st 1910, TheNewAge. ' pp 111-114) Evidence.

129 (1985), cit, p op Gilman 88See Gilman (1991), op cit, p 21

for this 'What that shplendid dog. My tear, is it only monish which reads: 89 In another cartoon by David Low, and dating from 1917, two ridic'lush. Jewish men are in conversation and the caption reads: 'Incredulous! "I vos at a dinner last night vere they used gold spoons. " "Gold Spoonth! Show us 90 PP, [Fig 18]. vun?

This also includes the assumption that the men are inherently dishonest, suggesting that the dinner guest would have stolen

some of the cutlery. Another example, this time from the autobiography of the South African poet, Roy Campbell, is particularly relevant here, because it includes some passages of dialogue with Epstein, investing him with a distinctly foreign-sounding voice. Firstly, Campbell explains that I overheard the following duel of words. Stuart [Gray] began: "Miss Mary and Campbell says you can't come here. [Senn (i. e. Epstein)] Wy? " "Because you fill the place with fleas. " "Shott opp, Sturt! Shott opp, Sturt! " gasped the Assyrian in fury. 91 A second example is given of Epstein in conversation with Augustus John: "Haven't you got a smile for me, Senn? [asked John]" [Epstein] "My smile is mein own, Augustus, " he replied, "unt I vill yooss it 92 I Campbell, like! And is dis here treaten to chastise me !,, ven vot more, Again, added to the detail of the foreign accent is the insinuation that the man is unclean. It should be acknowledged that this is almost certainly a complete fabrication on the part of Campbell, because there is ample evidence of Epstein's recorded voice which proves that his accent was not anything like this example suggests.

Nevertheless, the apparent corruption of the spoken

language as a signifier of the Other is further emphasised with Epstein since 89This example is taken from Peter Gross's reference to a Punch cartoon dated 7th May 1898 in Gross, op cit, p 176. See also, for example, Gilman (1991), op cit, pp 14-15. Frank Felsenstein comments on linguistic ridicule and suggests that 'to this day the accent remains Felsenstein, 53. Jews. ' in jokes the form op cit, p about mimicry of recounting a recognised See also Felsenstein's comments on linguistic ridicule, op cit, p 79 90 A David Low cartoon from Steele Rudd's Annual, December 1917. In her autobiography, following Berwick dialogue 'We to trader. the market Hamnett with a market went Nina noted The "Vill 'ave Jew had the to silk some old stall said me, you who socks. of pair a got and " be " And he "Oh it I "Oh that no, said, no would extravagant. said, cheap? stockings - very Nina. Laughing "' Hamnett, Torso. London: Constable, 1932, 46-7. investment. pp be an vill few before her death, 'the Hamnett a months wrote she complained sadistic of letter In a had been her treating in hospital. See Hooker, Denise. Nina doctor' who bastard Jewish Constable, London: 1986, Bohemia. 255 Queen p of Hamnett. 91Campbell, op cit, p 241 92Campbell, op cit, p 251

he was brought up in New York City and thus he did have a distinctive accent, peculiar to the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Curiously, there is even an

example of this illustrated in the architect, Sir Basil Spence's, account of his Coventry rebuilding of cathedral, for which Epstein was commissioned to make the main sculpture, St Michael and the Devil (1956-58). In his account his dealings of with the sculptor, Spence quotes Epstein saying to the Provost 93 and then the that "'my beliefs can be clearly seen through my work, py, architect explains that '[Epstein] pronounced work "woik" as he never quite lost the American twang of his youth. 94 It seems very odd that Spence should

have made a particular note of this particular aspect of Epstein's accent,95but it does illustrate precisely the kind of personal detail that was used to emphasise that the sculptor was not native to Britain. Other examples include images and text of a distinctly unsympathetic nature, such as in a drawing by Norman Lindsay, a cartoonist working in Australia in the 1930s for the Bulletin. In one example [Fig 19], we see two men named Cohen and Isaacs talking to each other under the headline of 'These Hard Times. I Cohen: "Come inside an' I'll sell yer something. " Isaacs: "Me! Vat for? " Cohen: "Practice! of In a second example [Fig 20], a Jewish man is gesticulating in front of a sign Moses. 'I reads which

Money-changer.

Bithness [sic] Suspended. ' Once

the the between is of element there other and accent a relationship more, drawings, which is that the Jews were commonly recognised as businessmen and money-lenders.

In another, slightly more innocent example from David

93Spence, Basil. Phoenix at Coventry. The Building of a Cathedral. London: Geoffrey Bles Ltd, 1962, p 70 94 Spence, ibid, p 70 95Just a few lines later, to add colour to his description, he makes reference to the bohemian former Further from home. the of a autobiography examples come the sculptor's of nature first he The Emlyn Williams, 1973. time in the actor recounts Epstein's, published of sitter ' German-Jewish his [ ] describing 'gruff accent. voice as a with the to sculptor, spoke ... An The Bodley Head, 1927-1935. London: Ernlyn. early autobiography, Emlyn. Williams, Australian from John how Epstein Dowie, the sculptor, explains who 1973, p 239, and also little bit Brooklyn. here there He "toiking" instead a and of said of with 'well spoken was Dowie. John John Dowie: A Tracey Life in Round. Kent Town, the and Lock-Weir, "talking. "' 24 2001, Press, p Wakefield 27

Low, we see a man with a baby, which is howling "Oi Oi Oi," which Low explains as the 'Hebrew' first mumblings of all children [Fig 21]. The sound, Oi, is commonly associated with a broad Jewish, or more correctly, Yiddish accent. Each case relies on easily recognisable, stereotypical Jewish figures and/or on the apparent distorted speech, lisp and accent of the characters. Clearly, stereotypes were understood and acknowledged within the Jewish community itself. An example of Epstein being familiar with some of these perceptions can be found in the earliest published account in which he is mentioned, stereotyping.

where there is an indication as to his sensitivity to racial In 1902, Hutchins

Hapgood's

Spirit of the Ghetto was

published, with illustrations by the young Jacob Epstein.

Late in the book,

Hapgood writes specifically about his illustrator noting that: Most his he hates his race. of the with whole soul caricature of magazine illustrations of Ghetto characters he finds distorted and untrue. [ ]A big and ugly nose is not the enthusiastic artist's idea of what ... by Jew, him, is downtown Jew. The to rather recognisable constitutes a the peculiar melancholy of the eyes. In the nose he sees nothing 96 & [Figs 22 23a-e] typical the of race . particularly Aside from the physical manifestations

difference there are above, outlined of

further These to Jewish contend with. mentality or character perceptions of a stereotypical

characteristics

dishonesty,

degeneracy,

notes ,

include the association

disease

and madness,

of Jews with cheating,

Stephen and as

Gardiner

for some reason, [... ] Polish Jews in particular were singled out for the

filthy in lived they conditions, were crooks, worst attacks: 97 cheats.

stole: they were

further I to these consideration of a Having highlighted examples, now return Sander link its the art. with phenomenological stereotype and the concept of 'as its is the that origin prescient particularly word stereotype Gilman explains We 198 the through text, through texts. are educated of is in the manufacture in the the the but of arts, context visual clearly stereotypical language, written Ghetto. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967, Spirit the The of 96Hapgood, Hutchins. York: Funk & Wagnalls, New 1902) (Original publisher: pp 260-261. 97Gardiner, op Cit, p 41 98Gilrnan (1985), op cit, p 16 28

image has gained a more privileged position.

It should be stressed that the

use of the term, text, is both literal and metaphorical, and as Gilman asserts, 9all structured systems of representation, no matter what the medium, can be construed as "texts" for the study of stereotypes. '99 In the case of Jewish artists we need to understand the system of language used through words and images, in order to more fully appreciate how endemic the stereotypical image of the Jew had become, and this link between text and image as it exists in the press in particular, is a key area of interest.

The new art

coincided with the explosion in, and exploitation of, new printing techniques and capabilities, such that through the daily newspapers, the general public were subjected to the anti-alien rhetoric and a negative image of the other, 100 before. like never Gilman also argues about the significance of the arts in perpetuating and strengthening stereotypes.

His example centres on turn-of-the-20th -century

literature in Vienna and his conclusion is that 'because [stereotypes] were for became they through sexuality central metaphors works of art articulated 001 [and] thus became the sexual fantasies, or nightmares, of an entire society. Arguably, since Epstein's work became so well known through the press his him, but be to logic it this own equally applied can received, coverage image was so widely familiar, that he became the central metaphor of the

Other as modern artist. Gilman's is Epstein's in interest Returning to real examples, of specific case disease: American the idea the neurasthenia, which of so-called exploration of disease [which the life disease 'the of describes he was] also of modern as

99Gilman (1985), op cit, p 26

100 Even in 1931, the Bournemouth Echo was using language described by Roger Berthoud bigotry The ' Berthoud, 112. and cit, p middle-class racism. op of as 'the authentic voice less Moore) his Henry that 'nothing stated nor work represented more (ironically, about report foisted in ] by foreigners [ ] [ the in malice on us prepense critics and art Bolshevism than ... ... instance Cited in ' in Berthoud, 112. it every almost aliens. op cit, p are writers who uphold Guardian Manchester leading Moore, the 1948, June by was an article about with Conversely, to be glad at this recognition of a distinguished sculptor impossible is 'it not that which stated th See the Manchester Guardian, 15 June 1948, Englishman. ' in to be

an happens who 215 p Berthoud, op cit,

cited

101Gilman (1985), op cit, p 58 29

the Jews. " 02 According to August Fore[, Americanism [read: degenerate neurasthenia], designate[s] an unhealthy feature of sexual life, common among the educated classes of the United States, and apparently originating in the greed for dollars, which is more prevalent in North America than anywhere else. I refer to the unnatural life which Americans lead, and ' 03 more especially to its sexual aspect. An example of an anti-American bias expressed through the daily newspaper gives some historical context relevant to Epstein's early years in Britain. Haselden's cartoon in the Daily Mirror of 7th June 1912 takes a less-thanfriendly view of Americans [Fig 24] and illustrates how a certain 'type of American' was viewed at that time.

In the first scene, five men relax in

comfortable chairs in the ship's lounge, smoking cigars and boasting about how they are going to make lots of easy money in England.

The second

scene, six months later, sees them on the deck of the ship, returning to the USA, dressed in rags. The caption is revealing, explaining that 'there is a type of American that is always prepared to come over to England to show us how to do things, as well as to do us. This type generally retires, much 104 is inference that The this time. in of whole months' about six poorer, Americans are arrogant and not to be trusted, but that the good news is that they will not survive in England for very long. As for Epstein, an uncharitable life, his for here the to had temerity he the be that rest of remain view would for large American, Jew both sums apparently charging and an a and as Gilman little had Epstein associations. chance of avoiding such works of art, Jew the 'the that his in of with this association assertion proposition cements the "American Illness" through the use of the English phrase "time is money)p Perhaps '105 American. Jew the quintessential as presents the cosmopolitan to Jewish English the three earlier, referred helps to painters, this explain why American they levels to and not were of attention; similar were not subject for large their work. sums they were not charging

102 Gilman (1985), op cit, p 158. Notably, Augustus John claimed to have suffered from to alcohol. See Holroyd, op cit, p 505 denying any addiction neurasthenia, 103Gilman cited the observation from August Forel's book, The Sexual Question which was Gilman (1985), op cit, p 203 1905. in Fublished th (04 Thought. So Easy ' The Quite they Daily Mirror, June 7 1912, 'Not WK. as p7 Haselden, 105Gilman (1985), op cit, p 156

In fact, there is evidence that Epstein was directly associated with the stereotype of Jews being perceived to be making 'easy' money.

In his

autobiography, for example, the sculptor was at pains to refute one particular report, which suggested that he had sold Adam (1938-9) for E7,000 (the 106 Whatever the truth of the equivalent of approximately f-250,000 today). 07), (and Stephen for E7501 Gardiner claims it actually sold the simple matter, fact is that if it was even rumoured that Epstein was able to sell work for such 108 huge There is every his is indicative of a sum, this profile at the time. chance that much of the resentment aimed at Epstein centred on the fact that he was thought to be making an extremely good living from his art, at the expense of our native, traditional sculptors.

That he was making a living in

England from what was often viewed as degenerate art, presumably added fuel to the general feeling of resentment in some quarters. Such resentment manifested itself in the fact that he was awarded no public commissions between 1928 and 1949,109in spite of the fact that he remained a prominent ' 10 public figure. One of the most significant factors in the construction and perpetuation of literature, the through is the educated which of popular role stereotypes A Jew. the been have of useful cognisant of a negative vision classes would 106Calculation from http://www. statistics.gov.uk/articles/economic-trends/ET604C P11750.pdf, consulted August 2006 107Gardiner, op cit, p 373. The footnote claims that the figure comes from Epstein's Rose, figure in is The it. to this but I trace op cit, p cited same verify cannot autobiography, 218 108To add some context to this, it is known that the sum donated for the Oscar Wilde just in This to 70. Gardiner, Quoted in E2,000. something equates cit, p op memorial was the the Epstein Notably, of today. on value E150,000 no comment made excess of French by demanded duty, did that the he customs, estimated report although commission, Paris, the to being Furthermore, transported to (f-9,000). on was work 20 El least prior was at See the fee for advertisement his payable. was in of one shilling an entry which studio, show th The in included detail his death, Even 1912, 144. June 6 such was after p in The New Age, for ] [ 'Adam it that the to sold eventually was sculptor, where records Daily Mirror's 'salute' ... had it that Genesis the includes stating caption The a photograph of with f-7,000.' same page ' The Sir Epstein. Genius. Salutes Jacob See 'Death The Mirror E4,200. for of a been sold nd August 1959, pp 10-11 22 Daily Mirror, 109After 1949, when he finally came to be accepted as a mainstream sculptor, he was be for including many substantial commissions works which would work, with overwhelmed positions public in prominent situated 110Evidence of this can be found in the fact that there are many caricatures in the Evening David by Low, drawn dating from There Epstein, this featuring period. are also Standard NEB dating Weisz from Strube, These will be and Haselden, a similar period. by others final in the detail chapter in discussed 31

indicator here is illustrated by Juliet Steyn when she records that Oliver Twist was 'a serialized story read by the man travelling daily from the suburbs into the city on the omnibus [which thus] played a part in rendering fantasies about the Jew familiar and further inscribing in the popular imagination the myth of Jew-as-evil. "" Indeed, Dickens's construction of Fagin (and Shylock by Shakespeare,

two centuries earlier) would surely have helped form a widely

held impression

of the characteristics

of Jewishness.

It has been suggested

that Fagin was 'the very model of the demonic Jew and, with the exception of Shylock, the most influential Jewish character in English literature. " 12 Furthermore, malicious

6at a more popular level, in novels, newspapers and the theatre,

and crude

images

incorporated unhesitatingly " 13 journalism.

of Jews were common grasping,

lisping

Jews

fare [where writers] in their

fiction

and

Here, there is a relevant argument from a study of press influence from a book which is particularly relevant, as the time of its publication is virtually contemporaneous

Jewish Epstein, his interest in the explosion of with

colleagues,

modern

and

art

in general.

In 1913, RA Scott-James

acknowledged that it is of little avail to blame the press if it reflects and brings to the surface blame it it It is to in thing inherent the one when community. maladies futile, Public; it is thing to taste the the and another, a of underestimates

111See Steyn (1999), op cit, p 57 112See Endelman, Todd M. The Jews of Britain, 1656-2000. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 2002, p 104 113See Endelman (2002), ibid, p 151. Following comments concerning GK Chesterton, and his for that 'Chesterton took Gross Peter that his granted noted writing, quoting some of See Jew. ' the traits of character readers would recognise avarice, cunning and greed as Gross, op cit, p 207. Felsenstein points out that, (in what he refers to as the 'longer' figures. ' 'tenacious literature English Jews in minor as often appeared eighteenth century), He cites Daniel Defoe's Roxanna (1724) amongst others, in which 'the blackguard Jew dealer' is described with terms such as 'villain, cursed, rogue, dog of a Jew and traitor.' He Jew English Landa, MJ the typical times ten to 'according that of of nine out also records drama appears as a scion of Shylock.' See Felsenstein, op cit, pp 2 and 3. Later, he refers to the use of the word Jew 'as a term of opprobrium, the Oxford English Dictionary classifies "specially is to that Jew applied a grasping or extortionate money-lender or one the word as On I boy, being I 178. lbid, a personal note, "' when was a remember aware of a p usurer. between Jews be boys that being and made money, such at school, would relationship if they biscuits In 'Jew' particularly were mean to with cash, sweets, and on. so a as referred it less term It than is no abuse, was more of or noteworthy a any other. now as other words, Jew's the association of views with money-lending and avarice are that stereotypical clear commonplace 32

blame it when it accurately gauges public taste, however unpleasing that taste may be. ' 14

This statement indicates that there is a need to analyse and understand the inherent, extant and latent perceptions (if not strictly speaking, the maladies) of the community of the period, not least in respect of the Jewish question. I suggest that it could be argued that the press itself was not to blame for negative racial stereotyping, but rather that it was the home and employer of ordinary Britons who shared the common beliefs and prejudices of the community at large. The Times had a tremendously strong reputation at the start of the twentieth century; it was well-known, reliable and credible, so it was a likely arbiter of public opinion.

Nevertheless, the nation's premier

Jewish images the to newspaper was not averse of perpetuating adverse ' 15 community, and in the mid-nineteenth century there were strong foundations being laid for continued anti-Jew reporting for at least the next one hundred years.

An example from Endelman reveals that in November

1924 The Times printed East End [which] the London" "Alien as a characterised a series on Jewish like "a Eastern "an much stronghold strange and alien city' and Lane" in Odessa or in a Galician "ghetto, " alive with "all the expressive backward" home "the East" to Near bazaars the the and of gestures of Jewish European East the less "the adaptable" elements among and ' 16 [original punctuation retained]. population In fact, as Endelman goes on to assert, 'it is doubtful that The Times Jews deny to Synagogue Great [in the a story] wished correspondent 117 fact the that but the report appeared at all, vested with such voice, language indicates a generally accepted attitude. In this example, the use of less backward adaptable, all construct an the words alien, ghetto, and 114Scott-James, op cit, p 274 115Todd Endelman cites a specific example of press bias, taken from a report in The Times in Great Synagogue. He describes the the the reporter's dealt reopening of 1852, which with images that drew it] [as marked common 'sneering on a stock of crude popular as account (2002), He Endelman 152. includes ' inferior. many examples of op cit, p Jews as alien and he language in in the employed example report and one such the emotive and subjective Jews describing [ ] in them terms, 'Journalists as represented unflattering the phrase uses ... to labour, ' Endelman averse physical alien and corrupt. materialistic, clannish, over-sexed, ý2002), op cit, p 200 16 Endelman (2002), op cit, p 204. He gives another example from the Evening Standard, Jews were'a social cancer. ' Endelman (2002), op cit, p 158 Polish that which reported 117Endelman (2002), op cit, p 152

undeniably negative image, and as it was in The Times then, by definition, it carried weight to a large and influential readership. A further contributory factor was that there were a number of both 'popular and serious writers' working in the 1920s and 1930, who 'populated their work " 18 Jews. These included TS Eliot, Wyndham Lewis, with mythic, offensive Graham Greene, HG Wells, John Buchan, Rudyard Kipling, Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie and Dornford Yates. In order to gain an understanding of the kind of material being published and read at the time, there are some revealing examples from English and American literature from the first half of the twentieth century. A small sample is included here to give an indication of the contemporary image of the Jew, or those labelled as Jewish, by major authors.

Firstly, DH Lawrence completed his celebrated novel, Women in

Love, in 1917, and this work includes a number of examples of negative references to Jews. For example, in a London caf6, Lawrence introduced 'the prim young Russian, ' Maxim, who he described as 'dark, and smooth skinned' and then again as the man 'with the smooth, warm-coloured face and black, "19 Gerald, Soon in hair. the the central characters story, after, one of oiled 120 Jew, I 'he is ' he is he? the that 'who to really. reply a receives which asks 021 'the by that The bear him explaining continued same respondent can't . Jew thinks he's going to show his courage. But he's the biggest coward of 122 them all, really, because he's afwaid [sic] what people will think about him. It is interesting that the response to the question ignores the detail of his in the the his to his group of other members relationship occupation or name, Jew. him identifies but as a simply cafd,

Another curious example comes

towards the end of the novel when the main protagonists meet in a hotel in Innsbruck.

As the two sisters, Gudrun and Ursula meet on the stairs,

Lawrence describes how they were 'blocking the way, and affording full from the hall below, door to the the the to plump porter of whole entertainment

118See Endelman (2002), op cit, p 200 119Lawrence, 120Lawrence,

DH. Women in Love. ibid, p 89

London: Penguin Books, 1996

pp 86-7

121

ibid Lawrence, 122 ibid Lawrence,

Jew in black clothes. 123 Why should he have emphasised such a character, as opposed to any one of countless other possibilities?

Finally, Lawrence

introduces the character of the German sculptor, Loerke, generally believed to be based on Lawrence's friend, Mark Gertler. 124 Loerke is described as 'a thin, dark-skinned man with full eyes, an odd creature, like a child, and like a troll, quick, detached' 125and we soon learn that he is in the hotel with a male companion and that they share the same bed. Loerke quickly becomes an for figures, Gerald but the two the character attractive sisters, central male Birkin, Birkin instant dislike In take to the and an sculptor. conversation says to Gerald that Loerke 'lives like a rat in a river of corruption [and assumes that] I expect he is a Jew -

127 126 Gerald 'probably. concurs: or part Jewish.

In the end, Loerke and Gudrun form a close relationship which punctuates the Gerald, Gudrun decline between in the concluding with and relationship rapid Gerald striking Loerke and attempting to strangle Gudrun, before giving up From his death. the into to the male perspective, mountains and walking off there is nothing positive about Loerke, while the women find him intensely interesting, attractive and entertaining, and the overriding impression given by 128 Lawrence is of a malevolent, destructive influence. As a second example, in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), the face is Jew Goldstein, Emmanuel is People' 'Enemy of the a whose one described as 'a clever face, and yet somehow inherently despicable, with a 123Lawrence, ibid, p 445. A significant similar example is identified by Frank Felsenstein, his Jewish in includes Fielding Henry activity stereotypical he that a quip about notes where 'Fielding that Felsenstein (1748). Jones Tom shows an unsympathetic suggests novel is this that ingrained how is but it such a remark Jews, the to proverbially a sign of attitude Felsenstein, ' themes. Jewish is op cit, p that in or characters absent of should appear a novel 75 124An alternative opinion on this is dealt with in Bullen, JB. Continental Crosscurrents. Press, 2005, Oxford University Oxford: Art 1810-1910. European British Criticism and Chapter 10, pp 248-263 125 Lawrence, op cit, p 458 126 Lawrence, op cit, p 483 127 Lawrence, op cit, p 483 128Bear in mind, also, that Lawrence had already told Gertler that sculpture was the lowest of Gertler from Lawrence 248, he letter to (2005), Bullen cit, p where cited a See op the arts. he Gertler in Lawrence in 1917. the text told 1916, that stated although December dated 5th Lady Chatterley's found in (1928) be Lover Lawrence also where may Further references Firstly Lawrence Jews. low'as to the uses simile, corrupt as any made negative references Chatterley Lady dialogue, her husband in the the later attacks ' comment: with Jew, and born bully You like Jew Schiebed' dried with your only money, any up! or any 'why, you're London: Lover. Penguin Chatterley's Books, 1997, 75 201 Lady DH. pp and Lawrence, 35

kind of senile 'Goldstein's

silliness

129 ,

in the long thin

nose .

It is recognised

that

face is Trotsky's, 130in the same way that Big Brother himself is

identified with the features of Stalin, although, as Thomas Pynchon points out, 'the only Jewish character

Goldstein, and maybe 131 because fact, his In Jewish Trotsky, is too., Leon there only was original in the novel is Emmanuel

another passing reference, which stands out as somewhat first paragraph

of illicit writing by the central character,

unusual.

In the

Winston Smith, he

132 to 'a [who] have been Jewess. As refers middle-aged woman might a with the Lawrence example of the plump Jew in the hotel, as detailed above, why

should such a peripheral character be identified in such a way? Why could have been described as a woman of any other race, religion or she not nationality?

In fact, why should she not be identified simply as a woman?

This kind of detail is extraordinarily puzzling, but it is also very revealing of the descriptive narrative at the underlying sense of what was a normal element of time. In other words, it can be deduced that detailing which refers to Jews in it terms attract any adverse comment. not nor would was unusual, negative Finally, in American literature, similar examples may be found in F Scott Fitzgerald's

The Great Gatsby, published in 1924.

He introduces the

] with two fine growths of

Jew flat-nosed Wolfsheirn 'a as small character

... 133 Twice more in the same passage hair which luxuriated in each nostril. his is before the Wolfsheim's is to sound of speech nose, made reference

'gonnegtion' than the the through connection, rather words of use emphasised 134 Wolfsheim is It becomes that Oxford. for 'Oggsford' connected clear and with gambling,

with 'fix[ing]

bootlegging.

Ultimately,

responsible

for

Gatsby's

the World

Series

it is Wolfsheim corruption

back in 1919,135 and with

who

and

is held

eventual

up as the

man

demise.

Such

129Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. London: Penguin Books, 2003, p 15 130See Pynchon, Thomas. 'Introduction' in Orwell, ibid, p vi 131 Pynchon, ibid, p xv 132 Orwell, op Cit, P 11 133 Gatsby. Great London: Penguin, The 1994, 75 Scott. F p Fitzgerald, 134 79 77 ibid, and pp Fitzgerald, 135Fitzgerald, ibid, p 79. In Tender is the Night (1934) he makes a passing reference to had her Jewess, 'the despite her ' recognised that who woman was not a name. Jews, writing Night. London: Penguin, is Tender the 1997, 70. The Scott. F p comment seems Fitzgerald, but makes this typical reference to the name irrelevant, completely 36

characterisation could have been applied to other Americans, but it was a Jew who was chosen as the focus for the blame. Such examples

show that a number of hugely influential writers were

deliberately

tacitly

perpetuating

commonly

recognised

myths

and

Bearing in mind that these are all recognisable, successful writers, it must be safe to assume that their work would have reached a wide stereotypes.

readership.

In addition to these examples, late nineteenth-century images of Jewish villains like Fagin, and wide speculation that Jack the Ripper came from the Jewish community, coupled with early twentieth-century laws on the statute books, (The Aliens Act was passed in 1905) [Fig 25], essentially aimed at preventing any new Fagins or Shylocks from entering the country, all added to the all-pervasive negative perceptions of Jews. Before concluding this section, it should be stressed that in isolation many of these examples are minor and trivial, perhaps, and yet collectively they do paint a vivid picture of the existence of an underlying prejudice in British 136 The examples touch on what can be identified as the accepted society. beliefs and perceptions of the time; namely that the Jew had a distinctive and 136Other examples of instances of prejudice induced by stereotypical negative perceptions of Jews in Britain reveal how they could impact upon everyday life. There are reported cases of builders refusing to sell house to Jews, garages refusing to hire motor cars to them and Jews. This did is hotel businesses their that to not make services available restaurant and discussed in Endelman (1990), op cit, p 195. The refusal to hire cars became newsworthy, it seems, since two instances of press stories from 1932 give details as to why Jews were not Sunday Express An Endelman (1990), in 196. See the article op cit, p an acceptable risk. commissioned from a London rabbi as a result of the publicity surrounding the hire car issue Jews 'Why the are so Touchy? ' Rabbi Mattuck, who was the author charged question asked 'a healthy body becomes that through most sensitive so many explained with responding, blows.' See Endelman (1990), op cit, p 196. This metaphor could easily be applied to what happened to Epstein and could help to explain why he harboured his deep distrust of Persistent left him the attacks press. and abuse particularly sensitive, and and journalists incentive to him to his harshest continue an provoke critics and the viewing gave accordingly Felsenstein (apparently) theme, that Coleridge On spots similar wondered about a public. Jews influenced by the behaviour they treated, than of was the way were rather whether failings 'any of their own,' and he goes on to cite the following question endemic because of have been hard [Jews] 'If and griping in their dealings, may it not have been from the poet: have received? To treat men as if they were incapable of they treatment the by occasioned ' Felsenstein, 80 them 279, 63, he op cit, so. p that to and is p n where make explains virtue is Coleridge to conjectural the attribution 37

he that unpleasant appearance, was avaricious, that he could not be trusted and that he was, at best, a second-class citizen. Nevertheless, in spite of all of these examples, quite how much all of this stereotyping of the Jew was understood or believed by the population at large, and the journalists and press in particular, is difficult to determine. The fact remains that a series of negative stereotypes existed at the crucial period when English Jewish artists were forging ahead in their chosen fields. The problem was that even in a relatively liberal and enlightened society, they could never be seen simply as English artists, and any attention was inevitably tainted with the stigma of otherness. This all points toward the consideration of the most emotive subject

that of -

anti-Semitism. 1.2

Anti-Semitism

Let us be done with Jews and Jobbery Let us spit upon those who fawn on the Jews for their money. Pound, from BLAST, 1915 137

Ezra

In an interview for a television documentary which was broadcast in 1987, Epstein's daughter, Peggy-Jean, made the following comments concerning Epstein's delight at receiving a Knighthood:

'He'd met such a great deal of

felt he like that [the Knighthood] was a slap his lifetime, in that anti-Semitism fun him for being Jewish, or being a had that these of made at all people 138 Stephen Gardiner, 'Epstein's horrific According for to that matter. sculptor in English the boil down to general, were something very simple: experiences 139 hated both. they Jews; the anyone might assume against art and According to Nicholas de Lange, technically, anti-Semitism 'is the name of a founded theory on group prejudice and a pseudo-scientific movement, political

137Excerpt from a poem in BLAST, by Ezra Pound, also cited in Rose, op cit, p 89 138See the television documentary Rebel Angel, op cit 139Gardiner, op cit, p 258

140 For the sake of this research, however, I use the term in the sense of race ., that is probably most commonly now accepted. Indeed, de Lange states that today 'the term [anti-Semitism] can be found [ ] applied to almost any ... manifestation of anti-Jewish sentiment or action, ranging from personal 141 prejudice to state policies, and while he was adamant that 'this objectionable term [ ... ] be reserved and restricted to its proper use,P142I believe that for clarity in the context of this research, common usage outweighs the more complex semantics. My use of the term anti-Semitism is restricted to the simple definition from the Concise Oxford Dictionary: i.e. 'hostility to or prejudice against Jews.' 143 There is a difference between negative recognition of someone's Jewishness, per se, and having a particular bias or prejudice against it, although how this difference manifests itself is not easy to identify or define.

This indicates one of the major

problems with trying to pursue an argument of bias, particularly an antiSemitic bias. It is the carefully disguised language which is the most difficult to identify, so it is only through collecting sufficient circumstantial evidence that certain reasoned ideas are suggested. It may be that it is more deal to appropriate with the prejudice simply as racism or xenophobia, rather than as anti-Semitism. For example, Roger Berthoud's observation is that 'the brooding, often negroid features with which [Epstein] frequently endowed his carvings, even those on Christian themes, seemed to forge an unholy 144 British between philistinism and racism. alliance As for the specific racism that impacts on Jewish artists, Epstein's own drawings 'the that or of my sculpture criticism average unfavourable assertion 145 is untenable, bearing in mind that I had never put down to anti-Semitism, 140See de Lange, Nicholas. 'The Origins of Anti-Semitism: Ancient Evidence of Modern Interpretations,' in Gilman, Sander L and Steven T Katz [Eds]. Anti-Semitism in Times of Crisis. New York and London: New York University Press, 1991, p 21 141 de Lange, ibid, p 22 142 de Lange, ibid, p 22 " Pearsall, Judy [Ed]. The Concise Oxford Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001, p 58. Frank Felsenstein raises similar concerns over the issue of the use of the term that have differentiate 'to between tried also although some noting antianti-Semitism, Semitism (hostility to Jews) and anti-Judaism (hostility to the Jewish religion), the distinction ' Felsenstein, little more of catching on widely. sign op cit, p8 has shown 14413erthoud,op cit, p 86 145Epstein (1942), op cit, pp 198-9

this statement prejudice.

this his the very concerning chapter appears at end of

The comment came after he had just dealt with an article which

was published in 1924, so he is saying that until then he had enjoyed acclaim and suffered savage criticism purely on account of his work, and without recognition of his Jewish identity.

It is an odd assertion, in view of the art

critic, Anthony Ludovici's (1882-1971) [Fig 26] criticism in The New Age as early as 1913, and the stinging attacks on the Strand Statues and the Risen Christ by Father Bernard Vaughan (1847-1922) [Fig 27] in 1908 and 1920 146 Commenting on the Strand Statues incident, Gardiner has respectively. 147 suggested that there could have been an anti-Semitic source, and he by concludes asking 'was the campaign inspired by anti-Semitism, egged on by jealousy from some other source?

Or was it merely what it appeared to

be, an outburst of moral wrath, a symptom of repressed heterosexuality, 148 ' Moreover, by Puritanism Victorian bottled up the of narrow values? Epstein's view is puzzling in view of particular incidents dating from his early in London. and middle years The first of these relates to a specific early example of Epstein coming into direct contact with an overtly anti-Semitic individual. There is a short report in The Times of 3rd January 1914 which cites a letter Epstein had written, threatening Lord Alfred Douglas (1870-1945), third son of the Marquis of Queensberry,

Oscar Wilde in the intervention Douglas's attempted over

disregard line: this 'Should letter included the Epstein's you memorial project. 149 This is double beauty I the really quick. remains of your warning shall spoil 146Vaughan was 'a Catholic priest [and] member of the National Vigilance Society.' See Gardiner, op cit, p 60. Buckle, however, describes Vaughan as 'an exhibitionistic Jesuit.' See Buckle, Richard. Jacob Epstein Sculptor. London: Faber & Faber, 1963, p 100 147See Gardiner, op cit, p 64 148See Gardiner, op cit, p 68

149See The Times, 3 January 1914 and The Daily Mirror, P January 1914, pp 3 and 4, (with for Angel Michael. An This incident is in Pennington, 3). a also cited a photograph on p for Oscar Tomb Wilde. Reading: Whiteknights Press, 1987, p 56 and Epstein's Jacob Martyr. Henry Moore Institute's Archive collection of Epstein documents, In the 98. in Rose, op cit, p th The New Age front dated lodged in 15 January 1914, the of copy of plete is there also a corn interesting this Current is issue heading is that the What about particular under a scrap-book. from The Daily Mirror Douglas. The is concerning quotation reads quotation Cant there a few is the dresses like the Douglas poets, of one perhaps only poet, who an Alfred 'Lord th Cant. ' The New See'Current Age, ' Vol XIV, No. January 11,15 1914, p English gentleman. there just items in issue, the since coincidental, are other is it which relate perhaps 325. interesting is it but Douglas is known an Epstein, to certainly coincidence. to also directly 40

a quite extraordinary outburst and one which raises questions about Epstein's motives and state of mind, although one contemporary cynic wrote in Town Topics that "'It is an uncharitable world, my masters," but I wonder whether we should have heard anything of Mr Epstein's letter to Lord Alfred Douglas if Mr Epstein had not at the present time just opened an exhibition of his works in Adelphi. 150 Comment on the report of the same incident in The DailY Mirror, records that Epstein admitted that he had written the letter 'under great 151 Douglas was both the founder of the anti-Semitic journal provocation., Plain English152and had been Oscar Wilde's lover, so both of these facts reveal a different emphasis on Epstein's motives for writing his threatening letter.

Coincidentally, there is a caricature of Douglas [Fig 28] by Henri

Gaudier-Brzeska,153but it is not clear if the two men were friends or just associates. There is also a sketch of Douglas (sat with George Moore in the Caf6 Royal) [Fig 29] drawn by Nina Hamnett in 1915,154and Hamneft was 155 Gaudier closely associated with at this time. A second incident relates to when Epstein also made threats of violence against another individual at about the same time. In this case it was against Ludovici, who had been less than complementary about Epstein in an article

have sued the writer Arthur Ransome, concerning libellous allegations in his 'ill-fated book on Oscar Wilde. ' See Hooker, op cit, p 76 150Unaccredited press cutting from Town Topics, 1oth January 1914. See Tate Archive ref: 8024.1

151See 'Author v Sculptor, ' The Daily Mirror, P January 1914, p 4. Incidentally, Epstein conveniently ignores this incident in his autobiography, although a brief comment does for his threatening 'Douglas Epstein's in summons me notes, which reads: manuscript appear life. My angry letter to him read out in court and I am bound over to keep the peace. Farcical denouement. ' See the archive in the NAGW. In a BBC radio programme first broadcast in August 1960, the artist Horace Brodzky recalled the controversy with Douglas, stating that it 'may have been' something to do with the Oscar Wilde tomb. BBC recording, reference LP 26329,7 th August 1960

152See Beeston, David. 'Anti-Semitic Journalism and Authorship in Britain: 1914-21', Unpublished PhD Thesis, Loughborough University of Technology, 1988, p 78. This is Stone English [was] hate'Plain that the Dan by who wrote antisemitic vehemently supported Alfred Douglas, Wilde Catholic in his Lord by post-Oscar reincarnation as sheet run Dan. Stone, Breeding Superman. Nietzsche, Race Eugenics in See ' and antisemite. Edwardian and Interwar Britain. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2002, p 23 153See Godfrey, Richard. English Caricature 1620 to the Present Caricaturists and Satirists, Influence. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1984, p 122 Purpose and their Art, their 154 41 Hooker, p cit, op See 155There are also at least two caricatures of Douglas by Max Beerbohm. See Felstiner, John. Beerbohm's Parody Caricature. Max London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1973, Art. and The Lies of 47 10-11 p and between pp 41

dated 18th December 1913.156 A subsequent letter from Douglas Fox Pitt (1864-1922), a fellow founder member of the London Group, to the Editor of The New Age, published on 8th January 1914, admonished Epstein for 'threatening to blacken the eyes of an individual [i.e. Ludovici] who dares to 157 his Fox Pitt also added the rather succinct write adversely of work. observation that 'liberty to express oneself freely in marble implies equal liberty to criticise in writing. 158 Such an aggressive nature, as displayed by Epstein, surely had to have been fired by a serious level of personal Indeed, close attention to Ludovici's words reveals that he provocation? appeared to be against the man rather than his work, since he referred to Epstein in terms of his 'minor and non-value-creating ego' and as 'a minor personality, ' after stating earlier that 'to understand what I think of Jacob Epstein is not d iffiCUIt.,159 There is no mention at all of any of the work itself. Similarly, the response from Epstein's supporter, the philosopher TE Hulme, hardly considered Epstein's work. In fact he introduced his essay by stating that 'this is an article then not so much on Epstein as on his critics. 160 A final example linking Epstein with an anti-Semitic character is uncovered in a very revealing chapter in Roy Campbell's autobiography. Stephen Gardiner

156Ludovici wrote about the Jews and he may be considered distinctly anti-Semitic. (See www.anthonymludovici. com). See also Cobbett (the pseudonym of Anthony M Ludovici). Jews and the Jews in England. London: Boswell Publishing Co. Ltd, 1938. According to Dan Stone 'Ludovici became involved with the proto-fascist group the English Mistery, wrote articles in the English Review praising the Third Reich, turned to antisemitism, and even travelled to Nuremberg to attend a rally.' See Stone, op cit, p 15. As early as 1910, Ludovici was listed in the advertisements in The New Age as giving 'Lectures on Nietzsche and Art' at University College, London, on the subjects of 'Anarchy in Modern Art', 'Nietzsche's Art th History. ' See The NewAge, 24 November 1910, p 96 Canon'and 'Its Application to 157Fox Pitt, Douglas. 'Mr Epstein and his Work' (Letter to the Editor) in The New Age, Vol. XIV, No. 10,8 January 1914, p 319. This is also cited by Michael Pennington. See Pennington, Michael. 'Jacob Epstein: the years of abstraction, 1909-1920.' Unpublished MLitt Thesis. University of Edinburgh, 1989, p 120 and p. 211, note 99 155Fox Pitt, op cit, p 319 159Ludovici, Anthony M. 'Art. The Carfax, the Suffolk Street and the Twenty-One Galleries.' th No. December 1913, pp 214-5 XIV, 7,18 The New Age, Vol. 160Hulme, TE. 'Mr Epstein and the Critics.' The New Age, Vol. XIV, No. 8,25 th December by fact Hulme that this The essay 251. was reproduced in both Haskell's series of 1913, p Epstein's Epstein, in indicates importance the Epstein and autobiography, with conversations The fact it its that is content. about his critics, rather than his work per se, on himself placed it as communicates a real concern with the literary response, rather significant is particularly 'plastic' the Hulme necessary appreciation called than what 42

introduces Campbell as 'the anti-Semitic South African poet'161who came to England where he married Mary Garman, Katherine's sister.162 The chapter titled Marriage introduces Epstein with the nickname Sennacheribs and only once refers to him by his given name, when describing the portrait bust he 163 Jacob Kramer. Campbell also variously refers to Epstein as 'the made of Jerusalemite-Assyrian, ' 'the famous fruity sculptor,' 'this saccharhinoceros old advocate of virtue,' 'the somewhat frowsy scruff of the self-appointed apostle 164 'the horn-mad Levantine. As already noted, of purity' and evil-minded and it is known that Campbell was anti-Semitic and he was writing these memoirs in 1951, so it is necessary to treat his views with a certain amount of caution, (and he is said to have been one to exaggerate his stories for dramatic 65) effeCtl , but it does give an important impression of the kind of personal antiSemitic animosity Epstein experienced. In addition to these elements of stereotypical characterisations, Campbell also accuses Epstein of being 'too good a business man to perform any of the romantic extravagances to which 166 he pretended, in response to Epstein's claim that he had gone home in a rage and smashed up a bust of Kathleen Garman on which he had been working.

He continues by arguing that 'the pretence even of being so

romantically ungovernable was in itself thoroughly good business, advertising an "artistic temperament", and all of a piece with adding a couple of inches or

161Gardiner, op cit, p 219. In Alexander's biography of the poet, there are several references to Campbell's real or perceived anti-Semitism. See Alexander, op cit, pp 177-9 and 189. There is also information linking him to Richard Aldington, of whom Campbell wrote: 'he his hostile. He is Lewis] WL [Wyndham in the that bit like of reactions are most way seems a Eliot, 'Jew' including Lewis For him is a everybody a recluse and seems anti-everything. and Pound.' See Alexander, op cit, p 219 162Note, however, that the name in Campbell's book is printed as Jarman, and Kathleen is Presumably in her the the friend than to minor changes names sister. rather as a referred as doubt libel, but is there details to no about to whom accusations absolutely of avoid and were he is referring, taking account of the other characters, locations and incidents being described 163The use of this particular nickname has not been noted in the existing history of Epstein, Cressida Connolly's Alexander, 33 in in just passing mention cit, p and op a and receives history of the Garmans. See Connolly, Cressida. The Rare and the Beautiful. London: Fourth Estate, 2004, pp 27-8 164 Campbell, op cit, pp 239-251 165Alexander, for example, asserts that 'Campbell was a great myth-maker. His two distort do for the truth; it they merely and conceal not substitute an elaborate autobiographies has be to ' He torn 'a to a realistic mask which un-truth, aside. also refers and consistent [that] lacks to ' Alexander, Campbellian any power yarn convince. op cit, pp vii and typically 179 respectively 166 241 p cit, Campbell, op 43

167 Thus, few in lines, he to the his a short so sex of sculptures. manages to his business highlighting his honesty, question acumen and identifying while his tactic of including more shocking elements in his work to attract more attention.

Campbell continues with fairly graphic descriptions of the nightlife

in London at the time the two men were forming relationships with the Garman

sisters, illustrating

how Epstein was caught eavesdropping

keyholes, and how the two men fought on at least one occasion. Of course there is no mention of this in Epstein's writing, although in an unpublished extract from Epstein's manuscript there is the line 'in the night life of London one met some pretty slimy characters but it is a side of life that has had 168 do Perhaps this was a veiled reference nothing whatever to with my work. to Campbell and other similarly racist characters? The recollections of an acquaintance of Epstein include the line 'the trivial and from left him hostility indifferent; the attacks serious of gutter press vulgar Group bitter in Bloomsbury him the made perhaps more such as critics 169 Arnold friends led him in but to talk reply public. seldom private with Haskell's opinion is helpful here. He notes that 'I think that the Bloomsbury far hurt [Epstein] but hit tut-tutted they out never sniffed and needling P170 in the than the popular press. obvious attacks more Relevant, because of Epstein's association with the subject, in an account of The London Group, Denys Wilcox comments on the spectre of anti-Semitism, English have to history the art shown at an exhibition of attempts and outlines in Berlin in 1937.

At the time, Epstein wrote to The Evening Standard

from been banned had Jewish that his exhibiting, artists concern expressing but his stance was undermined by Sir John Lavery, whose own letter to the his Epstein 'Mr that supporters are under a and same newspaper claimed

167

Campbell, op cit, p 241 168See the Manuscript, NAGW. (Left out from the text on page 114 in Epstein (1942), op cit) 169See Brown, op Cit, p 55. Also quoted in Silber (Epstein in Person), in Silber and Friedman, o cit, p3 1r00Haskell (1972), op Cit, p 54 44

misapprehension, [and that the proposed exhibition was] not an attempt at Nazi propaganda. 171Wilcox's appropriate summary is that: the pre-war complacency towards anti-Semitism was widespread In this particular instance Sir John Lavery amongst the establishment. That such was very much a representative of the art establishment. obvious prejudice could have been treated so lightly is indicative of a rather ambivalent attitude towards Nazism on the part of certain 172 establishment figures.

On a similar theme of establishment

bias or complacency, June Rose

reported the words of Sir Martin Conway, the director of the Imperial War Museum in 1917, who wrote that Epstein should make 'a series of typical heads serving in the various contingents of the British Army [

] Jews, Turks,

... infidels and all the rest. 173 Rose asserts that in this statement Conway dmanaged subtly to class the artist with all the riff-raff. 174 One of the few

direct connections comes from a comment made by Charles Holden, the for first Epstein's architect responsible major commission, who wrote that 'one hears many criticisms of Epstein which are merely contemptible, reflecting ill175 temper, racial prejudice and vulgar spite. Evidence shows that Epstein had to be cautious when dealing with the subject in his writing.

As mentioned in the introduction, he changed a chapter title

Jew the the to and anti-Semitism and of words, use remove and subheading to his in a particularly antireferring when manuscript, autobiography also Semitic article in The New Age, his original text states that it was 'so Rusticus, I [and] who was was signed with a pseudonym venomous, so vile, looking' 'villainous ' The [sic]. Yugo-Slav looking told was a villainous words have been crossed out, whilst the published version simply reads 'this review, 171Wilcox, Denys J. The London Group 1913-39: The Artists and their Works. Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1995, p 27 172Wilcox, ibid, p 27. A brief note in The Daily Mirror reported that Sir John Lavery had for Mr AJ RA. Honour Royal Academy. Day 'Derby for to the Epstein election nominated th Racehorses. ' The Daily Mirror, 28 May 1925, p3 Munnings, the Painter of

173Rose, op Cit, p 109. This is also quoted in Harries, Meirion and Susie Harries, The War Joseph, 1983, 127, (although Michael the quotation in this case includes p London: Artists. 'infidels' before 'and ') Frank Felsenstein the the and word 'heretics' all rest. after the word Turks, "Jews, Infidels first found Heretics, " in in 1548 'the phrase, and combined that explains Prayer, term forms in throughout Common as a general recurs of abuse various Book The of Felsenstein, 49 ' op cit, p the eighteenth century. 174 109 P Rose, op cit, fails Gardiner to give a reference for this citation 78. 175Gardiner, op Cit, p 45

so venomous, so vile, was signed with a pseudonym - Rusticus

176 ,

At the

. end of this short chapter, in manuscript form, is the line 'this astonishing tirade might have been written in Nazi Germany, ' although the published text uses

the rather less emotional description, 'the Germany of today. ' 177 In addition to the correlation between the stereotyping of Jews and the negative manifestation of this through anti-Semitism, it is also necessary to consider stereotypes as they applied specifically in the arts. 1.3

Stereotypes

in the Arts

As Gilman asserts in the opening paragraphs of Difference and Pathology (1985), stereotypes are created as 'a universal means of coping with anxieties 178 by engendered our inability to control the world and it is clear that those artists who disrupted the status quo in the British art world of the early twentieth century fundamentally challenged elements of control and power. Avant-garde art signalled a lack of control, in the sense that artists were not being constrained by the art establishment and thus were creating work outside of the normal limits of acceptability; the fact that Jewish artists were some of the key protagonists must have increased the collective levels of bolstering to the and perpetuating negative press was not averse anxiety, and stereotypes. Gilman discusses the question of the arts in Germany at the end of the dominating the 'Jews artistic and as perceived were nineteenth century where 179 literary avant-garde' and he further asserts that 'it is clear that the "Jewish" the was partially owing as predominantly avant-garde perception of 180 This to the cultural outsider status shared by the Jew and the avant-garde. links well with the stereotypical Jewish genius, especially that of artistic fin-dethe definition Jew 'in the Gilman As makes clear, common of genius. 176Epstein (1942), op cit, p 196. The biggest irony in this particular case is that The New Age to home it had been during been the an offensive such article, have after so supportive should years war 177 198 (1942), p cit, op Epstein 178 12 (1985), p cit, op Gilman 179Gilman (1985), op cit, p 233 180 233 (1985), p cit, op Gilman 46

destructive he [was that [and that the Jews] negative and was] si6cle culture 181 He to imagination the medical literature goes on summarise no possess ., Jews' 'aesthetic that time the of and concludes creations were therefore [thought to be] inherently flawed, as they reflected a diseased mind. 182 Furthermore, he explains, 'any seeming genius shown by the Jew was [seen 183 his degeneracy. Thus, the perception of degeneracy, of a mark as] disease

and

madness

was

attached

demonstrating any creative genius. Jew in [ the genius

those

Jewish

individuals

For Otto Weininger, 'what passes for

] is but 96 exaggerated egotism" [and] Jewish creativity is

... 184 Epstein, or any of the other Jewish artists working in inherently superficial.

the avant-garde could not have expected to avoid this perception. Any work that showed signs of radical new ideas could easily have been disregarded as either derivative, and therefore of no real artistic value, or degenerate, and therefore of no serious interest either. Once again it is worth remembering that stereotypes were acknowledged from Steyn Juliet For Jewish itself. the a quotes example, community within he Chief Adler because that by Rabbi in 1902 emphasised speech made Jews' behaviour was disproportionate in its effect.

Adler said that 'every

Jewish scamp, every Jewish money-lender, every Jewish cheat, does more harm to Judaism than a Christian scamp, [

] money-lender, [

] cheat, does

... ... 185 In this case it can be seen, therefore, that if this harm to Christianity. theory is applied to the arts, and if the more radical of the Jewish artists were 61ite Jewish that fear the be 'scamps' there assimilated among would seen as the artists were bringing unwanted attention to their community.

It could be

Jewish Jewish the that this critics may not press and/or explains why argued 186 An excellent slice have been as supportive as might have been expected. be found in the here can evidence contemporary of pertinent, primary, 181

Gilman (1991), op cit, p 128 182 Gilman (1991), op cit, p 129 183 Gilman (1991), op cit, p 129 184 See Gilman (1991), op cit, p 134 185 Steyn (1999), OPcit, p 28 186Nevertheless, as modern movements became more established and mainstream, there For Jewish in May from the 1931 Jewish Chronicle the example, press. was support 'three the fact that in day the greatest of names present sculpture are Jewish highlighted Zadkine, and Lipchitz.' See Berthoud, op cit, p 111 Epstein, names 47

minutes book of the Jewish Exhibition Committee in March 1906. As part of their efforts to secure funding for the exhibition of Jewish history, life and art, planned for later that year at the Whitechapel Gallery, approaches were made to wealthy members of the Jewish community to seek financial support. The text of the minutes is worth quoting in full: The Rev S Singer reported on the result of his endeavours to obtain promises of financial support for the scheme of a Jewish Exhibition. He said that the idea had generally met with strong opposition, based first, two that so much had recently been required mainly on grounds of the community for matters of absolute necessity, that 99 communal (illegible) 99was inopportune; and secondly that the Jewish people had been too much in the public eye of late; these objections had been aired by Lord Rothschild, Sir Samuel Montague and Mr Claude Monteflore, 187 among others.

This explicit nervousness about the over-exposure of Jewish people indicates the too to to attract much attention a genuine concern about not wanting established, more affluent community. These examples point to the next issue, which is the question of assimilation.

1.4

Assimilation

The relationship between established, native or acculturated Jews and the On hand, the immigrants one was a complex one. relatively recently arrived the established Jewish community was keen to provide aid and assistance to the most needy of the arrivals, but on the other , Ithe intimate connection between poverty and disreputability alarmed acculturated middle-class Jews 188 Thus any philanthropic because it threatened their social achievements. There is some 189 in home, less desirable the a that sent were arrivals many of evidence Jewish the the to designed overall class of prevent a weakening of measure in least part, aimed at self-preservation. activity was, at

community.

Of specific interest here, it is known that William Rothenstein

187See the Minutes Book in the Whitechapel Gallery archive 188See Endelman (2002), op cit, p 83. See also Peter Gross's description of how the newly Anglo-Jewry's 'not its Jews only challenged comfortable perceptions of own eastern arrived that host the the to possibility real very community but would come equate all identity, raised Gross, ' 11 op cit, p Jews with this new underclass. 189See, for example, Wolff, Janet. AngloModern: Painting and Modernity in Britain and the University Cornell Press, London: 2003, 130-131 Ithaca and States. p United

suggested that Epstein might be better suited to working in Paris, Berlin or New York, and Gardiner has intimated that 'this sounded like another effort to "90 A cartoon by Powys Evans (Quiz) [Fig 30] has been used get rid of him. by Colin Holmes to illustrate his essay about racial violence in Britain, but it is of particular relevance to this point. In the cartoon, according to the caption, we see 'Sir William Joynson-Hicks (1865-1932) ousting aliens with discrimination."91 Joynson-Hicks is holding on to the Union flag and apparently physically ejecting some young men from a club or restaurant, while in the foreground a well-dressed unidentified man with a prominent nose lips, and a large cigar and a glass in hand, a large ring on his finger and several decorations and items of jewellery about his person, sits at a table ignoring the activity behind him. Holmes adds detail to the image, asserting that the drawing is 'a cartoon comment [ ] on how poor East European Jews ... kept were out whilst their wealthy Anglicised co-religionists remained secure' he and concludes that 'social discrimination was both more insidious and 192 The point, in relation to pervasive particularly in respect of anti-Semitism. the arts, is that by definition the artists were drawing increased attention to the Jewish community and, undoubtedly there were those amongst the acculturated Mite who did not welcome adverse attention. Endelman confirms that there was the common tendency to view all Jews - rich and poor, cultured and [meaning that] the mass coarse - as part of one undifferentiated fuelled the anti-Jewish sentiment in general and poor misbehaviour of ' 93 thus threatened their own successful integration. He also argues that 6native leaders reasoned that their community's previous immunity to continental-style

due in great part to its anti-Semitism was

190Gardiner, op cit, p 48 191Holmes, op cit, p 42. The cartoon is undated and Holmes makes no specific reference to it in the main body of his text, however Joynson-Hicks is a well-known figure, having been Home Secretary in Baldwin's government of 1924-29, and was himself featured in many Joynson-Hicks is have to in Low by said others. made and anti-Semitic speeches cartoons himself 'scarcely to the wealthy, cosmopolitan [ ] 61ite'. See 1906, in endearing Manchester ... Joynson-Hicks' in Matthew, HCG and Brian Harrison [Eds]. 'William FML. Thompson, Oxford: Vol 27. Oxford Biography. University Press, 2004, p 38. (NB: National Dictionary of held National the (Quiz) Portrait Gallery) at Powys sketchbooks There are 192 Holmes, op cit, p 42 193Endelman (2002), op cit, p 83

194 become to English. An editorial from the Jewish Chronicle from willingness August 1891 made it quite clear that 'as long as there is a section of Jews in England who proclaim themselves aliens by their mode of life, by their very looks, by every word they utter, so long will the entire community be an object 195 distrust Englishmen. to Another article from the Jewish Chronicle, dated of 1888, warned that: if poor Jews will persist in appropriating whole streets to themselves in the same district, if they will conscientiously persevere in the seemingly harmless practice of congregating in a body at prominent points in a great public thoroughfare like the Whitechapel or Commercial Road, drawing to their peculiarities of dress, of language and of manner, the attention which they might otherwise escape, can there be any wonder that the vulgar prejudices of which they are the objects should be kept What can the untutored, unthinking denizen of alive and strengthened. the East End believe in the face of such facts but that the Jew is an alien in every sense of the word - alien in ideas, in sympathy, and in interests from the rest of the population, utterly indifferent to who he may injure so long as he benefits himself. 196

As Steyn summarises, 'the immigrants were condemned from inside the Jewish community - as well as from outside - for their visibility, for their differences, for just being there. 197 Invariably, of course, artists attempt to be as visible as possible, so the Jewish artists were perceived as only adding to 198 the difficulties of their community.

194Endelman (2002), op cit, p 171. Peter Gross notes that in Britain at the turn of the century there was 'a dominant ideology, that of Anglo-Jewry or Anglo-Judaism. This ideology flowed down from a close knit, inter-related group of families, who increasingly dominated Jewish half 1 9th throughout the the that of second of community affairs, claimed representation See Gross, 8-9. In World War. ' do First the to op cit, pp so after until century and continued his biography of Epstein, Stephen Gardiner writes about the Jewish characteristic of wanting to merge with Western society, before continuing with a note about Israel Zangwill's play The Melting Pot in which 'the quicker immigrants could melt into the background and pass as Americans, and appear part of the New York scene, the faster they would make it to the better life. ' Gardiner, op cit, pp 6-7. Could this explain Epstein's desire to come to England, he in New York than he fact out and attract in stand greater attention might or could where America? in elsewhere 195 See Endelman (2002), op cit, p 172 196 Steyn (1999), op cit, pp 62-3 197 Steyn (1999), OPCit, p 63 198Peter Gross notes that Mark Gertler's 1913 painting, A Jewish Family, 'confronts the Rothschild leadership the Anglo-Jewry had and been which of everything, striving viewer with here image In a ' specific was example words, other of an of Jews not helping to eliminate. Gross, See 34-5 op cit, pp assimilation. of with the process 50

In the context of the concept of assimilation, Jewish Chronicle is interesting.

the use of the word alien in the

Elizabeth Barker uses the word alien at least

seven times in her essay, both as a noun and as an adjective.

There is also

an example from an account of the East End, which remarks on 'predatory and features which the word 'alien' describes with such peculiar felicity. "99 Epstein was alien, both as a foreigner and a Jew, and he was noses

perceived as unfamiliar and distasteful, of his more controversial or'alien'

works.

both in his lifestyle and in the content

It is easy, therefore, to see how any radical

art could have contributed to a feeling of distrust. The artists and the

works were boldly proclaiming their difference; their look and their utterances were unashamedly is unsurprising,

Jewish, if only in the sense that they were not English.

therefore,

that even elements

of the established

Jewish

community were opposed to the new art; they were implicated by association 200 and were fearful of increased anti-Semitism as a resu It.

Thus, assimilation remained problematic.

Overt support for the more radical

for Jews in have the situation worsened could only and controversial art work be 61ite in they the seen as could particular, since acculturated general and the protagonists with the power to promote the work and, therefore, could be degree. for it, to some viewed as responsible

An example of this tension

between the 61ite and the radical moderns is demonstrated by Janet Wolff Woolf Leonard between the is to it that relationship read possible who argues Jew the 'the Gertler in terms Mark resisting educated, assimilated of, and 201 A similar case threat of a more foreign, un-English Jewishness in Gertler. 199See Endelman (2002), op cit, p 200 200 David Manson suggests that Jacob Kramer complained that he was not sufficiently 'many, that he but Jewish by the as successful out also points community, supported Jacob David. ' Manson, had him their portraits. paint entrepreneurs and professional people, Kramer. - Creativity and Loss. Bristol: Sansom and Co, 2006, p 100. Manson also cites a but Jews, 'lovers them that Kramer many of art number among who suggested supporter of he would be very bold, who could assert that Jewish artists have been appreciated by their fellow Jews. ' Manson, ibid, p 102. Later Manson records Kramer's comments that 'since I began to paint in Leeds, I have had only two commissions from the Jewish community. ' Manson, ibid, p 152 201Wolff (2003), op cit, p 131. In his study Radical Assimilation in English Jewish History Endelman lengthy description Mark Todd the a (1990) gives relatively of case of 1656-1945 Gertler three was undoubtedly the most assimilated, thanks to his painters, Gertler. Of the figures, but it is here because he society noteworthy with precisely extended association Endelman history figure in the describes. Bomberg listed is along significant appears as a Golding Louis the the other artists and as most Rosenberg prominent and of Isaac with

for be the made relationship between Epstein and PG Konody, the could for the Observer. critic art respected

202

During his reminiscences of the

Rothermere commission, Epstein originally described Konody as a 'rat-like 203 little person, although this was published as 'a razor-nosed little person. 204 Either description indicates that it is clear that Epstein had no respect for this particular critic, and to add some context, in 1913 Konody's review of Epstein's Rock Drill was damning. He complained that 'the whole effect is loathsome. Even leaving aside the nasty suggestiveness of the whole utterly thing, there remains the irreconcilable

contradiction

between the crude

realism of the real machinery (of American make) combined with an 205 figure. It is also interesting to note that, in the context abstractedly treated of the specific argument of assimilation, Konody included the fact that the drill was American made, as if to emphasise the foreign nature of the work. Of further interest is that in Epstein's manuscript, there is the line Xonody pointed out how unwise it would be for me to find fault with the pictures [in Rothermere's collection], ' but this has been crossed through and it was not 206 The published line reads as Xonody waylaid me [ ] and made published. ... 207 decry to to the lord Rothermere. The a personal appeal me not pictures of use of the word 'unwise' implies an almost sinister obligation on Epstein's part to toe the line, and since Rothermere had commissioned him, he must have writers, but Epstein and Kramer are not mentioned, even by association. Perhaps this tells us more about the profile of Gertler as a society figure rather than as an artist? As shown in earlier examples, Gertler was always identified as a Jew, yet he was forever seeking to define himself through association with resolutely English friends. As Endelman pointed out, for Gertler, 'artistic success brought in its wake integration into wealthy Gentile circles, not wealthy Jewish circles. ' Endelman (1990), op cit, p 187. This is an assessment supported by Peter Gross's analysis, in which he noted that by 1910 'the Gertlers were [ ] of or very close ... to being in the middle class [and that] they had moved up the ladder towards a degree of acculturation.' See Gross, op cit, p 39 202In 1928 Epstein made a portrait bronze of newspaper proprietor Lord Rothermere, who happened to have employed Konody as his art advisor. Evidently, art collectors were 'tutored by critics. ' See Lang, Gladys Engel and Kurt Lang. Etched in Memory. The Building and Survival of Artistic Reputation. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2001, p 247. Lord Beaverbrook was known to have been advised by Konody. See Epstein (1942), op cit, p 81 and Lang and Lang, op cit, p 254. Nevertheless, the finished bust did not find favour and 'Rothermere's secretaries seemed particularly upset by the work. ' See Epstein (1942), op cit, known Rothermere's in house in Sunningdale, but it has The 81. casting was placed only p long since disappeared. See Epstein (1942), op cit, p 81 and Silber (1986), op cit, p 164 203 See the archive in the NAGW 204 Epstein (1942), op cit, p 81 th 205 Konody, PG. The Observer, 14 March, 1913, cited by Rose, op cit, p 95 206 NAGW in the See the archive 207 See Epstein (1942), op cit, p 81

had to have been careful not to offend his patron. Thus, since he was a fellow Jew, Konody must have upset Epstein for reasons other than racial bias, but could this have been a case of Konody distancing himself from perceived Jewish degeneracy, fearing negative associations, which he as a Jew and an art critic was trying to minimise, for fear of impinging on his own reputation? In an essay dealing with what she terms 'the Jewish mark', which will be further examined below, Janet Wolff is also concerned with a similar period of history (1910-1920). She makes it clear that this particular time was a 'crucial [period] in the formation of a new and important conception of Englishness. 208 Here, at a time when England was experiencing a sustained period of doubt its identity, over was thrown a group of Jewish (read: not English) artists. It is a cruel coincidence that just at the time when England was trying to define its identity, so much of the headline-making visual art was Jewish, or worse, in the case of Epstein, American and Jewish. As Wolff clarifies, 'to be English 209 was, amongst other things, to be not-Jewish and that 'the excluded other 21 0 [was] Jew. Echoing this, Sander Gilman suggests that the par excellence 21 1 Jew 'was The timing was the perceived as the radical par excellence. crucial: the established English Jews, fully assimilated into English society had their own fears of the incoming masses fleeing Eastern Europe, and Wolff Jew influx, for 'might not so easily have 1880-1914 the but the that, suggests 212 EnglishneSS, in 'necessary the the construction of and that other' served as 213 they'might, indeed, have passed for English. Gilman uses a lengthy citation from Konstantyn Jelenski to illustrate the point that Jews are perpetually in the invidious position of being unable to escape factor is this which makes assimilation a constant negative stereotyping, and more difficult.

Gilman's argument is that stereotypes are liable to change, in

defining in them, the the the to circumstances and case of of group suit order 208 Wolff,

Janet. 'The 'Jewish mark' in English painting: cultural identity and modern art' in Corbett and Perry, op cit, p 180 209 Wolff (Jewish mark), ibid, p 180 210 Wolff (Jewish mark), ibid, p 182 21 1 Gilman (1985), OPCit, p 35 212 (citing David 182, Feldman) (Jewish OP Cit, p mark), Wolff 213 Wolff (Jewish mark), op cit, p 182

the Jew there is no exception to this principle. Jewishness is prescribed onto them, like a projection, where they were at once hated because they 'do not want to assimilate, and also because they do assimilate; [ ] because they ... lack culture and because they are overly cultured. 214 As far as the artists were concerned, they could be criticised for lack of originality and for following a trend rather than leading one, but similarly they were criticised for being too radical, too avant-garde,

too challenging.

This protean quality of the

stereotype must have made it even more difficult for the Jewish artist to define his style or his vision, since whichever way he chose to explore would inevitably invite arguments that confirmed the stereotypes, especially those of degeneracy and lack of creative imagination.

On a domestic level, to some

extent Jews have been rejected for failing to integrate or to intermarry, but at the same time they are believed to have been diluting the purity of the host nation's population if they did start families with non-Jews.

Jews marrying

within the Jewish community gave rise to assumptions of inbreeding and even incest, which was itself seen as a justifiable reason for prejudice, bias and rejection.

A perceived system of endogamous marriage, incest and the

preservation of the purity of Jewish blood cannot have been helpful to the Gilman to sums up the situation by stating community attempting assimilate. that 'inbreeding is incestuous and is a sign of the Jews' "primitive" nature, 215 Western The bounds their existence outside the of acceptable, practice. Jews immigrant dominant image the that they is the that of married was point intermarry did their not, as a rule, with the native and within own community feared is it that The was concurrently population. confusion and contradiction that if Jews did intermarry with the indigenous English populace, the nation [ Steyn 14 ' Juliet to find itself mongrelized, refers as a with what would

] hybrid

... 216 for Thus, Jews hence impure population. were condemned marrying and

distinctive their and communities perpetuating a alien community own within feared for time the their the consequences of mixing with, same and yet at 'pure' the native stock. and therefore weakening,

214Gilman (1985), op Cit, p 29. The same reference to Jelenski is made by Felsenstein. See 13-14 pp Felsenstein, op cit, 215 158 (1985), p cit, op Gilman 216 66 p (1999), Cit, Op Steyn 54

With this in mind, where Epstein's case is particularly interesting is that he 217 British married a woman (seven years his senior and a divorcee ) but she bore none of his children. Three different British (read: non-Jewish) women bore him five children over a period of sixteen years, so he could not be accused challenged

inbreeding,

although

such

overt

promiscuity

undoubtedly

the mores of English society, and it was just the kind of

scandalous detail the popular press would need to spice-up any reports purporting to be about the art he was making [Fig 31]. The implied perception was that here was the arrogant outsider displaying his virility at the expense of 218 the pure British stock. Clearly, efforts to assimilate often proved to be difficult and as Jews moved up through society 'they encountered new levels of ill-will and unpleasantness 17 21 9 blamed 'embourgeoisement. Key the timing which was partly on of their factors at home, such as industrial depression, labour unrest and poor housing combined with international events such as the Bolshevik uprising and the growth of Nazism, all served to '[heighten] the "Jew consciousness" of 220 Certainly Jew heightened Britons. this consciousness as a ordinary was Jewish in the press. increased the artists of visibility of result

1.5

The Jewish Artist

As far as the visual arts are concerned, there were two notable figures that found themselves accepted into the establishment around the turn of the 217Gardiner noted that, at the time, Margaret's 'behaviour was unthinkable: to leave a It in 1930 is interesting that Gardiner, 50. ' for p op cit, artist. an and respectable man Margaret was referred to by her maiden name as Miss Margaret Dunlop. See RHW. 'People You Would Like to Know. Jacob Epstein.' Woman's Journal, March 1930, no page number 218Gertler, by comparison, although he had a reputation as a womaniser, (this is based on information in Carrington, Noel [Ed]. Mark Gertler. Selected Letters. London: Rupert HartDavis, 1965, Woodeson, John. Mark Gertler Biography of a Painter, 1891-1939. London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1972, and MacDougall, op cit. In addition, Sarah MacDougall stated to me that 'indeed, he had a reputation as something of a womaniser.' Email communication th dated 28 June 2006) only fathered one child, (a boy named Luke) by his (Catholic) wife, and Bomberg did marry twice but had only one child by his second wife, Lillian. Kramer remained (although his biographer, David Manson, has had children, most no recent bachelor and a In David illegitimate Bomberg's children). of case, the subject of hinted at rumours Whilst he had interesting. Zionist the is connections movement at with a quite assimilation his life, his his later disapproval Zionism is of attitude an example and of of particular period Cork (Bomberg), See 276-277 biography. op cit, Cork's pp in cited 219 198 (2002), cit, p op See Endelman 220 198 (2002), p op cit, Endelman See 55

twentieth

century.

Solomon

J Solomon

fine

and

These were Sir William

Rothenstein

(1872-1945)

and

the became in 1906, second only who, Jewish artist to become a Royal Academician 221 Both were accomplished . painters but neither is remembered for having challenged the status quo in art,

Rothenstein artists

(1860-1927),

neither

would

be described

today

a modern

artist.

is a significant figure, however, not least for his support for young

including

Gertler

and, as Roger

Epstein and

Berthoud

identifies,

'though not in the front rank as an artist himself, he had an unerring eye for 222 quality in others.

In terms of cultural activity in Britain at the turn of the twentieth century, 'Jews little role in artistic, literary, or 223 At the end of the intellectual life, either as creators, patrons, or mediators.

were

distinctly

nineteenth,

a minority

[that]

played

and into the beginning

of the twentieth-century,

Geoffrey as

Alderman points out, there was 'a flowering of talent, much of which was very Jewish in its foCUS.,224 It is significant, therefore, that the early part of the 1910s produced such a number of exceptionally

gifted people from the ranks

of the Jewish minority, and that they sprang from the poorest section of the community.

A photograph

School from [Fig Slade 1912 32], the picnic of

history includes illustrate frequently been the to the has of period, used which Bomberg, Gertler and Rosenberg as well as CRW Nevinson, Dora Carrington, Dorothy Brett, Adrian Allinson and Stanley Spencer, all of whom have since history. British in cultural achieved some status figures

in the one

image

The fact that there are three is extraordinary,

but more

prominent

Jewish

remarkable

is that four other Jewish men, Jacob Kramer, Bernard Meninsky,

Mark Weiner and Morris Goldstein had also been students at the Slade at 225 history in important This the time. the of change marks a very same around Jews in Britain, indicating the moment that there was a shift from an inherently 221See Tickner, Lisa. Modem Life and Modem Subjects: British Art in the Early Twentieth Century. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2000, p 152 and p 282, n.48 and MacDougall, op cit, p 25. Cork also confirms this fact and adds that the first was Johan Royal founding the Academy. See Cork (Bomberg), op cit, of member Zoffany (1733-1810), a 61 323, n. 13 and ?p 2 Berthoud, op cit, p 60 223This is according to Endelman (1990), op cit, p 133 224Alderman, Geoffrey. Modem British Jewry. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992, p 211 225See Tickner (2000), op cit, p 149 56

negative to a potential, and real, positive impact on cultural life. What is also noteworthy is that here was a sudden surge of exceptional creative activity by a number of Jewish artists, just at the time when there was heightened fear of outsiders in general, coupled with an increase in anti-Semitic behaviour.

was perhaps inevitable, therefore, that the press coverage was influenced by this unfortunate convergence of events. It is also surprising that such a small minority as the Jewish community, and the correspondingly

tinier minority of Jewish artists, should apparently

had so much influence on the construction

have

of the twentieth century notion of

English identity.

Wolff argues that the importance of the visual arts, through

the art critical

discourse,

ideology

through

Furthermore,

(participated

the identification

Scoft-James

in the construction

(and invention)

of the national 226 of excluded entities.

wrote about how the press had a role in 'making a

nation articulate [and how it] contribute[d] to an ideal of complete national selffact Y227 The the through that the popular art so visible consciousness. was but factor has be the this to to as success of construction, a contributing press Wolff is quick to affirml 'these entities were ostensibly particular works of art. In fact, they were particular 228 minority.

artists and, through them, a particular

ethnic

Clearly, in the early part of the twentieth century, there was a significant Jewish to the artists coming amount of artistic activity, and a number of is the this An interesting the of consequence wider public. attention of to in they subjected racial and/or still are, were, and which extraordinary ways religious labelling. After studying a number of biographies, books and texts dealing with Epstein Jewish is has been how identity it his a noticeable often contemporaries, and There are many cases of artists being

prominent subject and concern. kind is if for this indelible Jewish, some of identified as as stamp, visible all to 226Wolff (Jewish mark), op c/.t' p 191 227Scott-James, op Cit, p 29 228 Wolff (Jewish mark), op cit, p 191

see. Even where the term Jew is not used in the pejorative sense, its use as 229

label a of identity is remarkably prevalent,

certainly in the early part of the

twentieth century, but also even in very much more recent times.

This

phenomenon will now be examined, to illustrate how common it was for the British to be aware of race, specifically in artistic circles, and to reveal how deeply entrenched was the national perception of the image of the Jew in Britain. In 1959, Epstein's obituary in The Times included the remarkable statement that 'the artistically relevant fact in his ancestry is that he was a Jew.

It is

impossible to judge his work fairly without reference to its racial flavour. 230 The writer went on to state that Epstein 'tended to give a Semitic character to Gentile subjects, and a good deal of what aroused hostility in his work was due to his racial preferences in physical types - his large-eyed and heavy231 Of the man himself, the obituarist declared lipped women, for example. that 'Epstein was a powerful stoutish man of dusky complexion and markedly 232 but description incredibly Jewish appearance, crass, now seems a which More it time. does the of significantly, perceptions evidence of provide which for familiar be Jewish the type typical directly that a concept would a confirms Times. The of reader

Bringing the evidence much more up-to-date, in

Richard Cork's 1985 publication, Art Beyond the Gallery in Early 20th Century 233 England, Epstein was introduced as 'a twenty-six-year-old New York Jew (who Gardiner to the Stephen Cork's book, in on write went a review of and, biography of Epstein) describes Epstein as 'this naturalised British, American234 In another case, Humphrey Burton, in his introduction to Born, Polish Jew. born Polish Jew, in Epstein 'a 1973 in documentary television calls made a

229Even Epstein himself described Madame Frida Strindberg as 'a little Jewish woman from Vienna. ' See Epstein (1942), op cit, p 116 230'Obituary. Sir Jacob Epstein. A Controversial Sculptor.' The Times. 22ndAugust 1959, p 10 231 lbid 232 lbid 233 14 p (ABG), Cit, Cork op th The Epoch, ' in Listener, 'Epstein's 25 April 1985, p 26 234Gardiner, Stephen. 58

America, 235 while in his recent biography of the painter, David Manson 236 that 'Jacob Why was it [Kramer] remained to others 'the big Jew. , asserts so important to identify Epstein's race/religion/ethnic type and what does the obituarist's term 'Semitic character' mean? He doesn't tell us, but the point is that a safe assumption can be made that the readership would have understood this language and would have recognised the description. In order to answer these questions, it is helpful to look at a further good source of examples, this time relating to Epstein's contemporary, Gertler.

Mark

Gertler's biographer, John Woodeson, refers to an example where

the painter was described by his friend and patron Edward Marsh, in a letter to Rupert Brooke, as 4abeautiful little Jew [and as] an absolute little East End 237 This is supplemented with an extract from a letter written by Gertler's Jew. friend, Dora Carrington, close who told Lytton Strachey that she was 'going to 238 Jew. In two of these cases, even the use of the word little stay with the indicates the accepted class/power dynamics and the implication is that as a Jew, Gertler was a lesser citizen than Marsh, Brooke and Forster. A further line, quoted by both Woodeson and Sarah MacDougall, (author of the most recent biography of Gertler), records that in a letter to John Quinn, the great American collector of early modern art, the British painter Augustus John 239 Yid was, and still is, a complained that Gertler has 'all the cheek of a Yid. particularly offensive term.

235Humphrey Burton as the host of the television documentary Jacob Epstein: Private Parts in Public Places. Aquarius, London Weekend Television, 1973 (first broadcast on Sunday 13thOctober 1973 at 5.20pm), 1973 236Manson, op cit, p 37. In another example, Roger Berthoud introduced William Rothenstein German-Jewish ' Berthoud, 60 Yorkshireman, 'a of op cit, p albeit extraction. as 237Woodeson, op cit, p 107. Also cited in Holt, Ysanne. British Artists and the Modernist Landscape. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2003, p 143 238Woodeson, op cit, p 221. Another reference from a prominent literary figure shows how EM Forster also described Gertler as 'a little East End Jew.' See MacDougall, op cit, p 215. Similarly, Ida John, wife of the painter Augustus, wrote of William Rothenstein as 'a hideous little Jew with a wonderful mind,' (See Holroyd, op cit, p 132), even though William and his Augustus friends John his Ottoline John Morrell, to of Alice and wife. close wrote were wife I Le Sale 'is Juif think de [the Rothenstein best that par excellence notre si6cle stating ... See ' Holroyd, time]. Jew 171, by Ysanne Holt of our op cit, p also cited nasty a of example description 'revealing John's [ofl that was that typical an anti-Semitism was of who concludes 165, Holt, p n8 See cit, ' op the time. 239Woodeson, op cit, p 223 and MacDougall, op cit, p 342, n. 36. Also cited by Holroyd, op 41 660, n. cit, p 59

It is a matter of fact, often quoted in references to Mark Gertler, that DH Lawrence explained in a letter to the painter that it would 'take a Jew to paint [Gertler's masterpiece], The Merry-Go-Round (1916), 240 [Fig 33], while also acknowledging that he thought that it was the best modern picture he had 241 Elsewhere, comment relating to Gertler can be found in a letter from seen. the writer Lytton Strachey to his friend, Dora Carrington, when he asked "are you in the Jew's arms

?,,242 Although there was certainly some rivalry over

... Carrington between Gertler and Strachey, it is inconceivable to imagine him

writing "are you in the CatholiclAnglo-Saxon's arms? " had it been, say, the 243 Eric Gill Carrington sculptor whom was entertaining. Evidently, Gertler himself did not avoid the question of the Jewish label, nor the subject of his race or religion. He claimed in a letter to Mary Hutchinson that during an evening of conversation with Virginia Woolf and friends, they talked about 'Jews, Judaism, the relation of Jews to other people, their differences, their faults, and virtues, evolution, etc. etc. 244 It is interesting, both that he should specifically mention it in a letter, and that he listed several aspects, concluding with two etceteras, implying that he viewed the subject as both important and multi-faceted enough to warrant an extended discussion 245 Gertler he friends. Nevertheless, that wrote would be 'neither Jew among

240

Carrington, op cit, p 130 241A further reference, included in a letter from DH Lawrence to Catherine Carswell, described Gertler as 'Jew-like. ' Carrington, op cit, p 253. Lawrence was known as a close friend of Gertler, as were the writer Gilbert Cannan and his wife. Nevertheless, MacDougall Gertler's Jewishness his " 'otherness. intensely Cannans 'both that of aware were asserts MacDougall, op cit, p 94. Cannan's biographer, Diana Farr, explains that 'to Mary [Cannan] [ ] Gertler was a cuckoo in the nest, not least because she secretly considered him 'too ... See be " MacDougall, Jew to back the a wholly agreeable companion. op cit, p street much of 95. A third well-known writer, HW Nevinson, (the father of the futurist painter CRW Nevinson, friend Sadler the time), Professor Leeds University to Gertler's at wrote at close who was Jew Goertler Whitechapel [sic]. ' See 'the MacDougall, 54 to the as op cit, p artist referring 242 See MacDougall, op cit, p 134 243In another letter, this time from Carrington to Alix Strachey, Carrington referred to Gertler's 'fat Jewish relations. ' See MacDougall, op cit, p 192. Why were they not simply the fat relations? 244Thisexample comes from MacDougall, op cit, p 168 245It was certainly a subject of note in the journal The New Age, with letters to the Editor th 18 December 1913, which furthered a debate featuring on several occasions, such as on See Quintus. the 'The Jews. ' The month. New Age, twentieth previous Vol. of the started on th 220 1913, December p XIV, No. 7,18 60

246 Christian his he life in this kind of no-man'sit is that nor spent and clear land, neither wholly inside nor completely outside, but somewhere on the margin, and that he was ambivalent about his religion. It is interesting that, by comparing Jew with Christian, Gertler effectively referred to the important difference between race and religion.

His religion was a matter of choice,

fixed fact. his matter of race was a whereas

Pertinent to this point, Steyn

(by identified Fagin Dickens's it that as a quoting own words) was makes clear 247 Jew 'not because of his religion, but because of his race and she continues by explaining that at the time, (1863), it was argued that 'human nature, behaviour

and

language

[

] sprang ...

directly from

biology.

Biology,

intelligence and physical attributes were made central to definitions of racial 248 Peter Gross's sharp identity and supported the idea of racial hierarchies. be to 'Judaism Britain is in that the regarded as aimed position assessment of dissension, religious

not a separate racial

Further context to the argument that an awareness

of the Jewish race and

another form of acceptable 249 identity.

religion was extremely widespread, Epstein's contemporary, of writing (1891-1915).

the found in be of examples several may the French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska

HS Ede's book about the artist reproduces

Gaudier's aspects of many of

the most telling

letters to his partner Sophie Brzeska.

One

Jewess [ ] the 'the to he is celebrated actress ... referred when simple example [its] 'with 250 Whitechapel to his Sophie he told later visits Rachel, of and 252 251 this was evidently only a If Gaudier was anti-Sem itiC, hideous Jews. 246Cited by Endelman (1990), op cit, p 185. Also MacDougall, op cit, p 109, Woodeson, op 116 (2003), Wolff 81 p cit, op and p cit, 247 Steyn (1999), op cit, p 43 248 Steyn (1999), op cit, p 43 249Gross,op cit, p9 250Ede, H S, Savage Messiah. London: Abacus, 1972, p 33 251Ede, ibid, p 49. Gaudier once painted 'a Whitechapel Jew selling his wares, ' (this is Jews 'hideous' description 110) the 100 suggests ibid, of so clearly Ede, and in pp to referred than a specifically aesthetic generalisation rather a racial of that this adjective was more he Jews his dislike further wrote when is apparent of certain evidence of judgement. There to Ede, The identity ' ibid, 60. the Jewess. his man referred of p that 'I would never go near has has been long dash, the Ede text the because as a edited with divulged as 'his' is not Gaudier the wrote person page. also on same unidentified another and name of a magazine Ede, ibid, 61 being ' 'rotten. the the p mystery magazine, of editor apparently of someone, 252David Manson included Gaudier-Brzeska along with Wyndham Lewis and Ezra Pound, in fought fellow his [Kramer] with many 'Jacob artists, many of very right-wing that his comment 61

selective prejudice, as he and Epstein are known to have been (close) friends. Epstein wrote that 'he was very pleasant, I thought. [ ] My relations with ... Gaudier were very friendly. We were interested in each other's work. In the French fashion of the younger to the older artist he wrote to me and 253 Cher MaTitre. In spite of this, Gaudier described a addressed me as meeting with Epstein with the line 'I had been with one Jew to see the other Jew, Epstein 254and a week later he wrote that another Jewish artist, '[Alfred] Wolmark saddled me with the Jew. 255 Although on both occasions he didn't identify who this other Jew is, the use of the expression 'saddled me with' 256 for him, that, it Gaudier was French, and suggests was an onerous burden. Sophie was a Polish national, yet they both held what we still recognise as familiar views of Jews and their perceived characteristics. Such stereotypical assumptions were a very widespread phenomenon. Comments

made by Epstein concerning

interesting.

Revealing a very modern point of view, he made assertions that

his own Jewish identity are very

he '[had] never joined in all-Jewish exhibitions of art' because of the simple fact that 'artists are of all races and climes, and to band together in racial 257 He claimed to have been 'annoyed rather than groups is rid iCUIOUS., flattered to be told that I am the best or foremost Jewish artiSt,258and opined that 'surely to be an artist is enough '259 This appears to be an admirable . The fact, did have included in but he in the exhibition of work philosophy,

Paul O'Keeffe's In 42. ' Manson, monograph on a review of op cit, p and anti-Semitic. Gaudier-Brzeska, Jon Wood points out that aspects of the Frenchman's 'muddled antiSemitism'are touched upon, and notes that it was'part1y influenced by Sophie Brzeska, partly due to his love of animals (in the face of what he perceived to be cruelty in the Jewish-run Whitechapel abattoirs) and partly due to his post-Dreyfusian association of money with O'Keeffe, Paul 'Review: Gaudier Brzeska: An Absolute Case of Jon. Wood, ' corruption. Genius.' The Art Book. Vol 12, Issue 1, p 33 253 Epstein (1942), op cit, pp 44-5 254 Ede, op cit, p 144 255 Ede, op cit, p 145 256Although Gaudier was also a friend of the Jewish artist and writer, Horace Brodzky (18851969), of whom he made a very striking bust in 1913 nevertheless, Sophie Brzeska made Jewishness Brodzky's Gaudier to 'I that when she remarked suppose about assumptions ' Ede, he's Jew, 136 materialistic. very [Brodzky's] op cit, p a since 257 199 (1942), P cit, Epstein op 258 199 (1942), P cit, op Epstein 259 199 (1942), P cit, op Epstein 62

Society of Jewish Artists, held at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1923.260 According to a short report in the Daily Graphic, the exhibition [at the Whitechapel Gallery] was not got together without trouble, for all sorts of Jewish artists refused, at first, to exhibit. They did not want to exhibit as Jews, since exclusively Jewish effort, they felt, is apt to make people think that Jews are hanging together for their own sakes. Yet some of them gave in when pressure was brought.261 Furthermore,

these remarks need to be considered

1913 he went to Paris with David Bomberg, intention of finding representative to be held at the Whitechapel 262 Conversely, work.

Gallery in 1914, which also included Epstein's

it is also clear that several years later, in 1938, when

was trying to re-establish

respond

to Bomberg's

Bomberg

even asked Jacob without

who had been sent with the

works for the Jewish section of an exhibition

Bomberg

apparently

against the fact that in

the Ben Uri Gallery, Epstein failed to

correspondence

which

had requested

his support.

Kramer to approach Epstein on his behalf, 263 In another example, Stephen Gardiner success.

describes how George Bernard Shaw [Fig 34] warned Epstein that 'he didn't stand a chance [of gaining a particular commission] about which Epstein himself commented

unless he was English'

to John Quinn that it was 'damned

for be that or against an artist's chances, but there it rot nationality should 264 Clearly, the sculptor was aware of the situation and accepted it iS., his is interesting. the choice of nationality grudgingly, although word

Of course, not all labelling was negative in its tone. Perhaps the most positive Janet Wolff, Lady Ottoline by is highlighted that labelling, of example of Morrell, a long-time friend to Gertler, who described what she saw as the 'the Jewish tradition, the Jewish mark [in Gertler's early works] which gave them a 260See the catalogue for the exhibition held in the Whitechapel Gallery archive 261Daily Graphic, 16th October 1923, no page number (see the archive of the Whitechapel Gallery) 262See Cork (Bomberg), op cit, p 47. The exhibition was Twentieth Century Art, which has a dedicated Jewish section. As confirmed by Tickner, Epstein was not included in this did he two 'were show works, which although placed against the pillars particular section (2000), Tickner 218-9 details For ' op cit, pp see outside. 263See correspondence from Bomberg to Kramer dated Jan 18th 1938. Bomberg asked Kramer to contact Epstein, stating 'he never replies to any of communications of mine.' See Library Brotherton Special in the Collections, University of Leeds, Documents Kramer the 2006 April in consulted 264 82 Gardiner, p cit, op See 63

fine, intense almost archaic qual ity.,265 in spite of Morrell's positive spin on his work, it is still clear that even in the most familiar and receptive environment Gertler had achieved a certain degree of assimilation and acceptance, where amongst those he would have considered close friends, he was unable to rid his identity of its Jewish sign, although there is nothing to suggest that this his was aim.

In response to this, many fellow Jews attempted to disguise

their heritage and to develop a non-Jewish identity by changing their names. While none of the four Jewish contemporaries changed their surnames, Richard Cork does cite the example of David Bomberg's first wife, Alice, who 266 the decision to revert to her 'more suitable made conscious maiden name when she had to return from Europe to London in order to find work. The implication is that she would have been at a disadvantage if she had continued to use the name Bomberg. There is also comment by June Rose, concerning Epstein working in Sussex during the war and having to endure the suspicion of the villagers on account of 'his German-sounding name 267 [Fig 35].

Similarly, Bomberg was also under suspicion on account of his 268 during his during First World War. the name, even military service According to Stephen Gardiner, during the First World War when Epstein was hoping to be exempted from army service, 'Mrs Epstein remained extremely 265

Wolff (2003), op Cit, p 134 266 Cork (Bomberg), op cit, p 170 267Rose, op cit, p 92. Epstein mentioned the matter briefly. See Epstein (1942), op cit, p 50. Silber blamed his difficulties on his 'German-sounding name, foreign accent and irregular lifestyle.' Silber (1986), op cit, p 33. This is also described by Gardiner, op cit, p 144 268For two examples, see Cork (Bomberg), op cit, pp 53 and 110 respectively. In the first example, Cork recounts how Bomberg and Isaac Rosenberg were arrested and detained by police during a holiday on the Isle of Wight. In the second case, the incident relates to Bomberg's military service during WWI when an Army officer noticed him and exclaimed "We can't have a man with a name like that doing map drawing." As Cork summarises, 'Antisemitism, combined with an automatic suspicion of German-sounding names, ensured that Bomberg's period in the drawing office was short-lived.' Gardiner quoted a comment by Joshua Brookes, writing in the Saturday Review in which he stated that 'Jacob Epstein's ' Gardiner, 258. The his in nationality. op cit, p subject even crops up name proclaims in book dealing In his a as with such cartoons. comments concerning the unexpected places, Glaves-Smith that'Epstein's JR brand him to Rima, asserts name enough as was parodies of Jones Colonel in House Commons, the As "Is Minister the asked of aware utterly un-English. that it has been suggested that the sculptor, owing to inadequate knowledge of the English language, thought he had to produce a sculpture dealing with birds and erected a from Evening [Cited ) Standard, the 25 May, (Laughter. 1925. ]' Glaves-Smith, " scarecrow? Image Modern Popular Art, ' in Melly, George and JR Glaves-Smith. the of JR. 'Cartoons and About Cartoons Modem /t. Do Art. London: The Tate Gallery, 1977, p Could Six A Child of 100 64

worried that 'a tribunal of tradesmen' would hold Epstein's German name against him - why his father should have picked that particular surname she 269 imagine. Gardiner concludes by quoting an extract from a letter couldn't sent by Mrs Epstein to John Quinn in which she exclaimed A wish to 270 he had thought of, say, MacDonald. goodness

269Epstein's parents changed their surname from Barntovsky on arriving in New York City. See Silber (1986), op cit, p 10 where she cites the source as Babson, Jane. The Epsteins: A Family Album. London: Taylor Hall Publishing, 1984, pp 1-3. Gardiner repeats the information, explaining that Max Epstein adopted the name of his elder brother, who had arrived in New York some time before, although his source is unclear. Gardiner, op cit, p 7. According to BL Reid, the family's Polish name was Brubinsky. Reid, BL. The Man from New York: John Quinn and His Friends. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968, p 258 270Gardiner, op cit, p 160. Also cited in Reid, op cit, p 258. Further examples of name changes are interesting. Two are cited by John Woodeson in his biography of Mark Gertler. Firstly, William Rothenstein's brother, Albert, changed his surname to Rutherston, as did another brother, Charles. Woodeson,, op cit, p 51. This is also cited in Carrington, op cit, pp 32 and 42, and Roger Berthoud confirms that Charles and Albert Rutherston changed their names 'to avoid anti-German feeling. ' Berthoud, op cit, p 60. Henry Moore's biographer, Donald Hall also adds a parenthetical note in his text that Charles 'changed his name [ ] to ... sound less German, ' although this really has nothing to do with the context in which it is brother William 'a See Albert, in letter his Hall, 53. that to a op cit, p wrote mentioned. German name will be a hindrance and an inconvenience so long as we live. It is not giving the (1990), See Endelman bitterness ' fair because the op cit, p will never go. children a chance 142. Secondly, Woodeson gives the example of a childhood friend of Gertler's who changed his name from Berlinski to Burleigh. See Woodeson, op cit, p 407 and also MacDougall, op Lefkowitz further Joseph Leftwich Lisa Tickner, 35. two originally examples: was cites cit, p (2000), 288, Stephen Winsten. Tickner Weinstein became Samuel the n. op cit, p and writer, 76. Tickner explains that Winsten 'married [ ] Clara Birnberg, published a book of poetry on ... his experiences as a conscientious objector in the First World War [ ], became with his wife ... Shaw. The George Bernard ' biographer [ ] Quaker humanist and of a neighbour and a ... descent, Russian Jewish Manchester born in Samuel Rabinovitch, who was of sculptor his later headquarters, to London Underground the to changed name on work commissioned Sam Rabin. See Ward-Jackson, Philip. Public Sculpture of the City of London. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2003, p 475. Stephen Gardiner also refers to him as Sam Rabin. Gardiner, op cit, p 296. One of Epstein's friends and sitters, the jeweller and poet Moshe Oyved was also known as Edward Good. See Silber (1986), op cit, p 159. Maximillian Loewe became Low. See Endelman (1990), op cit, p 124. Details of a client of Jacob Kramer he had is it that Post in 1960, Yorkshire in the name changed explained where was appeared from Cohen to Clifton-Riley. See 'Mystery Solved' in the Yorkshire Post, 29th September 1960. A specifically press-related example of changing names is that of two of the Levy brothers, owners of The Daily Telegraph. Edward and Lionel Levy changed their surname to Lawson, apparently for professional reasons, although exactly why is unclear. In fact, Edward See the Oxford Levy-Lawson (1833-1916), added Lawson in 1875 by Royal consent. Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. 32, p 885. He was part of the 'intimate circle of the Prince of Wales' along with other wealthy Jews, listed as the Rothschilds, Sassoons, Cassel (2002), 156. What the Endelman See op cit, p Hirsch. compelled change of name when and he had arguably achieved the ultimate in social acceptance? Jewish newspaper patrons Camrose, Viscount The Daily Telegraph, did although owner of point were not uncommon, British the that largely by Jews. See it alleged press that was controlled 1948 was in out Newspapers Controllers. their British London: Cassell & Co, 1947, p and Viscount. Camrose, hoping to Levys minimise a the perceived were risk of unwanted attention on Perhaps vii. heritage? religious and their racial of account

The Anglicisation of family names was a deliberate act during the First World War 'to avoid suspicion of disloyalty to Britain [ ] although the immediate ... for name changing was the desire to obscure German, rather than motive specifically Jewish, origins, the effect was the same. 271 The issue of Epstein's specific loyalty is even raised in a cartoon by Low, featuring his best known character, Colonel Blimp [Fig 36].272 Many German immigrants to Britain systematically dissolved their Jewish identity through conversion to Christianity and through intermarrying. For example, 'in Manchester [ ] there ... 273 German Jews known many Jews. This were who were not even as example is soon followed with a further case of the German Jews resident in Bradford, who 'according to the [Jewish Chronicle], did not want to be known Jews (although as

apparently

274 everyone knew they were).

In this

parenthetical qualifier, there is the crux of the problem. Firstly there was frequently confusion over whether people were Jewish or not; that in reality Jewishness could never be hidden; that the Jewish question is not one of but religion of race; that Jewish difference is somehow writ large on Jews' features; that the biggest problem for the proto-assimilated Jew was that they Jewish neither were nor English, but lost or suspended somewhere in between, which

in itself brought about fear, prejudice and animosity.

Endelman makes the apposite observation that 'those who left the [Jewish] community altogether were more in flight from the social and psychological stigma

attached

to being Jewish,

as well as concrete

obstacles

271Endelman (1990), op cit, p 142. The same author made a similar point where he noted that 'numerous families of German origin legally changed their names to escape identification (2002), There is Endelman 184. ' the a nice snippet of information in op cit, p enemy. with Felsenstein where he identifies that in one case, a famous Jewish name was distorted to blood Baron Roast-child Jewish libel. infamous to the was a pun on the well-known allude Anglo-Jewish merchant banker, Rosthchild. See Felsenstein, op cit, p 156 272There is some evidence in the New York Daily Mirror, which sheds a slightly different light (wearing Adam the In the this. accompanying photograph of comments polka-dot on how Adam information is there concerning was being used to aid the war effort. underpants) The full text is as follows: 'Adam or Ape? New York born sculptor Jacob Epstein, who has British, by hacked the Thing London this in living shocking out of pink alabaster, while a made he listened to Beethoven's music for inspiration. Pop-eyed English people paid $250,000 total admission to look at it. It arrived in New York Monday for a tour to raise funds to buy bombers for Britain. Why not just bomb Berlin with Adam? The polka-dot panties are our decency: Adam, to because it's but because to pay people see not common art, contribution ' New York Daily Mirror, April 1940 brutal vulgarity. of sheer Epstein's accentuation of 273See Endelman (1990), op Cit, p 119 274See Endelman (1990), op Cit, p 119

275 than from Judaism He further observes that occupational mobility, per se.

the Jewish apostasy had the effect of putting them outside of the Jewish community and thus 'they were foreigners in a double sense.

276

Dan Stone, a writer on race and eugenics, notes that name-changing a lot of attention

in anti-Semitic

received

circles and he gives some examples

illustrate the situation, in both cases relating to Oscar Levy (1867-1946), who German Jewish a was physician and writer, known as a scholar of Nietzsche. Firstly, he cites the writer

Hilaire

Belloc (1870-1953),

a well-known

anti-

his true nationality

nor

Semite,

who noted that Levy 'had never hidden

changed

his name, nor used any of those subterfuges

excusable, are dangerous and contemptible Stone

further

quotes

comments

from

which, even when

in so many of his compatriots. t277 the

deeply

anti-Semitic

monthly

Ober The AlleS278 Hidden Hand Jewry or magazine which lauded Levy as "the most courageous and honest Jew living", applauded him for not having Ischanged his name to Levin, or Lawson, or Livingstone, or Lawrence, or Lincoln, or any of the aliases affected by 279 , his brethren name. of weaker Incidentally,

it should be noted that it was not only in England that names

were changed. acculturated

Sander Gilman gives the example of Jacques Joseph, an

German Jew who changed his forename from Jakob when he

Erik the includes the he writer, example of also was studying medicine '280and Erikson, who 'fled his own identity as a "Homburger" to become an 281 "Erikson. ,,

Returning to the specific case of the artists, there is the example of Mark Gertler's induction to school in London where his forename, Max, was 275Endelman (1990), op cit, p 127 276Endelman (1990), op cit, p 174. Many German Jew immigrants to Britain chose to adopt Unitarianism, which was at odds with the more pragmatic reasons for becoming members of flight from joined in the Jewishness 'Jews their because England, naturally Church the of hiph-status established church. ' See Endelman (1990), op cit, p 122 27 Stone, op cit, p 24. It should be stressed, however, that Levy is said to have had thinkers racist sY8mpathy with

2 For an example image of the front page see Gardiner, op cit, p 255 279Stone, op cit, p 24

280Gilman (1991), op cit, p 181 281Gilman (1985), op cit, p 32

apparently not recognised by the schoolmaster. He was promptly renamed 282 Mark. This Anglicisation indicates, at best, an ignorance of the culture of the outsider Jew, and at worst it is indicative of an endemic institutionalised racism or xenophobia, where anything other than English was unworthy of respect. For Epstein, it is clear that his name became something of a brand or a trademark.

It became, for a while, part of popular language and words such

as Epsteinism and Epsteined were included in the newspapers.

Terry

Friedman includes a good example in his essay, itself entitled 'Epsteinism, ' in from Mirror he The Daily that had which uses a photograph of a report 283 he declared 'Epstein Out-Epsteined' by Henry Moore [Fig 37], and adds 284 Earlier in the same essay, Friedman that this was 'an oft-repeated phrase. had already identified that the term Epsteinism was reported by the Liverpool 285 Low's first recorded Post and Mercury as a 'synonym for isart atrocity. ,, featuring Epstein the the the centres on use of name example of a cartoon [Fig ' 38]. 'Epsteined! expression

Meanwhile, Gardiner quotes Archbishop

Downey, speaking in relation to some proposed sculpture for the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Liverpool, who said that it would be 'calamitous if this 286 in the it that Epsteinish, certainly used was suggesting meant something for his the the top In cartoon strips one of at of a pencil note pejorative sense. 282See MacDougall, op cit, p 12 and Woodeson, op cit, p 29. A similar example relates to the Liverpool. his (1891-1950) the Meninsky Bernard port of at on arrival artist and writer According to Lisa Tickner, the family name was Menushkin, 'but it was unceremoniously himself the Meninsky English by 'Menisky' added officer, whilst customs an entered as Peter Gross by See 77. 288, (2000), " Tickner 'n. also comments n. op cit, p second best, his Britain, in his at name was, where grandfather's experience on arriving concerning 'was Gross that the difficulties. language to thanks experience suggested misunderstood forebears this families, forms Jewish in different in at arrived many whose certainly repeated time.' See Gross, op,cit, p2 283See Friedman, in Silber and Friedman, op cit, p 41. There is a similar example from the Yorkshire evening Post, which suggested that Henry Moore's work was 'an attempt to outth Evening Post, 14 May 1948, cited by Berthoud, op cit, p Epstein Epstein.' See the Yorkshire 211 284See Friedman, in Silber and Friedman, op cit, p 41. The same term is adopted by Jon 'out-Epstein' to Epstein and assimilate his 'artistic 'Gaudier that attempted Wood, who states Gaud ier-Brzeska's tales: Hieratic Head of Ezra Pound and 'Heads Jon. Wood, and identity." Getsy ' in (Modern homage, Ideal), 194 op cit, p avant-garde the making of an 285See Friedman (Epsteinism), in Silber and Friedman, op cit, p 35 in Haskell This is (1931), 306. 2136 cited also op cit, p 37. Stanley Casson Gardiner, op cit, p Casson, Stanley. ' Some 'Epsteinian. Modem Sculptors. London: term the also uses 113 1928, Milford, p Humphrey 68

Daily Mirror, WK Haselden wrote 'Epsteinizing our statues. (Why shouldn't

some of our statues be remodelled to be more in keeping with modern ideas 287 )' In spite of the negative connotations intended and implied of art. [Fig 39]. by such phrases, they did help to reinforce the Epstein brand. 1.6

The Jewish Mark in Art

Janet Wolff's essay The 'Jewish markin

English painting: cultural identity and

modem art (2000), raises a number of ideas pertinent to this discussion. The question of a Jewish mark itself stems specifically from Ottoline Morrell's comment, noted above, concerning Mark Gertler's paintings, but it can readily be applied to any or all of his Jewish colleagues.

The essay concentrates,

coincidentally, on the quartet of Gertler, Kramer, Bomberg and Epstein, but what is the significance of promoting the mark of race, religion or ethnicity as foundation for a art? On the one hand, the artist may choose to exploit racial characteristics in his or her work, such as dress or ritual, in order to give it a specific identity, whilst on the other s/he may experience prejudice, voiced in recognition of that same identity.

Does this mean that they should then be

disadvantaged through being categorized as a Jewish artist? Wolff made the link

between

a 1288

characteristics , synonymous.

perception

Jewish

art,

'in

terms

its formal

foreign, modernist as and where the two are seen as

Once the link was established, a very important point is that

there was a perception that all modernist art was foreign, (read: Jewish )289 Wolff 'not Jewish but the therefore, clarifies of course, as all and non-English, 290 Jews. What the ] [ all modernists were artists ... were modernists, and not 287See the Cartoon Centre Catalogue, The Centre for Study of Cartoons and Caricatures, th July 1929. Another first The Daily Mirror, 4 University of Kent, Ref WH4363, published in fierce Epstein be fierce brutal 'it is the is the and an can and as phrase use of nice example brutal' in a review of Ernest Hemmingway's novel, Farewell to Arms. See Dane, Clemence. 'Best Books for the Autumn. A Breezy Review of the Latest Issues.' The Daily Mirror, 2nd November 1929, p 10. According to Jane Beckett, a similar situation may be found in the in derogatory Picass' in 1912, the 'to introduced. Age term New The which was pages of Beckett, Jane. 'Cubism and Sculpture in England before the First World War, ' in Nairne, Sandy and Nicholas Serota [Eds]. British Sculpture in the 20thCentury. London: Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1981, p 52 288 Wolff (Jewish mark), op cit, p 186 289A similar point is made by Curtis. Arguing that 'modelling was increasingly understood as Expressionist, and thus as foreign (if not Jewish),' she goes on to suggest that 'as carving foreign. ' See Curtis (Modern British Sculpture), op becomes becomes English, so modelling 299 cit, p 290 190 p cit, (Jewish op Wolff mark), 69

she does suggest, however, is that the Jewish state of being outside of the inside 'allowed and perhaps even mandated a more radical aesthetic than that 291 for those to the centre. which was possible It is difficult to nearer understand how the disparate concepts of art and race came to be associated, except for the fact that such an impact was evident on the rise of modernism in the hands of Jewish artists. There is an argument which says that Jewish art was modernism itself, and as Wolff proposes, one needs to consider the situation of the Jews in England in the early twentieth century, as well as the persistent assumptions about the links between Jews and modernism, assumptions which have sometimes exposed the anti-Semitism behind antimodernism [and] some of the The strange connections made between modernism and Jewishness. view that there was a particularly strong relationship between Jews and 292 modernism was pervasive.

This link between anti-Semitism and antimodernism relies on the complex relationship constant

between stereotypical

assumptions

connection with Jewishness

about the Other.

The

leaves no doubt that it was an

unavoidable characteristic of the period. In an earlier essay, Wolff takes a subtly different view of the identity of Jewish by distinction it is defined that which it is not - i.e. English. that the art, making She asserts that her primary [ ... ] intention is to demonstrate that 'Jewishness' is invoked in art in inappropriately, and often negatively, often gratuitously, criticism, often historical its in this to period, obverse reinforce, critical such a way as 293 namely 'Englishness.

Throughout the essay, she is at pains to make it clear that her arguments do it is discourse that rather anti-Semitism, and a about address not specifically Steyn 'Englishness. ' Juliet the agrees, accepting that about construction of the 1906 Aliens Act brought about a transformation in the idea of the nation in 291Wolff (Jewish mark), op cit, p 193. Notably, CRW Nevinson made a specific connection between Jews and the origin of abstract art, stating that 'abstract art and geometric art, Persian, Mohammedan from Puritan, the observance of the Jewish, or comes whether Second Commandment. ' See Nevinson, CRW. Paint and Prejudice: An Autobiography. London: Methuen, 1937, p 210. Earlier, he had referred to Jewish painters, insisting that 'it is have been that they by their last to so the or allowed during century religion make any only 169 ibid, Nevinson, ' p image at all. 292 131 130 and (2003), pp cit, Wolff op 293 190 p op cit, (Jewish Wolff mark), 70

Britain which 'was necessitated by the formation of a national and cultural identity to which Jews and others provided the negative foil against which British identity could be assumed. 294 The dividing line between simply a Jewishness view of negative and specific anti-Semitism is, therefore, impossible to locate. In spite of comments concerning

Epstein and his annoyance at being described as a Jewish artist, as noted above, 295Wolff suggests that there was degree of collusion by Jewish artists, in one case directly relating to Epstein, a in a 'belief in ethnicity as a foundation for art making 296the effect of which was to 'participate in the construction and maintenance of a conception of 'Englishness' in the visual field. 297 In other words, through a tacit acceptance of the sense of artistic licence afforded them by their ethnicity, Jewish artists were complicit in the formulation of the non-English identity with which they were marked.

The examples given by Wolff begin with Bomberg who, as

already noted, curated the Jewish section of the Whitechapel Gallery's Secondly, for Jewish Chronicle labelling in 1914. itself the exhibition she cites Epstein's sculpture as 'entirely Hebraic, 298and as for her remaining example, that of Mark Gertler, Wolff suggests he was complicit by his 'apparent 299 acceptance of comments made by DH Lawrence concerning his painting 300 Jew to paint this picture. The Merry-Go-Round; namely that 'it would take a Wolff qualifies her assumption with a footnote, which assures us that 'at least, I have not come across any objection to [Lawrence's] letter in Gertler's 301 Gertler to It is whether surely academic as published correspondence. The fact that in the same letter he would have read 302 Lawrence's judgement that it was 'the best modem picture I have seen

accepted it or not.

294Steyn (6pater), op cit, pp 664 295He claimed to have been 'annoyed rather than flattered to be told that I am the best or foremost Jewish artist. ' See Epstein (1942), op cit, p 199 296 Wo ff (Jewish mark), op cit, p 185 297 Wolff (Jewish mark), op cit, p 185 298Wolff (Jewish mark), op cit, p 185. This description is also noted by Barker, referring to an American review from 1934. See Barker (Primitive), op cit, p 44 299 Wo ff (Jewish mark), op cit, p 185 300 Wolff (Jewish mark), op cit, p 185 301Wolff (Jewish mark), op cit, p 259, n. 36 302Cited in MacDougall, op cit, p 138. See also Carrington, op cit, p 129, Woodeson, op cit, p 130 (2003), Wolff cit, p op 226 and 71

would undoubtedly have made more of an impression on Gertler's preparedness to agree with the novelist. Wolff also cites Charles Spencer's view that Gertler's work 'could only have derived from a uniquely Jewish 303 Gertler's based the experience, earlier works, this and subject matter of on artist had no qualms about delivering a view of his family's Jewish heritage. The issue with The Merry-Go-Round is that it has nothing obviously Jewish in its content or style, and yet Lawrence managed to invest it with three 304 The stylistic influences in this painting thousand years of racial heritage. are undoubtedly Futurist, with multiple images implying speed and movement, 305 If prejudice has anything to albeit with an anti-war sensibility in this case. do with the problem of an identifiable Jewish content or style, this will need but it is equally a matter of the perception of Jewish production or analysis, Other authorship. significant contemporary Jewish characters are not usually defined as Jewish, such as Konody, for example, who is rarely defined by his 306 Is because, this race. as a writer, he was largely invisible to the public? There are some contemporary examples of the recognition of a Jewish mark in the art of the day. James Bone, writing about Behold the Man (1934-5) in the Manchester Guardian, noted that 'as in all [Epstein's] work racial feeling is 307 May Yorkshire Post, in 1926, 'in there, the that noted some and somehow his [ work aspects of

] Mr Kramer is first and foremost a Jew, and therefore a

... 308 Another is in he English in is example an article artist. others an symbolist;

303 Wolff

(2003), op cit, p 130

304A similar theme was taken up by a British sculptor, Arthur Dooley (1929-1994), in an interview for a 1973 television documentary when he stated that 'Epstein had a sense of history, being Jewish [ ] he had all that history behind him [ ] going way back.' Dooley was ... ... interviewed in the television programme, Jacob Epstein: Private Parts in Public Places, op cit 305A similar point is made in Wolff (2003), op cit, p 110 306Although there are some references to this. See, for example, Gardiner, op cit, pp 245 both Konody Causey Andrew (Primitive), that 48. Barker 253 and points out op cit, p and and RH Wilenski were Jewish and goes on to stress how'one reviewer of The Meaning of Modem Sculpture, [ ] identified Wilenski's Jewishness with what he regarded as the Jewish ... Wilenski Causey, ' 279. It is that the advocated. cit, op p worth sculpture character of for Rothermere. Konody him He dedicated the to that worked an essay with remembering hospitable is Rothermere it this Lord 'To under whose completed, roof was essay words dedicated as a modest mark of esteem by the author.' See Nevinson, CRW. Modem War. Paintings by CRW Nevinson with an Essay by PG Konody. London: Grant Richards Ltd, 1917 307 See Rose, op cit, p 193

308Cited by Manson, op cit, p 143 from Kaines Smith, SC. 'Living Yorkshire Artists. May 1926 Post, 29th Yorkshire ' Jacob Kramer.

No. 4-

Architectural for the Review by Cyril Connolly, reviewing Epstein's written Old Testament drawings, in which Connolly comments that 'at of exhibition last we see them as Blake would have drawn them had Blake been a Jew. 309 Similarly, Evelyn Silber identifies a review from the Liverpool Echo where the 'critic hailed Genesis as "one of the most beautiful sculptures in the world19 1 its contour and rhythm of line and associating "the frankness and praising 310 it " the Jewish It is unclear how such with marvel of artist's origin. judgements, assessments and connections could be made. Many viewers today would have little difficulty recognising the Jewish subject matter in the work of Gertler and Kramer, such as, for example, Gertler's Jewish Family (1913) [Fig 40] or Kramer's Day of Atonement (1919) [Fig 41], but Epstein's Rock Drill or Bomberg's Ju-Jitsu (1913) [Fig 42] would primarily be read simply as modem, rather than Jewish, whereas they were read as modern and, therefore, Jewish on their original showing. Any perception of foreignness or Jewishness is now only apparent when the name and biography of the artist is made known. It seems clear from this idea that the Jewish artist has to overcome the dual handicap of being thought of as not English, and of being Jewish, both of which brought their own particular prejudices. It is obvious that Epstein and his Jewish counterparts were unfortunate in in history, the respect of of which a rise widespread anti-Semitism wider world favourable history for in factor. It hardly period modern a was one major was Jewish artists to be living and working. 1.7

History & Timing

Clearly, the environment was hardly the most receptive for so-called nonEnglish

artists

hoping

make

inroads

into the

British

art

scene.

Nevertheless, 1906 was the year when the Whitechapel Art Gallery hosted an Jewish this exhibition of art and attended antiquity, and well extremely 309

See Gardiner, op cit, p 328 310Silber, Evelyn. 'Epstein's Liverpool Colossus,' in Curtis, Penelope [Ed]. Patronage and Liverpool: MerseySide. Tate Gallery Publications and National Sculpture on Practice. 1989, Merseyside, 103 Galleries P on Museums and 73

in timing. Britain coincidence strange another presents was worded about the influx of immigrants, and was legislating accordingly, but at the same time, here was a very well received event celebrating the diversity of a culture, in the established well capital city. There is no evidence to already which was indicate the demographic of the vast audience which went to view the but it to surely appealed a cross-section of the community and this exhibition, have included the native population, curious about the mysteries of a would 311 its foreign race and religion and people. Anti-Jewish,

anti-Semitic

by the number

helped sentiments were not at this period in history

of scandals

and conspiracy

Jewish the community. members of

theories

involving

prominent

The Dreyfus affair in France in the late

1890s and early 1900s was a major press story, as were the Marconi scandal of 1912 and the Indian silver affair in 1913, and each of these helped reinforce 312 do Although had Jews. to they nothing with particular stereotypical views of for (business)men, Jewish had do they to everything with negative press art, focussed Jews in being that the on more adverse attention was result with 313 general.

In the early 1920s, the notorious book, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (The Jewish Peril), was published in English, and this caused new levels of it though Jewish harboured the be to was even community, against suspicion 'red fake. In there scare' sweeping across a was addition, soon exposed as a England 'in the wake of the Bolshevik revolution [which] raised troubling 314 birth. foreign those Jews, loyalty the of especially of questions about Endelman goes on to assert that the disproportionate number of Jews who played a prominent role in the the by right as evidence of a natural on many revolution were seen Attacks Jewry between and revolutionary communism. world sympathy 311According to Eva Frojmovic, Peter Gross argued that 'the show constituted a part of an Anglification: it, the a cultural and educational project author names as of, active programme iii See Gross, Englishmen (and ' into immigrants cit, p op transforming women). aimed at 312Note that Epstein arrived in Paris just before the funeral of Zola, at which he witnessed 'the Dreyfus is described Jewish as army captain accused of wrongfully protests. anti-Semitic 22 Rose, p cit, ' op treason. 313 (2002), 153-5 Endelman cit, p op For details see 314 192 (1990), cit, p op See Endelman 74

in the conservative press on all kinds of left-wing political activity easily took on an anti-Semitic tone. Anti-communism, anti-alienism, and antiSemitism became hopelessly entangled, each reinforcing the strength of 315 the other.

Various tactics and campaigns were designed to undermine the character of the Jew, and 'they were successful to the extent that they strengthened and sharpened broadly diffused nonideological prejudices about Jews, giving them 316 focus have that they The point is, once a might not enjoyed otherwise. more, that inherent superficial anti-Semitism was gently fuelled and sustained by the well-publicised events of the period. Had the artists been working some years earlier or post mid-twentieth century, attention would surely not have been so sharply focussed. Of course,

the final and most telling case of unfortunate

outbreak of the First World War.

Its consequences

timing was the

for the art market were

obvious ('this news [ ... ] is going to be bad for art' Augustus John announced to David Bomberg )317and it certainly sounded the death knell for the Futurist and Vorticist movements.

The acculturated

Jewish community 'responded to

318 but for the non-native contingent, the call to arms with enthusiasm less inclined to sign-up. were dated

loth

becoming

July

1917,

men

According to Gardiner, in a letter to John Quinn

Margaret

'an object for contempt

Epstein

raised

in an anti-Semitic

the

subject

of Epstein

crusade' and of Jews

31 9 Alleged unwillingness to serve being perceived as cowards and cheats . King and country gave rise to accusations of cowardice, but it also encouraged

ill-feeling because it was perceived that civilian Jews were taking

the jobs of the absent native workers, and to make matters worse, they were 320 It. often becoming richer as a resu 315Endelman (1990), op cit, p 192 316See Endelman (1990), op cit, p 192

317See Silber (1986), op cit, p 33 and Holroyd, op cit, p 401 318 Endelman (2002), op cit, p 183 (see also p 185). For further discussion on the subject 229-30 Felsenstein, cit, pp op see 319 Gardiner, op cit, p 169. The endnote incorrectly dates the letter as 1971 [sic] 320See Endelman (2002), op cit, p 185. There is also some suggestion that Jewish tailors for demands the fact, from in the that, they of war military clothing; rode on made a success See Endelman ' (1990), boom. A lengthy 182. letter to The khaki the op Cit, p 'the crest of issue the 1919 March of some people making huge profits out of the War. raised dated Times Jews, letter the does indicate that there is of suggestion there no were concerns Although 75

Returning to the persistence of stereotypes in this context, Sander Gilman explains the historical belief that Jewish men were not fit for army service on account of their poor physical stature, and it follows that if they, the Jews, were not fit to serve the country, then they were excluded from becoming true 321

Felsenstein argues that this is a common misconception, asserting that 'far less well known is that Jews were in fact actively involved in

citizens.

military service both in the army and the navy from the middle years of the 322 during Napoleonic the Although eighteenth century and particularly wars. Gilman was specifically dealing with Jews in the Austrian army, his observations may be equally applied to Britain during the First World War. A British Jewish regiment was established in order to encourage greater affiliation with the war effort amongst that element of the community. In summary, Gilman states that 'the status associated with the role of the Jew as soldier was paralleled by the increasingly intense anti-Semitic critique of the Jewish body as inherently unfit for military service. 323 As far as the artists were concerned, Epstein is a peculiar case because he is invariably described 324 as a strong and powerful man, with a physique appropriate for handling, 325 moving and carving huge lumps of stone, and he finally served in the army (although to the after many attempts avoid call-up, apparently action to have him exempted from service was being taken by Margaret Epstein and his being voiced by the general public. See 'Taxation of War-time Profits' in The Times, 4th March 1919, p 6. Colin Holmes cites some minutes from a meeting held at Bethnal Green Town Hall in 1917, which recorded how 'men were dying at the Front while aliens of military age were allowed to strengthen their industrial position without any sacrifice.' Holmes, op cit, 44. The meeting was held on 23rdJanuary 1917 21 See Gilman (1991), op cit, pp 40-42 322 Felsenstein, op cit, p 231 323 Gilman (1991), op cit, p 42 324See, for example, LB Powell's and Oliver Brown's comments, reproduced in Silber, in Silber and Friedman, op cit, pp 1 and 3 respectively. See also Gardiner who described Epstein as having a 'powerful physique,' as a man who 'had grown immensely strong,' and Gardiner, ' 14,19 He William 46. 'handsome strong. op cit, and pp and also cites who was Rothenstein who described Epstein as 'a young man with a powerful head and frame. ' Gardiner, op cit, p 47. Note that Oliver Brown, Epstein's dealer, wrote that 'he was a man of broad limbs shoulders whose and powerful retained signs of vigour great physical strength, 55, Brown, ' Silber life. in (1986), his June 56. op cit, p also cited the op cit, p of end until described Epstein Rothenstein, William who Rose cited as 'a young sculptor with a powerful 40 Rose, ' frame. cit, p op head and 325Gertler was much more frail and delicate while Bomberg is described as having a good described huge is Kramer as a man of 6' 6" tall. physical body, stature, standing and at strong 20 p Manson, cit, See op 76

mistress,

Dorothy Lindsell-Stewart

knowledge).

326

[aka Meum] (1895-1957)

without

his

There is also evidence that TE Hulme wrote to Edward Marsh

on a number of occasions seeking his intervention in Epstein's case

327

On a

. more sinister note, relating to the war period, there is some controversy over

whether there was a conspiracy to ensure that Epstein could not avoid being conscripted. Gardiner relates the story of a letter from the sculptor Sir George Frampton to Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig, which contained 'something lethal about Epstein 328and which had caused Haig to abruptly change his mind about a proposed transfer for Epstein to take up a position as an official war artist. The letter has apparently been removed from the files of the 329 Imperial War Museum, and its contents are merely the stuff of speculation. There is also evidence of action taken by Horace de Vere Cole, a known practical joker linked with suggestions of very right wing attitudes and with 330 Epstein Augustus John. Ultimately, did not see any action to connections 331 his breakdown he is have 'a the to eve of suffered complete on as said 332 for Middle East. the regiment's embarkation Significantly, there is some news-film footage of Epstein in uniform, dating from 1917, in which he appears to be quite happy to appear in front of the 333

camera,

he Mirror [Fig how from Daily 43] indicate the taken and examples

326See Rose, op cit, pp 111-112. A comment in a letter dated 7th June 1917 from a Walter C Horsley to the sculptor Hamo Thornycroft adds some context and contemporary evidence. Horsley wrote 'what about your shirking confr6re, Epstein? ' See the Terry Friedman notes in the archive of the Henry Moore Institute 327See the Berg Collection in the New York Public Library. At least three letters refer to th (dated 26 jU ly [1915? ]), referring specifically to Winston Epstein and war service, with one Churchill resuming a role in the Cabinet. Marsh was Churchill's Private Secretary and is better known in the arts world as an early patron of Mark Gertler 328 Gardiner, op cit, p 179 329See Gardiner, op cit, p 179, Silber (1986), op cit, p 36 and Rose, op cit, pp 109-110 330See Holroyd, op cit, pp 270,381-2 and 423-4 331See Silber (1986), op cit, p 37 332Gertler evaded service altogether through ill-health, while Bomberg saw active service in France (although at one point he shot himself in the foot to avoid front-line action. This is described by Richard Cork in Cork (Bomberg), op cit, p 109. Kramer certainly attempted to future his in See from Michael influence the to army. his correspondence connections exploit Sadler, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds, in the Kramer Documents in the University Collections, Special Library of Leeds. As an interesting aside, it is Brotherton from Gill 'exempted Westminster Eric in to 1914 in was war service order carve that apparent 3rd June the 1918 that his 'military exemption [was] it until not Stations' was and Cathedral Gill. Sculpture. Eric London: Judith. Lund Humphries, 1992, pp 122 Collins, See ' withdrawn. 123 respectively and 333

See ITN Archive at:

far especially newsworthy as as his military service was concerned, was including some photographs of the man in training. There is also a wellknown photograph of him posing proudly in his army uniform [Fig 44]. The matter of military service was clearly an emotive issue. As late as 1933, the sculptor, Charles Sargeant Jagger (1885-1934) wrote of 'promoters of this Smodern art' [being] mostly men who avoided war service

1334 before

going on

, to list a number of artists and writers, including Epstein, Wilenski, Gill and

Konody among others. Jagger continues by exclaiming that there was not 'a combatant soldier among them [and] many of them [were] men of obscure foreign origin. 335 The whole inference is that modern artists lacked honour and were somehow weak, effeminate, cowardly and unpatriotic, if not unBritish.

Apart from the war, the timing of the emergence of the new art and the new art language was important, as it was almost coincidental with the 1905 Aliens Act which was passed in direct response to the huge increase in immigrant in Aliens There the British act which nothing at ports. was numbers arriving in Jews, although other race or nationality, nor any mentioned specifically Britain in large Jews 'the European East aliens entering only were practice 336 Steyn describes 1902-1903 Meanwhile, the time this as years numbers at ., the period when 'the Royal Commission gathered evidence to support its Jews that dangerous immigration that and evil and was unfettered claims 337 by that She Englishness. to threat asserting continues were a the Jew was by this process subjected to the alienizing gaze of both Jews and others, including police, clergy, schoolteachers, doctors, living with sets of were who shopkeepers and various professionals, intimate know identify to the to most and assumptions which claimed 338 traits, habits and customs of all Jews.

http: //www. itnsOUrce.com/Search/Shotlist/? Ref=/Bpathe/1917/01/01/BPO101 17188648. htm&li th August Consulted 17 2006 on nks=JACOB%2cEPSTEIN, 334Cited by Penelope Curtis. See Curtis (Modern British Sculpture), op cit, p 297.1 believe Cross, but have Military find to the yet evidence of this that Jagger was awarded 335 lbid, p 297 336See Endelman (2002), op cit, p 165 337Steyn (1999), OP cit, p 39 338 39 (1999), p Cit, Steyn op

The evidence indicates that Jews were much more visible in Britain than ever before and that their image was increasingly significant. 1.8 Visibility and Image of Epstein and Jewish Artists 'As an artist I am among the best-hated ones here, and the most ignored. ' Epstein to John Quinn, September 1914.339

As far as image is concerned, Epstein and his contemporaries presented the opportunity for the public at large to see real characters, real Jews and their creative work.

Having been brought up on the fictional excesses of

Shakespeare's and Dickens's characters, the newspaper-reading public were suddenly presented with considerable detail about real Jews who happened to be artists, living in their capital city and having real relationships with other members of the community. Thus the Jew as Other was increasingly visible and the curiosity of the public was nurtured in the press with stories of their exploits. The fact that they were visual artists simply added to the appeal but in the the they themselves pages of press so was visible not only were their work, perceived to be revealing graphically the workings of the Jewish American he had fact Epstein The that married a and was an additional mind. British divorcee surely increased his curiosity quotient. It is significant that many photographs of Epstein and his work have survived, in images the least the through and years, captured over number of press not fact he has been singled out as an exceptional case by Geraldine Johnson is in 'the that progress work photographic record of a sculptor's who notes is Epstein, the Jacob in the a sculpture whether case of particularly extensive colossal statue or

340 bust. modelled a rapidly

339See Holroyd, op cit, p 423. It is noteworthy that if we accept the idea that Augustus John Holroyd, it is Epstein, to that, to worth recording according model was something of a role 'Augustus's growing renown in the late 1890s and early 1900s was partly based upon his 58 Holroyd, See ' cit, p op extreme visibility. 340See Johnson, Geraldine A [Ed]. Sculpture and Photography. Envisioning the Third Dimension. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, p 12. Johnson adds in her footnote that 'part of the Epstein photographic archives are stored at the [ ... ] HMI in Leeds.' different Epstein 42. many photographers over the years and employed lbid, p 18, note held in HMI the Epstein that now reveal used photographers details from original photographs Henry Moore is known By have done E. to his contrast, Appendix many of own in detailed 79

The direct connection between the man and his sculpture is very interesting because in many cases Epstein is literally in physical contact with his work, whilst in many other instances he is seen looking up at the figure or standing his tools in hands, with nearby sometimes purportedly working with mallet and [Fig 45]. In chisel one example, where Epstein is photographed leaning on his Mother and Child (1915-17) [Fig 46], Richard Corks states that 'his proximity to the carving is striking. It suggests that he saw himself as the male part of the group otherwise dedicated to maternity. 341 In two other examples [Fig 47], he is even photographed standing next to Ecce Homo (1934-5) with his hands held in the same manner as those of the Christ. Is this delivering a subliminal message of an association between himself and Christ? Johnson assures us that 'apparently unambiguous documentary images, however, are often as carefully staged and planned as more obviously posed portraits, ' before going on to point out that 'photographs of Moore wielding a chisel in a marble quarry in Italy in 1969, for instance, were apparently arranged purely for the benefit of the photographer since most of Moore's later marble carving was carried out by assistants working from 342 In spite of Epstein's talk of being 'ushered [ ] into a publicity I models. ... have always detested, 343there is even a photograph of Epstein in front of a camera being filmed [Fig 48], (and he wrote of a film being made of his work 344) Lord Rothermere in another example he stands proudly next to his on and , modelling stand, although in this case what appears to be the beginning of a new head is carefully covered by a piece of cloth [Fig 49]. This compares well with Bomberg who was famously photographed by the Jewish Chronicle, along with his painting Ju-Jitsu, with the two images printed side by side 345 Cubism [Fig 50]. Similar examples include headline 'Jews and under the CRW Nevinson who is purposefully posed with his large (now lost) painting helped him to realise how some of his small works could be of which photographs, some 137 Berthoud, See op cit, p scaled-up. 341 Cork (1999), op cit, p 34 342See Johnson, op cit, p 12. Johnson adds in her footnote that this information came from a Michinson, Henry David the Moore Foundation. lbid, p 18, note curator of with conversation 43

343Epstein (1942), op cit, p 29 344Epstein (1942), op cit, p 80 345See Tickner (2000), p 142

Tum-Tiddly-Um-Tum-Pom-Flom (1914) [Fig 51]346,Wyndham Lewis, who in two photographs is sat in front of his paintings [Fig 52], and in another is with Edward Wadsworth and several of their paintings [Fig 53]. 347 The point with Epstein is that he was frequently shown proudly and directly linked with his 348 dual [Fig 54], the image creating of work and sculptor, work all helping to his public profile. reinforce

It is as if the photographs are reaffirming the

"Here is the which proclaims: stranger with the dark curly hair and stereotype, the scruffy, old clothes - and here is his primitive progeny! " One unusual is image illustrate the The to in New York Times chosen an article exception 349 Here Epstein is in a jacket, collar and tie and thus in June 1914 [Fig 55]. looks unusually smart, although he does have hair over his ears, as if echoing the style of the head of Romilly John illustrated in the article's adjacent photograph. In another valid example, Cork refers to Epstein posing alongside his plaster Statues. Strand formed the dancing the of part girl, which version of According to Cork, ' Epstein's decision to pose beside the plaster [ ] indicates ... 350 but, in fact, his gesture is that he was especially proud of its complexity, Perkoffs Isaac Steyn dealing Juliet by In with an essay not unusual. the identifies the family, Shackman the of significance she photographs of it 'is the that Bourdieu's Pierre introduces pose which suggestion pose and gives the subjects

351 himself Bourdieu In summary, a sense of self-respect.

demanding 'striking that a pose means respecting oneself and stated 352 He is his Epstein is This always work. and evident with attitude respect. camera-aware

and

his position

the to work always relative

appears

back the Silber that footnote, In definitely on states a posed. considered and 'the that is [Fig 56] there photograph a note which states of one photograph 346See Black, Jonathan et al. Blasting the Future. Vorticism in Britain 1910-1920. London: Philip Wilson Publishers, 2004, p 20 347See Tickner (English Modernism) in Corbett and Perry, op cit, pp 16 and 17 348See, for example, Cork (ABG), op cit, pp 20 and 284 and Powell, LB. Jacob Epstein. Hall, 1932, opposite p3 Chapman London: and 349Huneker, James. 'James Huneker reviews a Picturesque London Season. ' The New York Times. 21st June 1914, no page number 350 Cork (ABG), op cit, p 50 351 32 (1999), p Steyn OP cit, 352Cited by Steyn (1999), op cit, p 32

by the from taken selected specifically sculptor. P353In at least a viewpoint was two film excerpts of Epstein, it is quite clear that he is very aware of the looking directly be he into because the lens [Fig 57]. He seen can camera film he is to knows that a speaking wide audience, rather than simply clearly to the interviewer. It is interesting to see that very late in his life, Epstein was fashion by the celebrated and celebrity photographer, even photographed Norman Parkinson, [Fig 58]354while in 1930 when Epstein was fifty years old, a romantic portrait, by EO Hoppe, of Epstein in his twenties [Fig 59] was used to illustrate a very enthusiastic and sympathetic magazine article. 355 Such illustrations were, however, relatively rare and in the majority of the early newspaper reports about modern art there were no photographs to support the journalists' comments, so the reader was invariably at a disadvantage, unless willing and able to go to a gallery to see the work. Photographs, when they did appear, did not do justice to the work, not least for reasons of a lack of colour and the inability to accurately portray three-dimensional works. Clearly, photographs came to be used in ever-greater numbers as the technology

but the use of illustration ensured that a popular allowed,

One intellect. the to the than to of essentially appealed eye rather newspaper the key problems or failings of a photographic image is that it may easily be manipulated,

often

resulting

in misleading

interpretations.

Newspaper

producers developed early cut-and-paste techniques, and this process could be exploited to communicate a subtly different story to the reality. A good, New Light found Elizabeth Barker's be in second essay, relevant example can 356 by (1988 ). This is Career text Earl Epstein's a copy of a supported Y on The [Fig 60]. his the early works sculptor and one of composite photograph of image purports to show a proud artist and his latest piece of work, however, Epstein was not impressed and stated that the article 'is truly shameful.

353Silber (Epstein and His Patrons), in Silber and Friedman, op cit, p 279, n 59 354Parkinson, Norman. Norman Parkinson: Lifework. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1983, p 99 355See RHW, op cit, no page number 356Barker, Elizabeth. 'New Light on Epstein's Early Career', The Burlington Magazine, Vol. th from The The World Magazine, dated October 907. 27 comes example 1988, Dec pp 130, 1912, p9

357 by damned journalist. a The photograph was evidently concocted

explicitly

Epstein's hand apparently on his work and it showing ownership, confers that any viewer would read the image in this way, in spite of seem would Barker's own suggestion that the 'illustrations seem to be wholly fictitious 358 . In another example, concerning his works Night and Day (1929) [Fig 61], Epstein complained that 'even the Manchester Guardian [ ] saw fit to ... bowdlerise the photograph they reproduced '359 Nevertheless, in the case of . this particular commission, it is noteworthy that Epstein first built a shed around the site of his carvings, to prevent prying eyes, and yet he then invited photographers and journalists into the shed to record his work. By erecting this temporary building around his sculptures while in the process of being carved, Epstein effectively focussed the attention of the public and the press alike, and there are some photographs to illustrate this, including one curious example where the figure of Epstein is transparent [Fig 62]. The impression given is that if the work is being hidden from sight, it must be worth trying to get an early viewing (and photographs).

Epstein himself confirmed that 9peeping journalists bribed the watchman to let them have a look. 360 Whether it was intentional or otherwise, Epstein's actions undoubtedly attracted, rather

than diverted the attentions of the curious. Comparison could be made with the fig-leaf applied to the Oscar Wilde memorial, where the size of this added disguise [Fig larger details 63]. to it time than the cover was many was meant There is certainly an issue with photography and three dimensional works. One writer,

Neville Wallis, writing

in the Observer explained that 'no

images in Epstein's brooding latent, the power of photograph can convey by the contemplative spectator 361 Similarly, TW Earp, half-way. it the to sculptor prepared meet, as were,

be apprehended stone, which can only

Homo 'no Telegraph Ecce that Daily for the photograph can wrote of critic

357See Barker (New Light), ibid, p 906. Barker has extracted this from a letter from Epstein to his patron John Quinn 358 Barker (New Light), ibid, p 906 359Epstein (1942), op Cit, p 140. This is also referred to in Barman, Christian. The Man who Built London Transport. A Biography of Frank Pick. Newton Abbot, London and North 129 Charles, 1979, & David p (Vt): Pomfret 360 (1942), Epstein 283 op cit, pp 139-40 and Cork (ABG), op cit, p 361 See Gardiner, op cit, p 421 83

give a fair conception of a figure so sculpturesque that in the limits of a gallery 362 it is not seen under fair conditions, and even the critic for The Star explained his encounter with another work as follows: I should like to describe an experience I had when I saw Epstein's statue Genesis for first Photographs time. the called of it seen beforehand were utterly revolting. But when I went into a certain gallery and stood looking at Genesis for some time, it produced in me emotions of 363 humility, mystery, wonder and even awe. There is also a technical aspect to consider.

It is reasonable to expect that a

piece of sculpture high up on a building should be designed to take account of the position of the viewer, probably standing at ground level. This essentially means that the work must be deliberately record will often mis-represent

the sculpture

distorted,

while a photographic

because the image will have

been captured from the level at which the artist worked, rather than how it would be viewed by the public.

This particular

condition

is explained

and

illustrated in LR Rogers's book, Sculpture (1969)364 [Fig 64].

Another angle of visibility to consider is that many images of the Epstein home show that it was full of strange and exotic artefacts, his renowned collection of tribal, African or so-called primitive art, 365 and these must have helped to bolster his image as an outsider.

Clearly, Epstein was just one of several

collectors, and several artists found inspiration in African and South Pacific 366 but this does not sculpture in the early part of the twentieth century,

362

Cited in Rose, op cit, p 193 363From The Star, 27th October 1937, reproduced in Epstein (US 1940), op cit, p 333 364Rogers, LR. Sculpture. London: Oxford University Press, 1969, p 153 365The use of the term primitive is problematic, however I am adopting one of the three meanings suggested by John Berger who wrote that 'the word primitive has been used ... ] to label the trophies and "curiosities" taken from the colonies (Africa, Caribbean, South Pacific) ' Berger, John. Primitive 'The brought back imperial to the and the metropolis. when Professional,' in Berger, John. About Looking. New York: Vintage International, 1991, p 71. This term, primitive, is used in full recognition of the concerns raised by Bassani and McLeod in their disclaimer which states that it is used 'because during Epstein's lifetime, and since, it designating from of a range of material pre-literate and pre-industrial way was a common inaccurate has derogatory ' Bassani, however, It is, and unpleasantly undertones. societies. Ezio and Malcolm McLeod. 'The Passionate Collector' in Silber and Friedman, pp 12 and 279, n2 366See, for example, Hammacher, AM. The Evolution of Modem Sculpture. London: Thames and Hudson, 1969, p 86, where he mentions Kirchner, Nolde, Schmidt-Rottluff, de Vlaminck Derain, Matisse, and Picasso, along with Epstein as stimulated by, or Heckel, ' Penelope Curtis 'wood non-European to carvings of the peoples. refers of, collectors 84

diminish the significance of the appeal of such a collection. Connotations of the savage, the dark and the magical were attached to the wide range of his in this fact collection and works contributed to the affirmation of his have been and would surely otherness an additional attraction to a curious fact The that the collection itself was sold off, shortly after Epstein's public. death, could suggest that there was an element of embarrassment at its fetishistic Indeed, Bassani and McLeod note that Epstein qualities. perceived 'seems to have allowed only close friends to see [his collection], perhaps because he was scorned for collecting the products of 'savages' and accused 367 'crude and primitive' sculptures in his own work. of plagiarising such The various headline issues introduced here begin to point the way to the proposed conclusion but it is only through a combination of all of the evidence that a reasonably definitive assumption may be formulated. After establishing the key areas in this chapter, further discussion will now be addressed through chapters dealing with the intimate detailing in his works, and finally through an analysis of the art and artist, as featured in cartoons and caricatures.

[which] led in to in sculpture, similarly sculptors carve non-Western Agrowing connoisseurship Sculpture), British 298 (Modern Curtis ' op cit, p exotic materials. 367Bassani and McLeod (Passionate Collector) in Silber and Friedman, op cit, p 12. Part of December in 1961, Christie's items by Lady and other were at sold the collection was sold Epstein in 1963 85

Chapter Two: Private Parts in Public Places

So far, this thesis has concentrated on some of the issues surrounding Epstein's race, nationality, reputation and Bohemian character. These were undoubtedly contributory factors as far as his newsworthiness was concerned, but here consideration is given to the notion that it was particular details of his work that were frequently shocking and provocative.

This chapter will

examine the physical bodily aspects of some of Epstein's most controversial works and how an association with stereotypical

views of the Jewish

degenerate must have influenced their reception.

As for the theme of

cartoons and caricatures which is weaving its way through the text, this is the one area where they prove the least illuminating, except in the negative sense.

Popular press cartoonists were unable or unwilling to lampoon the

specifically shocking elements of the work Epstein produced, unless they could do so without actually caricaturing the detail of the offensive parts [Fig 65]. This same policy is evident in many of the photographs of his carvings where details have been hidden, blurred or removed [Fig 66]. The inspiration and title of this chapter is taken from a short television documentary

made in 1973, one of only two films identified dealing

A film, Jacob Epstein. life the much the and work of second specifically with detailed in Rebel Angel, 1987, sub-titled was more programme made and issues its it is it deals the as predecessor, same while with many of is television production and much more undoubtedly more successful as a thoroughly researched.

Nevertheless, this particular area of research has

been particularly inspired by the very nature of the Aquarius documentary, Private Parts in Public Places.

The title itself is extremely apt, immediately

its language, British typically through use of such euphemistic a suggesting be found in to The film the the public nudity. amusement content of snigger at is handled in an unusual way, combining serious issues, in the form of an Epstein from his the text, of and reading part extracts with a actor playing be described best burlesque as can or vaudeville style series of what jokes, dances by [Fig performed 67]. and a group of actors songs, sketches, 86

In a word, the film itself is predominantly a caricature of Epstein and his work, and even though the methods employed may be read as a critique of the sculptor's extraordinary treatment by the press and the public, it does also work as a device to encourage more laughter and ridicule at the expense of the artist. Unfortunately, the programme does not really address the issues at which it is hinting - namely, the examples of nudity and genitalia employed by the sculptor, which were the direct cause of the press attention levelled at him for so many years. Thus, in spite of scenes showing a woman fainting in front Adam's of enormous genitals [Fig 68], we are left to make up or own minds as to why she should have been so shocked. Closer inspection of his art, allied to an analysis of the circumstances

under

which he lived and worked, as addressed above, helps to define what it was that attracted so much of the newspaper coverage. in simple

terms,

the

common

denominator

I am now suggesting that

is sex,

perhaps

the 'indispensable

appropriately, contemporaries

expressed

apparatus of generation' , as one of his 368 it so politely. More precisely, it was that as a

Jewish immigrant sculptor with an apparent obsession with the human body, of the nude form, (especially

his portrayal

the detail applied to genitals,

breasts and buttocks, and the fact that these were on view in public spaces) was the central facet of his public and press profile. As the television reviewer Time Out of was to write so graphically

pendulous

titsi

pandemonium.

protruding

bums

in 1987, 'Epstein's figures with their

and

swinging

pricks

caused

369

One of the most notable factors of Epstein's work is his insistence on the representational.

There is almost nothing in his work that is totally abstract

from difference the the this point of of audience and view real a and makes the critics; in other words, if they could not see what the work was supposed to represent, it follows that they could not be shocked by explicit detail. Thus for Epstein, invariably the abstract was eschewed in favour of the figurative, 368This is attributed to Augustus John. See Cork (ABG), op cit, p 27 369'Television programme review. Jacob Epstein: Rebel Angel. ' Time Out, 16th September Whitechapel Gallery (Copy in the archive) 1987, no page number. 87

Claude in 1914 though Phillips, art critic for the Daily Telegraph, wrote even 'weird Epstein's "Carving in Flenite"' (probably the Flenite Relief (1913) about [Fig 691), but went on to complain that 'the subject is deliberately made 370 In truth, the work is easily recognisable for its sexual indecipherable. The phallic forms are quite obvious and Phillips's reluctance to content. ('the thing as a whole is unworthy of a serious artist') merely comment indicates a prudish avoidance of the unmentionable. Eighty-eight years later, June Rose asserted that 'the critics nearly always approved of the [ ] bronze ... busts, almost as if they breathed a corporate sigh of relief at having 371 It wasn't that they were something comprehensible to write about. comprehensible, nor that the carvings were indecipherable, but rather that they were representative and realistic enough to allow criticism simply on the strength of their verisimilitude, and that as a result, there was no need to address the more sensitive issues concerning intimate body parts. The Risen Christ was famously described as 'some degraded Chaldean or African, ' Genesis as a 'Mongolian moron that is obscene,

372 ,

and Day and

Night were said to be 'extremely distasteful on first sight to a considerable number of people,

373

but there is little evidence of any analysis of the actual

detail which, I am suggesting, was at the root of the concern and negative Although invoked. this is arguably an obvious observation and they criticism assertion, what is especially interesting is that there is often a marked avoidance of any language that directly acknowledges the so-called offending detail. The key paradox is that he and his work frequently appeared in the far issue for but the the as addressing of reasons, as press a number of intimate body parts is concerned, that same press was unwilling or unable to name the detail to which it objected, or which had made the journalists take notice in the first place. 370

oth

Daily Telegraph, 1 March 1914, cited in Silber (1986), op cit, p 30 371 Rose, op cit, p 97 372Even as recently as 1987, an article in Time Out used the following language about Genesis. 'Her heavy, slumped form, gross belly and thick features make her appear dim-witted member of a subhuman species situated outside civilisation and anthropoid -a beyond culture and the intelligent pursuit of reason.' 'Exhibition Review. Jacob Epstein th 1987, August Out, 5 Time ' no page number. (Copy in the Whitechapel (Whitechapel). Gallery archive) 373See Epstein (1942), op cit, pp 102,276 and 273 respectively 88

An example of the acceptability of certain words is revealed in the use of language concerning the Strand Statues.

Cork cites a letter from Augustus

John to the poet Arthur Symons in which he wrote that 'a few of the nude figures [ male

] have been provided by the artist with the indispensable

... having been disguise, to any attempt made without apparatus of generation, 374 features This, in in the question. a private letter, conceal or minimise indicates the prevailing sense of what Evelyn Silber termed 'the prudery over 375 for John ity', this was perhaps a tongue-in-cheek though even public nud 376

euphemism, taking account of his own somewhat unconventional lifestyle. Richard Cork identifies that on the Strand Statues 'a considerable amount of felicitous details including which would anatomical articulation was carried out, 377 language which is still skirting around never be seen by pedestrians below, the issue, even in 1985. This can also be argued in the cases of the detail on Maternity (1910), Jacob and the Angel (1940-1), and The Risen Christ where quite specific intimate details are shown in areas of the work which are not easily viewed and rarely photographed.

His frank inclusion of essentially

be is to detail is 'private intimate not meant never a side which unnecessary hook to ' On it is the the the the which with punctum of work; contrary, viewed. capture the closer attention of the viewer.

In fact, because of the polite

language, it was ostensibly left to the imagination of the readership, which for to the frequently to tempted then work view or encouraged go was themselves.

374

Cork (ABG), op cit, p 27. This letter is also cited in Rose, op cit, p 51. Even much more 'the tomb's Hooker Denise literal language; the of wrote use of recent writing avoids Hooker, Oscar Wilde the to memorial carving. referring unmistakable male attributes' when p 36 opSilber cit, (1986), op cit, p 18. It is worth noting that Epstein himself referred to the question of 35 In letter he Helen Moore, 'the 1900. to a antique wrote in as sculpture, as early prudery New York in Museum the [Boston] not at the are all as prudish ones in as our sculptures Museum. There is less reason it seems to me in the sneer at Boston's prudery than is th December 1912, in NAGW 17 the now Letter ' postmarked thought. 376John was well-known for his various relationships, and for a period lived in a m6nage a See Holroyd, his op cit children. trois with the mothers of 377 22 p (ABG), Cit, Cork op 89

In a diary note, Eric Gill described Epstein as being 'quite mad on sex,9378 and had Epstein for good reasons surely such devotion to the so-called private figures. his I believe that his reasons included the fact that of parts confronting some of the more obvious taboos of British society became his to success; shock was news; news was reputation; reputation was conduit business. In more formal terms, Epstein wanted to 6pater. 2.1

The Artist who Desires to Epater

To accuse me of making sensations is the easiest way of attacking me, in Jacob and reality leaves the question of sculpture untouched. Epstein379

Original artists are by nature provocative and careless of opinion, but the tedious repetition of events seems to indicate that there is something more than mere coincidence in the way in which their works are assailed, and something more than their own provocativeness which is the cause of the public outcry that so often assails them. [ ] Thus the ... coincidence that Rodin's LHomme au nez cass6, Maillol's monument to C6zanne, Epstein 9s monument to Wilde, and his other to Hudson were greeted as ugly and immoral works that indicated the decadence of life longer is in their no an evident respective periods, and manners Society Art Stanley It is normal reaction of upon coincidence. 380 Casson

In her 1986 catalogue of Epstein's work, Evelyn Silber claimed that Epstein 'introduced into the traditional literary and genteel milieu of British art the disturbingly

primal world of sexual instinct, rendered with a shocking

immediacy that only Bacon has subsequently

rivalled.

381 ,

The Bacon

Epstein but is the today, remains. of primacy obsolete reference Relevant to this argument is that early in his autobiography, Epstein wrote: did. [ ] Later I they that did family could of all not approve naturally my ... do did than the I things, critics who any more certain why not understand talent, the dual the in to and other man of nature, one me a see profess 382 the wayward eccentric, the artist who desires to 6pater. 378MacCarthy, Fiona. Eric Gill. London and Boston: Faber and Faber, 1989, p 104. See different ' Silber the 'mad the 85. slightly quotes about sex, Rose, citing primary p cit, op also (and 13) 29 (1986), note Silber p cit, op source. 379Epstein (1942), op cit, p 30 380 Casson, op cit, pp 111-2 381 Silber (1986), op cit, p9 382 See Epste in (1942), op cit, p6 90

His choice of language is interesting. In April 1931, Epstein's contemporary, the painter and writer Paul Nash, wrote an article in the Week End Review which dealt with Epstein's carved figure, Genesis, in which he expressed his view that 'Epstein is the only artist among us who wants to shock. Hisworkis definitely 6patant [original emphasis retained]. 383 It is doubtful whether Nash in this assertion, but that is not the point. Rather, his comments accurate was are especially noteworthy here, because Nash was one of the three specific individuals attacked by Epstein in his autobiography, in the chapter titled Dog Eats Dog, and this makes it particularly relevant in the context of the journalist/Jew tension already described above. According to the dictionary definition, to 6pater /e bourgeois is to 'shock people regarded as conventional 384 If we subscribe to Nash's assertion, surely it is significant or complacent. that Epstein chose to name this particular work Genesis, rather than 385 less Anne Middleton Wagner's assessment of the something provocative. Genesis figure is that, 'of course Epstein made his figure African; he wanted nothing more than to shake his fist at those who found sacrilege in life's 386 beginning there, and it is clear that she is referring to the bourgeois, the 383Silber (Epstein in Person), in Silber and Friedman, op cit, p 1. See also Haskell (1931), op cit, p xii. The incident is also covered by Gardiner, op cit, p 320. Also in Gardiner is a citation from the December 1952 issue of Britain Today in which Philip Hendy suggested that'Epstein has never been afraid of being vulgar. ' Gardiner, op cit, p 441. In his autobiography, Nash makes very little reference to Epstein, although he does write of 'a more than life-size personalit[y]' and that he was 'constantly in the public mind, [ ... ] associated with something romantic, daring, scandalous and brilliant, [ ... ] the subject of endless anecdotes and legends, Nash, ' [and he] credited almost super-human with virility. not always connected with art was Paul. Outline. An Autobiography and Other Writings. London: Faber & Faber, 1949, p 167 384The Concise Oxford Dictionary, op cit, p 477 385In fact, the sculptor acknowledges that one of his larger bronzes, The Visitation (1926), was originally listed simply as A Study because he wished 'to avoid a controversy [and that] by this disguise I succeeded for once in evading the critics. ' Epstein (1942), op cit, p 115. There is an incident in Epstein's life, which was reported in the press in October 1930, and it is outlined here to make a particular point about his reputation. The story was reported in the legal Epstein took because action against a gallery, which he claimed was selling newspapers fact, him, but in fakes. by My interest in the case is that be to were which works purporting two of the alleged fakes were pieces titled Lust and Vice, described in both the Dali ýh Telegraph and The Daily Mirror as of 'extreme character. ' See the Daily Telegraph, 17 October 1930, cited in Epstein (1942), op cit, p 123, and 'Epstein Loses a Lawsuit. Sculpture th Work. Dealers His Sued. Not ' The Daily Mirror, October 1930, 17 Knight Bought by Wife of that indicate these details clearly very These 6. were qualities or characteristics of small p look like the Epstein, but like it Not work an Epstein. should by only should sound an work Epstein 38 Wagner, Anne Middleton. Mother Stone. The Vitality of Modem British Sculpture. New (for Press The Paul University Mellon Centre for Studies in British Yale London: Haven and Art), 2005, p 241

One the the tenets the is 'to conventional. of of avant-garde complacent, 387 This /e bourgeois. Epstein's in raises an unusual notion epater case, because his work was simultaneously shocking to both the conventional art (read: bourgeois) the large, to by the public and general public at viewing fact that much of it was in the public domain, as opposed to the the virtue of more exclusive domain of the art gallery. The shock was arguably on a different level in each case, with the art establishment being shocked and by detail, it to saw as attention presumably what unnecessary while the upset, detail. by Thus, to titillated attention shocked and explicit general public were Paul Nash's assessment is problematic; was he suggesting that Epstein was 6patant in the formal sense, or was he using the word 6pater to acknowledge the public and press appeal of deliberately provocative sculpture? Alternatively, was he simply bemoaning his own inability to attract the kind of I latent by Epstein, prejudice as anti-Semitic coupled with a attention enjoyed have suggested earlier in the text? A further key piece of evidence of detailing, apparently designed to cause a in England. days Epstein's has links to early shock,

He is known to have

been aware of the Welsh sculptor, James Havard Thomas (1854-1921

388 ),

his the is that interesting the subject of a was one of works, connection and full this Getsy David in 1905. 'scandal' of account a gives significant press 389 how the press made a sensation of on commenting extensively scandal, the work, and of the general media frenzy, and he confirms that the rejection (by the Royal Academy Hanging Committee) of Thomas's work Lycidas 390 This was (1905) [Fig 70], was 'accompanied by a storm of press coverage. As Britain. first to Epstein time the just happening already came when at all suggested,

Epstein

undoubtedly

benefited

from

the

press

coverage

into factor take to Statues, Strand his account and an additional concerning This by initial this in debate the coverage. press prompted was the extended hold in the to that public a place story was able art an shows example 387

See Poggioli, op cit, p 51 388Born in Bristol to Welsh parents. See Getsy, David. Body Doubles. Sculpture in Britain, University Yale Press, 145 2004, London: Haven p New and 1877-1905. 389See particularly, Getsy (Body Doubles), ibid, pp 158 and 159 390Getsy (Body Doubles), ibid, p 143 92

consciousness, providing that it had an element of scandal, or it at least prompted some tension over moral standards.

It could be shown that a

generous amount of scandal ensured that a story had longevity and could, therefore, sustain interest and maintain regular readership. In spite of Epstein's protestations to the contrary, he was often happy to his exploit outsider status to produce controversial work, which was undoubtedly designed to shock and provoke a prudish British public, and that he did this by concentrating on specific areas of detail in his work.

This

assertion is made, in spite of Epstein's comments, expressed in conversation with Arnold Haskell, wherein he tried to explain his views on the subject of a work being shocking. He claimed that: when I look at sculpture one of my first demands is a feeling of surprise. This will need careful explanation. 'Shock' in the right sense is an excellent thing, as distinct from '6patism work of art should give one .A a definite experience if there is thought behind it. All great work produces a shock, and sets the imagination working, even when the work itself is serene. The word 'shock' is perhaps an unfortunate one since it is closely linked with 'shocking' which conveys a meaning of 391 far from I obscenity, removed what wish to convey. Further comment was published in an interview he did for The Evening Standard in 1929.

Speaking of his work on the London Underground

headquarters he stated that: 'all this stuff about my wanting to 'shock' people, 392 Unfortunately, however, as and being a revolutionary in art is nonsense. Epstein is doubt there his some statements, once again with with other of about his true beliefs or meanings.

For example, in a letter to Bernard van

Dieren, the composer and author of the first book about Epstein, he wrote that 'few will see what I've expressed or aimed to express in [the second Venus 393 (c1914-16)] [Fig 71]; and if they did they would be unholily shocked. Furthermore, in a letter to John Quinn in 1914 he wrote that he had completed 391Haskell (1931), op cit, pp 134-135. In one of the appendices of his autobiography, Epstein from Oscar Wilde Pall Mall Gazette tomb the the that included noted which of review a also 'undoubtedly Mr Epstein's notions of mortuary memorials are unconventional and quite likely th 248. The (1942), op cit, p review is dated 6 June 1912 to shock people.' Epstein 392From the article 'A Defence of Night. Mr Epstein Talks about its "Unfamiliar Beauty"' in The Evening Standard, 27 May 1929, cited in Friedman, Terry. The Hyde Park Atrocity: Leeds: The Controversy. Henry Centre Moore for the Study of Creation Rima: and Epstein's 141, 1988, Galleries, Art City p n6 Leeds Sculpture. 393See Silber (1986), op cit, p 34. Also cited in Cork (1999), op cit, p 31 93

'I is think likely 394 figure, to which I cause a some stir when show it., Additional evidence comes from 1910, when Eric Gill wrote to William Rothenstein to tell him that he and Epstein wanted to lease a property where they 'should be free to do all [they] wanted without the fear of hurting 395 feelings. Of course, Epstein and Gill were quite aware of the anybody's kind of reactions some of their work would provoke. Epstein wrote to Quinn in 1913 that 'certainly the great BP is entirely befogged over sculpture, painting and writing. To startle them out of their respectable sloth is a task for a Hercules. 396 This reference to 'startling' people is significant, adding weight to the 6pater argument.

Epstein was undoubtedly aware of the potential

confrontational nature of art work, further evidence of which may be found in his another of statements to Arnold Haskell, this time relating to their discussion about the Oscar Wilde memorial, in which he confirmed that 397 'anything original was certain to give offence of some kind. How was the sculptor

expected

produce

something

original

without

upsetting

conservative public? Linked to this idea of seeking to 6pater /e bourgeois, the concept of plotting a it is familiar I that de is an and maintain a one, would succ6s scandale Sculpture Epstein's in directed ventures at many of accusation easily

398 .

Hubert Wellington the books the the point made sculptor, about one of earliest that has [Epstein's] in to the is work public shocking and strange whatever been accentuated by rumour and the press, which have done their best to give Epstein a succ6s de scandale, and to create the legend of him as 399 in in everything. art and arch-rebel an

394

See Gardiner, op cit, p 126 395Shewring, W [Ed]. The Letters of Eric Gill. London: Jonathan Cape, 1947, p 33 396Cited by Gardiner, op cit, p 112. (NB: I am assuming that BP is an abbreviation for the British Public) 397 Haskell (1931), op cit, p 20 398Jon Wood acknowledges that The Tomb of Oscar Wilde was a 'succ&s de scandale.' See Wood, in Getsy (Modern Ideal), op cit, p 197 399Wellington, op cit, p 8. The phrase succds de scandale appeared again in a review Of Scotsman, in 1931. 'Henry Moore shows a variety of in the time this Henry Moore's work, in for him de these show a recent type galleries won a succ&s at the which carvings of best for the happen thing that to fortunate, probably can He an artist was scandale. in the His 'genius' is then be press. as ridiculed reputation a or to is attacked nowadays 119-20 Berthoud, See pp cit, op ' established. 94

The addition of the qualifying statement'and in everything' reminds us that the press influence and interest was as much about his personality and lifestyle Epstein that it the art was producing. as was about A series of cases studies will now be considered, in order to give clear Epstein's There is no particular order of significance strategy. examples of attached to the works, and a clear chronological order has been avoided in fact to the that the themes were sustained throughout his order emphasis

career. 2.2

The Tomb of Oscar Wilde

In spite of the earlier assertion that the real cause for concern about many of Epstein's more explicit anatomical details was invariably ignored, there is one exception: the Tomb of Oscar Wilde (1909-1912).

It is known that the work

was first defaced by the application of 'a huge mass of plaster -a good kilo of 400 it - covering up a certain part of the statue and subsequently it was completely covered with a tarpaulin by the French authorities [Fig 72]. Soon (apparently bronze installed, in the shape of a the a plaque after carving was butterfly) was added to cover the figure's genitals in the familiar manner of a traditional fig-leaf.

In other words, it was, and is impossible to discuss this

figure's indecency the to the of so-called particular work without reference genitals, since there is surely nothing else in the work which could give any particular offence.

It is noteworthy that Epstein's himself chose to use the

is detail it the than and specific naming phrase, a certain part, rather found be the Epstein's in that words can own writing nowhere significant The this in testicles other. work or any connection with or even genitals penis, did the he that in 1908, is that, to this even acknowledge nearest exception 401 use of the word puberty was not acceptable.

400See Epstein (1942), op cit, p 250, citing an article by Georges Bazile 401In an article in the British Medical Journal concerning the Strand Statues, Epstein states ("puberty" life, is Epstein, is banned). ' that puberty another word young that 'they represent th Work. ' British his Medical Journal, July 1908, p 49, also 4 Description of Jacob. 'The Artist's 242 Wagner, (1942), (although 262 the Epstein cit, p and op op cit, p in reproduced Epstein's Wagner between and citations) differs punctuation 95

Some detail about the history of the Wilde tomb is necessary to illustrate the particularly peculiar circumstances surrounding Epstein's choices for the final indicate Records that Epstein's original idea was a standing nude piece. identified the figure known as Narcissus (1909-10) as clay or now wax youth, [Fig 73], subsequently destroyed by the sculptor, and which has been 402 linked influence to the Thomas's LycidaS. This idea was of specifically apparently abandoned abruptly and the now familiar winged figured was In hostility the spite of of the reception given to the Strand conceived. Statues, which had happened just a few years before the unveiling of the Wilde tomb carving, it was apparently very well received in Britain. This is difficult to comprehend since the genitals were a central, albeit seemingly feature physically small, of the winged figure and they were far easier to see, and to touch, than the offending genital details on the Strand carvings. Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, when referring to the monument in a letter, used the phrase 'his couilles de taureau [ ] hung down at least half a yard403[Fig 74], but this ... Frenchman the was presumably exaggerating to make the story more dramatic, because what photographic evidence there is seems to indicate that they extend no more than a few inches from the body of the figure.

It now

Parisian that the seems even more extraordinary reception of the carving was Surely Paris the the work. so negative, solely on account of sexual element of was a more liberal environment than London, even in 1912, and a comment from the Observer just two years later confirms this assumption, suggesting that the 'Oscar Wilde memorial for the Pere Lachaise cemetery proved too much

even

for

our

not

particularly

squeamish

Gallic

P404 neighbours.

Nevertheless, an alternative consideration must be that because Epstein was intruder, he French, he Jew that was an unwelcome was not a and, moreover, 405 letter In to far French the a concerned. was art establishment as as Epstein's biographer, Richard Buckle, the mysterious American sculptor Alec

402See Pennington (Tomb), op cit, p 23. See also Getsy (Body Doubles), op cit, p 177, where Epstein's figure, Lycidas Girl with Dove (cl 906) between and he draws comparisons 403i.e. "Bull's testicles. " See Ede, op cit, p 121 th Observer, from 404Unaccredited press cutting 4 January 1914. See the Tate Archive, ref the 8024.1 405For comment on French reception of outside artists, see Berthoud, op cit, pp 360 and 375 96

406 Mola remarked that 'the trouble over the genitalia [ I was largely due to ... the peculiarly elaborate and almost decorative treatment he gave them, whilst 407 figure The curious fact is that the rest of the was summarised and simple. even the photograph of Epstein with the carving in his studio in 1912 [Fig 75] is vague and appears to show that the genitals were very small, but it is still impossible to be absolutely sure since the earliest photographs simply do not show adequate detail. It is particularly odd that no detailed images of the detail fig-leaf have the critical survived, nor of or cache-sexe, as Simon Wilson 408 Puts it, which was cast to cover the offending articles, since this was literally the centre of the controversy. The other curious aspect of the sexual content of the Wilde tomb is that it was considerably toned-down from what was originally considered.

There is a

detailed sketch [Fig 76], which shows a large 'phallic silhouette encasing a female sphinx who whispers into the angel's ear. '409 The same drawing includes thumbnail sketches of female figures kissing and fondling each other, 410 along with a list of ten SinS, while the winged angel's genital details are dealt with in a completely perfunctory manner, as if they were of little [Fig The is in true sketch a slightly earlier, alternative significance at all. same 77]. In view of the controversy provoked by the completed work, I suspect that Epstein must have regretted not including the more explicit sketched detail.

2.3

Adam

Even today, Adam (1939) is perhaps the most unequivocally shocking of all Epstein's works, almost entirely on account of the size of the figure's genitals, but also for its modern suggestion of pubic hair and exaggerated limbs and 406Aside from Buckle's references, referred to by both Silber and Cork, I have yet to find any help identify this to information character additional 407Alec Mola to J Stern. See the copy letter in the HMI collection of papers from Richard Buckle. This is also cited in Silber (1986), op cit, p 131 408Wilson, Simon. 'A Newly Discovered Sketch by Jacob Epstein for the Tomb of Oscar Wilde, ' in the Burlington Magazine, Vol. 117, No. 872, November 1975, p 726. He uses the Wintle, Justin [Ed]. Culture. Epstein in Makers Modem London for his of in entry same term Paul, 1981, 159 Kegan Routledge p and Henley: and 409 34 (Tomb), p op cit, See Pennington 410 These are covetousness, envy, jealousy, anger, sloth, wandering thoughts, fornication, evil and sodomy slander, 97

41 1 buttocks [Fig 78] This is amusingly illustrated in some film footage, which . [see fainting Fig 68], and in the photograph in shows a woman a gallery, showing the expressions of the viewers at a private view [Fig 79], where the don't the transfixed and women seem to know where to look. A vicar appears features [Fig Joseph Lee 80] by the 'model' for Adam in a suit, striding cartoon towards the the through gallery carving, which is itself only purposefully hand the at right edge of the drawing. vaguely rendered

The cartoon is

for however, the expressions on the faces of the women; especially revealing, all of them are clearly shocked and surprised at the sight of this enormous for An amusing, alternative method man. covering the offending detail was the addition of some Polka dot underwear [Fig 81]. Acknowledgement of Brancusi's sculpture Princess X (1919) [Fig 82] helps to put Adam into context. According to Sanda Miller, 'Brancusi's most notorious portrait is Princess X, whose overt resemblance to a phallus caused a scandal when it was exhibited at the Salon des Ind6pendants in 1920.412 It is a fair assumption that Epstein would have known of the work, and the fact that it had to be removed from the exhibition. The main difference is that Brancusi's be work stands alone, and could read as the supposed abstract portrait of Princess Marie Bonaparte, although it is clearly easier to adopt the more obvious reading.

Adam's genitals are simply an enormous version of the

male parts, equivalent in size to those of a bull, and even today the physical size and bearing, or attitude, of the genitals are still surprisingly controversial. In fact, even in its present home, the figure is effectively displayed in profile, hall door in the behind head-on, the than at reception main entrance rather Harewood House.

June Rose argues that 'to imagine that [Epstein] was

he had that the that the phallus sculpted would prodigious effect unaware of 413 have upon the English public in the 1930s appears disingenuous, and an he from Epstein's manuscript, where wrote at some unpublished extract 411It is highly significant that the frontispiece for the First Edition of Jacob Epstein. Let There be Sculpture: an Autobiography (1940) is a frontal view of Adam (1939). This was an be to image book. It the confronted which with on opening almost obviously provocative for the honestly in omission substitute of anything a more or provocative apology stands as an for fear been have incurring libel to sanitised of actions the text, which seems St 412 ' Apollo. Vol CLXV, Women. No. March 541,1 2007, 'Brancusi's Sanda. p 62 Miller, 413 Rose, op cit, p 217 98

length about Adam, suggests that Rose's assessment was quite accurate. Here, the text is reproduced in full: My Adam is frankly sexual but of a sexual impulse akin to the God-like th danse [sic] Beethoven's Symphony. 7 urge and creative movements of I felt this Adam in myself for a long time before I began it and once authenticity' as it were of the idea and feeling it convinced of the 96 strongly in myself I set to to express it in stone. Actually I started at the for is [?] and central principal I carved the organs of that work centrally sex around this I built or conceived the figure. This method I feel gives the work that centrefugial [sic] urge and dynamic outspreading feeling essential to an Adamic work. I can say that with this work the essential feeling and power of the work was there from the start and my care [?] from throughout was start to finish not to lessen or tone down that quality. I do not know whether this could be called a "barbaric" work as has been alleged. The civilized man sounds his barbaric [?] over the roofs of the world and does not wish to [?] anybody. "Savage" "primitive" all men however civilized feel the return of their primal instincts and to express it in sculpture is in no way so bizarre as one might think. An Adam that expresses what is so universal. How a work like this is really "wanted" was I think shown by the large numbers who went to view it and my regret is that it did not find a resting place where it could be made a place of pilgrimage for our out-worn jaded and debauched world. Somewhere that would be open to the sun and sky to partake of I [? ] I how healthy is my work and cannot reflect on elemental semitics I degradation and vice and understand accusations of obscenity and naturally do not indulge in the obscene aesthetic pretensions [?] of the look healthy I is the a my as at present vogue. upon work mind which force, not at all a reaction to the present tendencies and vigorous because I am not influenced by passing sets and movements but follow the bent of my own tendencies. The charge of viciousness has always in fact I live it is I the that think that and work surprised me and can only England where there is a prurient interest in vice and anything strange in be that this to thought is view of my work unhealthy at once sculpture For is in influence but believe I that good. sculpture my prevails. cannot Gothic is Greek that tendency I have that thing or would-be none of one England influence in that is imitated the of continent and so prevalent on Maillol or Milles which enervates sculpture nor the tendency to extreme daresay I feeling leaves of emptiness. one with such a abstraction which those this the crop of another we can predict moment of writing at issued I that istic istico-idea so plentifully war memorials realistic or real 414 from the last war. Perhaps this text was left out because Epstein was admitting too much about the truth of his motives concerning this and other works.

Whatever the

414See NAGW archive. There is barely a hint of any of this passage in the published chapter [ 'the ] developed law its that it conception (he a of own as states Adam simply on ... by in [of the the in 'interest the was shown work that attendance ' exhibition proceeded, and (1942), 171 172, Epstein ' op cit, pp and respectively) first it shown]. which was 99

it in some merits analysis now, order to strengthen the argument reasons, those what motives were. Rose's earlier statement is borne out surrounding by the extract in the passage where he wrote that 'the charge of viciousness has always surprised me and I can only think that it is the fact that I live and England there is in interest in vice and anything strange where a prurient work in sculpture is at once thought to be unhealthy that this view of my work ' I he fully that am sure was prevails. aware of the 'prurient interest in vice' he being to professed and yet surprised at the reaction his work provoked, for 'I that the life of me see anything [for the Directors of the could not claiming 415 Galleries] His protestations simply do not stand Leicester to be afraid of., up to close scrutiny. Another significant fact is that the attention paid to the genitals and the stomach muscles immediately above the pubic area, when compared to some of the much sloppier finishing of other areas of the work, indicate that this was Epstein's major focus, and it is almost as if he lost interest in completing the carving with the same care.

Indeed, close

inspection of the work reveals that there are several areas of bruising on the 416 his lack that Epstein's technique [Fig 83], both and of alabaster revealing figure's focussed, the than extremities. on rather attention was centrally I wonder if it is significant that Adam was the major work on which he was his he time the autobiography? was writing occupied at

Certainly it would

have made an ideal object on which to centre the publicity for the new the the the if to sculpture, power of acknowledge publication, and, as frontispiece for the first edition of the autobiography is a full-frontal view of Adam. In the line, 'I felt this Adam in myself for a long time, ' there is even the Epstein itself he the that as autobiographical, and as work saw suggestion design the he the he the genitals, on centred work made admitted, when building the rest of the figure around this point. Photographs of the work in be detail to fact, the this to appears penis and scrotum where progress attest largely established whilst the other detail is still only roughly rendered [Fig 84]. figure Christian because, in the that be of it No doubt could mythology, argued 41' Epstein (1942), op cit, p 172 416During the recent symposium on the Flenite Relief, I discussed the matter of Epstein's Gary Breeze, carver, confirmed who my assumption practicing a technique with stonework field in this that Epstein was not particularly skilled 100

Adam was the root of mankind, his sex organs are, metaphorically, the true life, fact the that they focus the so all subsequent of are source of the work is is their as extraordinary, exaggerated size. This focus is entirely appropriate, intensified by the fact that the Adam is ostensibly faceless; he looks up to the features from hiding his the below, the ceiling, people sky or who instead are the prodigious penis and scrotum practically at eye-level. with presented Essentially, it is all but impossible to view Adam as anything other than simply Paradoxically, it is also this particular detail display of massive genitals. a which confirms the most artistically successful aspect of the sculpture, in the sense that it is depicting a figure in motion, striding ahead on massive legs. I note that in conversation with Richard Cork, Henry Moore once asserted that 'I don't think that carving is much good at motion - it's best at static, weighty, 417 far feasible, If in is more monumental repose. you model clay, movement so it is ironic that so many of Epstein's modelled works fail in this regard, through exaggerated mannerisms, where they aim to express a figure, or figures in motion, and yet Adam successfully conveys forward motion, largely through the attitude of the giant genitals, which clearly appear to be swinging from side to side as the man strides ahead. On this level, they are again the central asset of the work. Epstein's view of the importance of Adam is revealing. He wrote that 'how a by large 10 I the like "wanted think is this numbers who shown was really work indeed to it, Certainly to ' it. to went see and many people wanted went view see it, but is he suggesting that its appeal was artistic, aesthetic or theological, rather than prurient?

To suggest that the work was wanted

implies that he thought he was acting as some kind of saviour of the arts, if is 'my he that the In the itself. regret wrote sentence next part of not mankind that it did not find a resting place where it could be made a place of pilgrimage for our out-worn jaded and debauched world. ' This is interesting because it Risen Christ, he the his arrogantly concerning when comments echoes Christ. like it I to like this to 'I that remodel make should should proclaimed hundreds of feet high, and set it up on some high place where all could see it,

417

270 (ABG), cit, p op Cork See 101

its it give out would warning, its mighty symbolic warning to all and where 418 The use of the word pilgrimage also adds lands.

a sense of religious importance, and suggests that he imagined that a journey made to view Adam

form bring to some of spiritual solace anyone choosing to do so. How would ironic then that the work joined several others in the Blackpool side-show, attracting thousands of sensation-seeking visitors. A final, noteworthy comment on Adam comes from a recent interview for a BBC television series, in which Antony Gormley stated that the main contact between Epstein and Bernini is definitely sex, but how differently with Adam this is evoked. You know, the annoying thing about [Bernini's] St Theresa (1652) is that the sexuality in there is kind of buried by this drapery. That's what's so refreshing about Adam; bloody great penis, huge bollocks swinging about, and the head back, and the arms are kind of down, but there is this fantastic expression of potency; 419 potential.

It is surely significant that Adam is still being referenced to today, by one of our most successful sculptors, but also that Gormley's early twenty-firstcentury language is precisely the language which was forever forbidden and avoided in the contemporary assessment of the work; the language of the (yet) but the language of the serious newspaper common man, perhaps, not report.

2.4

The Strand Statues

'Never forget to beware of meddling with statues in public places. They can be like dynamite. ' Winston ChUrchilff

Writing in 1905, Charles Holden, the architect responsible for Epstein's first in display the the nudity public of problem of major commission, summed up 'We are ashamed of our nakedness - and yet it is in the frank 421 lies. that our regeneration confession of our nakedness Britain.

418 Epstein (1942), op cit, p 105 419 Antony Gormley's words

from are transcribed an interview on viewed th 25 Novem ber http: //www. bbc-co. uk/arts/powerofart/inspired/bernini/bernini. shtml, viewed 2006 420Cited in Batten, Mark. Direct Carving in Stone. London: Alec Tiranti, 1966, p1 421See Cork (ABG), op cit, p 11 (and repeated on p 14)

102

Just a few years before Epstein's Strand Statues became the focus of so Ellis his Studies Havelock in Psychology the published attention, much of Sex (1905) from which Sander Gilman identified the argument concerning the lack He the Ellis's that of naked sexual organ. quality aesthetic explains of view "in low 'only that people a state of culture" perceive the "naked sexual was PY422 In the previously cited essay by Anthony objects of attraction. as organs Ludovici, published in The New Age in December 1913, it is interesting to 423 I do before going on to state not like the nude, note that he wrote: 'frankly, that 'to undress a civilised man or woman is therefore to divest him or her of 424 The use of the word civilised is revealing, an important artistic attribute. for implies by is that the the it exclusion nude only appropriate since uncivilised, the primitive or the savage.

Notably, there are reports of large

Strand, detail the London lining The trying to the the of see of public groups between distinction the types the of make no and although reports statues, by be hoc it that in these argued showing so could ad audiences, people himself identified Epstein tacitly it and was much nudity, much of male nudity, factor in ' This is low 'in those a major state of culture. a categorised as one of the public sculpture debate; had the works been exhibited in a gallery, then the audience, by definition, would generally have been of the educated 425 the the better to merit of work. artistic able understand classes, perhaps This may be an unsustainable assumption but, in fact, The Evening Standard 'nude June that 9th 1908 dated 1 Gazette's St James's stated report and by those for the figures in who most part, seen, an art gallery are statuary 426 According to Cork, 'the know how to appreciate the art they represent. Evening Standard considered that art could easily become threatening when it

422

Gilman (1985), op cit, p 90 423 Ludovici (The Carfax), op cit, p 214 424 Ludovici (The Carfax), op cit 425It is worth noting here that a pertinent point was made by Albert Elsen when he remarked for devices treating the erotic with tried true had and centuries of that 'salon sculpture Origins Modem Albert E. but ' Elsen, of to not protests. discretion so as raise eyebrows York: George New Braziller, 1974, p 22 Premises. Sculpture: Pioneers and 426Quoted by Epstein in Epstein (1942), op cit, p 24. Also cited in Cork, 'The British Medical Friedman, See Cork (ABG), 105-6. Silber in op cit, op cit, p also and pp Association Building' Manchester Gender. York: New Manchester University Exhibiting Sarah. and 24 and Hyde, Press, 1997, p 44 103

427 Here, the use of the left the exclusive domain of the museum or gallery. What being is threatening threatened? The whole exactly was crucial. word for the but is is that masses, not art as this view was being suggestion information the images about work were being presented on and expounded, the front pages of newspapers. Unfortunately this line of argument doesn't really stand up to closer scrutiny if we accept that art galleries, along with libraries, 'provided the means for the social advancement of the working for form them and providing with a respectable classes and sober of 428 At least, is by Juliet Steyn this the in her essay, view offered recreation. dealing with exhibitions at the Whitechapel Art Gallery and it seems that this is help information to to understand why there was so an essential piece of So-called degenerate to negative much reaction new art. art could, if we follow this argument through, be seen as the catalyst for the degeneration of Steyn large. As 'culture intended to mould people: at society summarises was 429 in the reproduction of social roles and in'the productive processeS, So anything that could be seen as undermining the idealised notion of improving social standards stood to receive a barrage of negative criticism. Returning to Ellis, however, he continues with the argument by asserting that it was the buttocks that became 'a displacement for the genitalia [and that they were] properly attracting admiration among cultured (i. e., not primitive) 430 Epstein's hierarchy taste. implies there that exists a of peoples, which Matemity (1910) [Fig 85] is particularly interesting in this context because the detail but intimate the discrete buttocks vulva of subtly and curiously exposed [Fig 86] suggests that the appeal is universal; that it is both aesthetically pleasing and primitively vulgar.

The problem is that the buttocks are

the of carving examination close a very prominently revealed, although only The detail the if intimate, the sculpture of vulva. stylised, rather more reveals itself is relatively unusual, however, in that it was worked on at various stages is it Epstein's the in so gaze, studio out of public and spent many years

427

24 p (ABG), Cork, op cit, 428 213 (Inside-Out), p cit, op Steyn See 429 213 p cit, (Inside-Out), op Steyn 430 90 (1985), p cit, op See Gilman 104

431 Epstein that detail this The serene conceivable added at almost any time . face and the comical, conical breasts [Fig 87], overtly explicit and unreal, only help to enhance the unsettling nature of the work, while the long plait down the centre of the back suggests phallic symbolism, adding yet further to the confusing message. Close analysis of the original models for the Strand Statues, compared to those which were installed onto the fagade, does reveal a degree of hypocrisy on the part of the architects. It was the nude form of the old man holding the baby [Fig 88] which was deleted from the series, although according to Cork 'for some unaccountable

reason this moving conjunction of youth and

senescence was excluded from the final carvings, but this time the decision 432 figures Epstein's The two apparently alone. who clearly represented was an older generation, originally modelled as nude, were later made less Cork 'by [Fig by drapery 89], that the and asserts addition of awkward the [Epstein] to lady's legs, the comply obliged with was old covering up look body to is that upon, shocking somehow an ageing reprehensible notion 433 his This be hidden earlier point about partly contradicts away. and should the old man and the baby and indicates that Cork is not entirely convinced by his argument, if we accept that the notion of the unattractiveness of the nude body applies to both the male and the female form.

Furthermore, as Silber

for Review it Architectural the 'for the a was not enough editor of points out, 434 In be beautiful. the it frank be to same must also and unlascivious; nude deny for 'no that to the example, one would, assert reviewer went on article, the immense power of Rodin's little figure [ce//e qui paps, and pendulous

the old woman with withered of ... 435 fut la belle heaulmi6re ] but few would

decoration for force de the tour of a public external recommend so painful a

436 building.

The significance of three key factors should not be

431At one time it was shown in an unfinished state at the Allied Artists Association (AAA) (1986), Silber 21 126 See 1912. in Hall Albert op cit, pp and in the exhibition 432Cork (ABG), op cit, p 22. Cork's footnote adds that 'in the absence of any evidence to the had BMA have Neither Holden hypothesis. the likely the nor would most contrary, this seems 300, 49 lbid, ' n. p this ban to plaster. any reason 433 Cork (ABG), op cit, p 43 434 Silber (1986), op Cit, p 18 435 beautiful be the to courtesan' i.e. 'She who used 436 18 p (1986), cit, Silber op 105

in underestimated a patriarchal society: young and old (i.e.

ugly) male nudity

in public; pregnancy in public; old (and ugly) female nudity in public; all the distress amongst the controlling classes. As Silber correctly cause of the situation, 'it reveal[ed] as much about social taboos in assesses Edwardian England as it does about attitudes to sculpture. 437 There was, however, an exception; the figure known as Nature [Fig 90], depicting a nude immediately woman was young rejected, apparently because it was too 438 The figure identified as Hygieia was originally nude, but the provocative. final version has her covered from neck to toe [Fig 91]. Irrespective of the above debate, the Strand Statues are especially significant in Epstein's history, not because they are particularly interesting as works of sculpture, but because they are the source of his public recognition; they form the root from which his reputation grew. Cork also affirms one of the basic suppositions of this thesis; that 'precisely because Epstein's figures were front the on vilified page of a mass-circulation newspaper, they quickly became notorious. '439 Furthermore, had they not featured so prominently, would Epstein have been so aware of the part the press could play in his success or failure? Finally, the fact that this made it to print on the front page of a widely-read newspaper clearly indicates a degree of interest, but was it an interest in the art, the artist or the nudity? I have argued elsewhere that it was the reaction to the statues that prompted the sculptor to exploit the but by public of art, publicity opportunities presented overt nudity on works added to this was that there was a major element of chance, because of the proximity of the National Vigilance Society.

Today, it is very difficult to

furore, there how the are a a although caused such carvings understand depth to the details to already substantial add more consider which number of 440 Here I have they the that attracted over years . will analysis and comment detail the the of nudity. specific concentrate on

437

Silber (1986), op cit, p 18 438 See Cork (ABG), op cit, p 19 439 Cork, (ABG), op cit, p 25 440See, for example, Cork (ABG), op cit, Cork (BMA), Op cit, and Pennington (Tomb), op cit 106

Close analysis of the eighteen figures, as they originally appeared on the fagade of the building reveals that there were at least six examples of male genitals on view, probably three breasts and nipples, some six pairs of buttocks and two female pudenda, albeit vaguely represented. Today, the in their mutilated state, still benefit from the well rounded even statues, detailing of the buttocks [Fig 92]; clearly, it was not thought necessary to remove this part of the sculptures, which reveals that this aspect of the nude was not thought to be quite so unacceptable as others, as if to confirm Ellis's argument,

cited above.

Ironically,

close analysis by the public passing-by

was, and still is, impossible

from street level because the works are some

forty feet above the ground.

The full circumstances

of these works remain

unclear to this day because the existing photographic records are simply not 441 detailed One exception is the detail of the comprehensive and enough. figure Matemity, 94].

which clearly shows a large and erect nipple [Figs 93 and

It is surely an extraordinary

detail, in the sense that the fully rounded

breast would have been sufficient to convey the state of new motherhood, and it is clear from later cartoons that nipple detail was invariably expunged from drawings.

With this one exception,

present day sense of bewilderment reception.

the remaining

facts only add to our

about the statues' detractors'

puritanical

Frankly, there was nothing to be seen by the casual passer-by and

by way of an ironic or perverse acknowledgement as part justification Commissioner

for the

of the Southern

eventual

removal

Rhodesian

of this fact, and in this case of the statues,

Government,

the building in 1935 and was ultimately responsible

the

High

(which had bought

for the mutilation of the

be high building 'too the to the that up on carvings), explained sculptures were 442 really seen and appreciated.

Leaving aside the issues of the identity of the sculptor, one key question here is what is/was the significance

or relevance of a series of nudes on a new

building in England's capital in 1908?

There was undoubtedly

some debate

be figures to the the clothed should reflect existence of a soover whether 441Cork notes that 'photographicdocumentationwas rudimentaryduring this period,and even Statues Strand by fully the by the was no means as recorded camera a scheme as celebrated Cork fate. ' (ABG), their op cit, p4 unhappy before met the carvings 442 Cork (ABG), op cit, p 54

107

called civilised, Western society in the northern [read: temperate] hemisphere. Perhaps common sense should dictate that the decoration on a modem building might best be representative of the society in which it is placed. Clearly the subject of clothing was pertinent at the time, as illustrated in a cartoon published in the Daily Mirror on 3rd July 1908 [Fig 95].

Haselden's gentle satire shows six fully-clothed, British figures under the heading 'A Hint for the British Medical Association,' and underlined with a lengthy caption concluding with the reassurance that 'the designer will give a written guarantee that these chaste works of art will not bring the blush of 443 What is noticeable about Haselden's shame to the most sensitive cheek. drawing is that he has clearly studied the actual statues quite closely, for the poses and gestures of the figures in his cartoon are readily recognisable caricatures of Epstein's originals. The detail is quite extraordinary, such as the way that the figure in the top right corner of the cartoon is shown to have his right foot extending out beyond the ledge on which he stands, exactly as in the original. This indicates to me that Haselden was both willing and able to him highly the to to get a close enough view of work allow create a As will be established below, the element of recognition is an essential feature for a successful drawing, and it is evident

recognisable caricature.

that Haselden was highly professional in this particular case. Moreover, it does make sense that the representation of figures in contemporary dress London busy to been have more appropriate a regarded as should thoroughfare. Conversely, the argument could ask questions about what fauxfigures, depicted in be the as so often relevance of statuary would classical drapery? Cork agrees that 'cartoonists [made] merciless comic capital out of the 444 Statues, Strand he to the examples although gives no specific ruMpUS, over support this statement,

latter the part of the controversy until

in 1935 and

1937, when he features an excerpt from Low's Topical Budget showing part of [Fig two 96]. The falling men the above scandalous statues one of

nature of

443Haselden,WK. 'A Hint for the British Medical Association. ' The Daily Mirror, 3 July 1908, 7 4p 44 28 p (ABG), cit, Cork op 108

the story of the statues continues to find attention to this day; one current to this particular site in London is that a man was hit by a falling relating story 445 iS!

stone pen

[Fig 97].

Needless to say, there is no evidence that this

basis has in fact. any statement Perhaps Epstein's work was a refreshing step forward, or away, from the dull, formulaic figures seen around the capital at the time. As a useful counterpoint to the question of clothing it is helpful to recognise that Epstein was very successful when producing many of his bronze busts, by what Evelyn Silber his 'tailor's to as refers sensitivity to the way in which the banal geometry of a tailored

(so frequently suit

disparaged

as undignified and sculpturally 446 impossible) could enhance presence and personality. He also made a

figure the the success of cerements great on of Lazarus (1948) [Fig 98], his best perhaps carved work and unusual in its complete lack of detail even remotely suggestive of anything scandalous.

The lasting evidence of this

particular quality of the work is that the figure now stands in the chapel of New College, Oxford.

A very revealing and surprising connection can be made between the reaction to the Strand Statues and to one of Epstein's final works. According to Evelyn Silber, the large bronze Liverpool Resurgent (1955-6) [Fig 99] is known locally the to Dicky Lewis 'in humorous sculpture's most prominent reference as 447 Silber the here Note, that words penis or avoids even characteristic. again, testicles. The simple connection is that, incredibly, some of the objections to the work bear remarkable similarities to those made against the Strand Statues in 1908, revealing that nothing much had changed in Britain over a period of fifty years.

Silber quotes some examples, such as the former

President of the Liverpool Grocery and Provision Traders Association who 'wrote to Lewis's management to argue that "this type of structure may be tolerated in a Museum or Art Gallery, it should not be permitted to shock the

th 12 January 2009 loc=923, 445Seehttp://www. shadyoldlady. com/location. php? consulted on 446Silber(1986), op cit, p 40 447 103 p (Liverpool), cit, op Silber 109

in the jv9448 centre gaze of our city, public and the local councillor

who declared

that 'this is not a sculpture I would like my wife and daughters to stand and 449 Epstein himself at. quotes the following examples from the press in gaze 1908. Firstly, The Evening Standard and St James's Gazette's reporter wrote that the Strand Statues 'are a form of statuary which no careful father would daughter, his or no discriminating young man, his fianc6e, to see, ' and wish in the same report, already quoted above, that 'nude statuary secondly, figures in an art gallery are seen, for the most part, by those who know how to 450 Even today the appreciate the art they represent.

candid nudity of the

Liverpool Giant may be seen as unusual for such a prominent public location, because the point is that the penis and testicles are minutely detailed and are easily seen from the street. In a society that is still largely uncomfortable with public nudity, such detail is bound to strike the casual viewer as extraordinary, even though people are used to the idea of freak statues in museums and galleries. Of course, the local population must now be largely familiar with the work and it has become an accepted, if not fully acceptable, element of the urban landscape, but the whole work has a distinctly uncomfortable presence, with its curious arm and hand gestures and the hesitant stride of a man apparently precariously balanced on the truncated prow of a ship. Even more confusing is the triptych of cement fondu panels [Fig 100], reportedly added by Epstein free of charge, immediately above the main entrance to the store but some twenty-five feet below the main sculpture. The relief panels depict dog. by baby in a pram, attended a groups of children playing, and a

It is

by Epstein in included images innocent if these order to were almost as wholly divert attention from the overt maleness above.

Perhaps he finally became

conscious of the potential of the effect that a representation of a giant, proudly nude man may have on the character of the store? As for the actual effect of the press reaction to the Strand Statues, Richard Cork suggests that "8Silber

(Liverpool), op cit, p 109. Silber also reported that the directors of Lewis's were heroic Silber their ' (Liverpool), by the and virility of scale taken use. op cit, aback somewhat 108 4p 49Silber (Liverpool), op cit, p 109 450Epstein (1942), OP cit, p 24

110

without the Evening Standard's prompting, the probability is that nobody have Epstein's indecent statues would considered at all [but] the combined efforts of Fleet Street and the National Vigilance Association 451 ensured that they soon became notorio US.

This echoes contemporary comments published in the British Medical Journal which asserted that 'of the thousands of people who go up and down the Strand every day, not half a dozen would have noticed the statues had not the Evening Standard and St James's Gazette pointed the finger of outraged 452 details It in is arguable, therefore, that the notoriety the them. virtue at earned by Epstein at such an early stage of his career in this country set him for up many commissions during his lifetime.

Imagine, for example, a

reasoned, rational critical appraisal by Arthur Clutton-Brock, stealing the headlines in The Times, and having the same effect. Frankly, it is inconceivable. So, here in the Evening Standard was the incident which gave Epstein a name and put him at the forefront of debate, which cannot have harmed his profile in the long term, even if it was often only for commissions for the portrait busts on which he came to depend. Cork's further assessment of the scandal surrounding the Strand Statues is that 'these furores [ ... ] guaranteed that Epstein's art was noticed by an unusually broad cross-section least Epstein's 'at he to that the goes on add work was of population' and into the making up centre of national attention and provoked viewers placed at 453 Certainly press attention meant their own minds about the merits of art. be for 'making the to but it too viewers probably early was national attention, that the it their attention was maintained rather case own minds' and was up follow. to else may with a view what

Instead of making up their minds it

following instruction the the that they press and others, of seems were simply described by Dennis Farr as

454 the 'self-appointed guardians of public morals.

Cork continues by citing the editor of the British Medical Joumal at the time BIVIA Strand filling the the that opposite young people were who, noting building, found himself

451Cork (BMA), in Silber and Friedman, op cit, p 106 452From the article 'An Old Maid With a Spy Glass, ' in the British Medical Journal, 27th June (US 1940), 231 Epstein in op cit, p 1908, reproduced 453 Cork, (ABG), op cit, p3 454Farr, Dennis. English Art 1870-1940. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978, p 217 ill

thinking what a good thing it was [ ] because hundreds of these young ... have had any idea that the statues were indecent, never people would or look to troubled at them at all if they had not been told, while now even they will always be looking out for indecent things, and thinking about them, and wondering why they are indecent, and whether it does them 455 any good or not. There is a hint here that the press is somehow fulfilling the role of moral guardian, while simultaneously drawing attention to matters which may result in a decline in moral standards, confirming that its power is ambiguous. Meanwhile, 9newspaper columns were filled with the cut and thrust of correspondents who hoped to persuade the BMA either to censor or preserve 456 the sculpture and I wonder why the press was always the conduit for such activity?

A direct approach to the BMA would have remained unseen, of

course, and therefore would have had less persuasive power. Nevertheless, there was some acknowledgement of the perceived influence of the press, such as in a letter from an absent BMA committee member protesting against 6any action being taken with regard to the statuary outside the new building in consequence of the agitation by a set of newspapers, P457 and Cork also notes that the council's chairman 'was attempting to pretend that the newspapers had distorted his comments for their own irresponsible ends. 9458 The Evening Standard's declaration that they '[drew] attention, with some reluctance

459 to

the Strand Statues is disingenuous.

Surely they drew

attention to the work and fuelled the scandal in order to sell more have do to to Gardiner 'it that so, shocking was newspapers? agrees, noting 460 'it he that for but argues was perfect also sales, and of course, good highlighted to hints whip up were about pornography newspaper material: 461 moral wrath among hypocritical middle-class readers and make sales soar. Note that it was only hints about pornography.

455

Cork, (ABG), op cit, p4 (and repeated by him on page 25) 456 See Cork, (ABG), op cit, p 25 457 See Cork, (ABG), op cit, p 28 458 Cork, (ABG), op cit, p 28 9th 459See the Evening Standard, 1 June 1908, cited by Epstein (1942), op cit, p 24 and 60 Gardiner, p cit, by op repeated 460 Gardiner, op cit, p 60 461 Gardiner, op cit, p 64 112

2.5 The London Underground Building As with the Strand Statues and the Hudson Memorial, amongst others, it is to it difficult Epstein's two sculptures, Day comprehend what was about again Night, that In caused so much offence. purely objective terms, there is and little argument that they are not particularly well crafted; they are crudely ill-proportioned. and worked

Subjectively, they are arguably much less

interesting than the other eight works commissioned at the same time for the building, and although these other works are in extremely remote locations, high on the building and all but invisible to the passing public, they do have the distinct advantage, in purely art-historical terms, that the group includes Henry Moore's first architectural commission. As for the features of Epstein's figures, similar to the nudes on the BMA building, they appear to me to be female figures have London. The in male and completely out-of-place central in facial features in this the so and are style of non-Western art, non-Western found have difficult it is the to native public would sense not understand why them to be incongruous additions to a modern building housing the offices of London's transport system. Comments from the general public, reported in the newspapers the day after Day was unveiled, capture the essence of the problem.

One woman is reported to have said that 'it is very ugly and

Why horrid. is face The the child really male of completely un-English. 462 On reflection, even today it is doesn't Mr Epstein model English types? difficult to explain what relationship these figures have with the function and integrity of the building's architecture. In the context of this chapter, however, the primary reason for highlighting this work is that Epstein was apparently forced to shorten the boy's penis in the work Day. Christian Barman, biographer of Frank Pick, the man who built London Transport, recounts the incident, explaining that Epstein to the front Day in mounted of and scaffolding was again set up little hour that the for it two had he an or was seen top. After worked had been reduced to somewhat boy's member more infantile 463 by [inches]. 1Y2 dimensions: it was now shorter 462'Epstein Again Stirs London. Grotesque Figures in his Latest Carving Day. Un-English.' st JuIy 1929, p2 1 Mirror, The Daily 463Barman, op Cit, pp 130-131. It is noteworthy that in Barman's biography of Pick, the only Underground Headquarters building is London the a photograph of image of sculpture on 113

Note that even in 1979, Barman opts for the word member. Further detailed is Cork, he by argues that this was evidently the defining comment given and feature which saved the work.464 Barman goes on to assert that this did indeed 'save Epstein's Night and Day from the fate that befell his [ ] figures ... 465 headquarters British the Medical the Association. It may be argued on of that the adjustment he had to make to Day was to remove more realistic detail, such as an indication of the glans, as in Primeval Gods [Fig 101], or to remove evidence of an indication that the boy had been circumcised. Perhaps it was itself a symbolic circumcision of the figure, or was it purely a matter of size? The problem with any speculation here is that, as with some of the other works already discussed, detailed photographs of the work before the adjustment do not exist.

I have yet to uncover any photographs of the

work prior to the change, in order to see if it was a matter of detail as well as length. The photograph published in the Daily Mirror on 1st July 1929 is not helpful because the detail is effectively blacked-out, and the same is true of the image published

in American

Weekly in 1930 to accompany the

serialisation of Dolores's memoirs [see Fig 66]. As with the Strand Statues, again it is worth considering some examples of the language used in the press. The caption to the Daily Mirror's photograph reads'this statue, like its companion, Night, on the same building, is bound to 466 In other words, the expectation of be a challenge to Epstein's critics. first Similarly, from its the is moment of appearance. controversy re-enforced following the unveiling of Genesis in February 1931, The Daily Mirror printed a 'those the details the the caption who sculpture with of photograph of some of have already seen it predict a controversy as vehement as that which raged 467 further, To Rima. the the even point yet stress round same sculptor's Day, in spite of the fact that there were eight other works by six other sculptors, (including one by Henry Moore). There is also a short notice in the gossip columns of The Daily Mirror, for Night 'should that the the that also re-erected was and scaffolding writer which suggests ' The Rambler. Gossip Epstein's 'Today's to made. alterations be some see not surprised th June 1929, p9 Mirror, 13 N ht Thoughts. ' The Daily 46 46P Cork (ABG), op cit, p 292 46'5 Barman, op cit, p 131 466'Epstein's Latest. ' The Daily Mirror, 1stJuly 1929, p 15 th 467 Mirror, Daily 6 February The ' 1931, 10 Statue. Latest p 'Epstein's 114

Epstein into ventured watercolour painting, the first line of a newspaper when line the 'his first included essays in this medium are certain to arouse report 468 controversy among critics and public alike, and the next time the

same

Epstein's reported on newspaper work, for an exhibition in the Leicester Galleries in the Spring of 1933, the reporter had to include the line 'the chief the one which will cause a great amount of controversy, is entitled exhibit, 469 Later in the same year, in a very brief acknowledgement Primeval Gods. of an exhibition of his paintings, Epstein himself is quoted as saying that 'this is the first time I have done landscape painting. There is nothing controversial 470 It is them. It is amusing that sheer nonsense to talk of controversy. about by asserting the nonsense of the situation, Epstein himself refreshes the concept of an anticipated controversy in these two short sentences. This is because, later, just the same newspaper significant over a week yet more front its on page a photograph of one of the paintings alongside a printed 471 Many for failed V include to the months report once, word. short which, Epstein's Mirror Epstein's death, The Daily sculpture printed a picture of after Epstein's line 'like included Princess Margaret, the of many and still of 472 the [it] is to report although expected raise a storm of controversy, statues, fails to give any indication as to what exactly may be the cause of such controversy.

Again, following the unveiling of St Michael and the Devil at

Coventry Cathedral, the news report states that 'as always, the inevitable 473 it is In broken has [Epstein's] summary, out again. work controversy about form the that of controversy was virtually suggestion of some arguable far this indeed sculptor's work as as prophesy, a self-fulfilling compulsory, and 474 was concerned.

th The Daily Mirror, 17

468'Black Adam Ideas of the Bible.' Eve. Epstein's Faceless February 1932, p 17 469 ' Epstein Does it Again. More Stone Monsters - and a Bronze Beauty.' The Daily Mirror, 26thApril 1933, p5 th 470 'Epstein - Painter.' The Daily Mirror. 27 November 1933, p6 471See 'Epstein Exchanges his Mallet for a Brush and Colour Box. 33 Paintings of Summer th Scenes in Epping Forest.' The Daily Mirror. 6 December 1933, p1 th The Daily Mirror, 13 April 1960, p 9. The 472'Margaret as the Great Epstein Saw Her.' Sir Jacob Epstein, 'was the from letter is sculptor, a asking reader a there day following a th April Epstein. ' The Daily Mirror. 14 1960, 23 Letters 'Live ETM, Mr p ' Briton or a Pole? th The Daily June, 1960, p4 ' Mirror. 28 473'Cassandra Says: From Rima to Lucifer. 474When The Daily Mirror next reported on the sculpture of Margaret, it again included the in it the text three Meanwhile, ' same other mentions art all works, 'controversial. adjective 115

IRR

Returning to the specific case of Day and Night, Gardiner writes about a disguised himself who as an architect to gain access to Epstein's reporter there are photographs which show Epstein and Night in the gloomy and shed, light afforded by the shelter constructed around the work in progress because 'it got altogether too public for [his] liking.9475Epstein himself claims that the had been broken shed open one night and that some journalists had bribed site workers to allow them to get access to view him at work. This adds to the confusion about the original state of Day and the absence of any accurate photographic record, because the implication is that pictures were taken during the period Epstein was at work. The fact that Epstein had to make amendments to Day takes on a further significance when compared with one of the other works on the building. Images of Eric Gill's East Wind [Fig 102] are noteworthy in view of what Cork 476 Gill's 'characteristic frankneSS, with Gill's design being detailed refers to as enough to show the figure's penis.

It is clear from the preliminary sketches

that Gill chose to reverse the position of the figure's legs so that its genitals are exposed, and the smallest version even includes some fairly intricate detailing applied to the pubic hair. 477 Nevertheless, in this particular case the finished work is so far away from the public gaze, at the seventh floor level, that the feature became completely irrelevant.

Conversely, Epstein's two

pieces were so close to the road and pavements that the public couldn't fail to notice their detailing and finish. This is in sharp contrast with one of the least visible works of Epstein's output.

descriptive information. See 'Three Faces Catch the by the any of which absence noticeable Ee at the Royal Academy. ' The Daily Mirror. 29thApril 1960, p5 44 See Epstein (1942), op cit, p 140 476 Cork (ABG), op cit, p 264 477In fact, according to Susan Quinnell, Gill 'was obsessed by pubic hair.' Quinnell, Sculpture in Sexuality from Prehistory to the Present Day. Object. Erotic Susan. The Further 35. 1994, Moon, Crescent p evidence of this may be seen in many of Kidderminster: his drawings and prints 116

2.6 The Sun God and Primeval Gods The Sun GodlPrimeval Gods has been kept in storage for many years at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, but it is a work which merits more attention than has hitherto been the case, and my interest has been focussed on a particular change to the detail of the work.

In Silber's catalogue of

Epstein's work, the details relating to The Sun God (1910/1931) [Figs 103 and 478 The photograph 104] are incorrect.

dated 1933 has far less detail in the

genital area than the image dated 1910.

The detail applied to the pubic hair

has been altered and the penis/scrotum

detail has also been significantly

transformed,

and the reason for my attention

is that such an obvious and

have least change should gone un-noticed, or at un-remarked. significant difficult to imagine why Epstein appear

made these changes,

to have been made some twenty-one

especially

It is

as they

years after the work was

has been it is that there no comment about what odd originally created, and the motivation and implications may have been for such a major adjustment to the work.

One of the reasons could be that when Epstein created the new

block [Fig the Gods, 105], the Primeval in 1933 of on reverse side of work, he took the opportunity stone,

to re-focus attention on the Sun God through

the application of some more provocative detail - the more controversial pubic hair.

Originally,

squared-off

this region of the sculpture

employed

a simplified

and

feature, a stylistic device he also employed much later on both

Genesis and Adam.

It is, therefore, puzzling as to why he should have felt the

for the likely influence The detail. the to original square style can amend need be traced to one of the African figures in Epstein's collection, although it is not known at what period he had acquired the piece. There is a large photograph in the HMI archive and it can be seen in a photograph of one of the rooms at Hyde Park Gate [Figs 106 and 107]. An alternative scenario is that there are striking similarities

between Eric Gill's Cocky Kid (1910)479 [Fig 108] and the

Sun God, in the way that the hair of the two figures blends and merges their 4781 have received correspondence from the Metropolitan Museum in New York, which Silber's dates definitely incorrect. the and published are work, of clarifies the present state See Silber (1986), 127. 1910. to that cit, p attributes is op she which The present state as 1910, it is the that later the dates of work as and suggests unfinished. state Penelope Curtis After Rodin. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1900-1945. Sculpture Penelope. See Curtis, 1999, p 85 479Thiswork is also known as Cupid. See Collins, op cit, p 28 117

heads into the stone slab grounds. The increased detail of the pubic hai rA80 and the reduction of the scrotum and the subsequent enlargement of the penis, effectively draws the eye to these central features, away from the stylised treatment of the halo of hair. The original fullness of the scrotum also Gill's that figure, and I sense a deliberate distancing of the two of echoed by later the pieces amendments.

In fact, there is evidence that Epstein had

least had custody of, Gill's Cocky Kid at some point, because it is owned, or at noted in the records of the Whitechapel Art Gallery that the work was in his possession at the time of their exhibition Twentieth Century Art: A Review of 481 Modem Movements planned for May and June of 1914 [Fig 109]. The report in The Daily Mirror describes The Sun God as 'an effigy [

] with

... the broad negroid face so beloved by Epstein, long hair standing out from it like the sun's rays, and outstretched arms. 482 There is no mention of the detail of the genitals, nor even of the fact of the figure's nudity. Similarly, the reference to Primeval Gods on the reverse of the block of stone ignores the figure's nudity. 2.7

The Rock Drill

By any definition, when the work first appeared, the Rock Drill [Fig 110] was it in that it is the today modem, sense still shockingly undoubtedly shocking; 1912, there have been it that as when as early conceived cold seems unlikely More before that time. like it in existence was nothing even remotely details, the this in however, the of specific analysis context of appropriately, Rock Drill in its original form had obvious sexual connotations.

The

difficult to is drill the the recognise, rock not penetrating phallic symbolism of in the that there Gardiner if concept, claiming sexual was nothing argues even 480Assuming that Epstein was, at some point, inspired by Thomas's sculpture of Lycidas, as discussed above, it is worth pointing out that for all of Thomas's minute attention to detail, he did still avoid the ultimate taboo; his figure has no pubic hair. At the same time, the hair on his late in detailed. Epstein teens, is intricately figure, quite a male head the clearly the of issue have hair this some have over works suggestions of pubic to prevaricated appears detailed while others are carefully 481Note, however, that Penelope Curtis claims that 'Epstein ordered his own copy' of Cocky See Curtis for (After Rodin), op cit, p 85 this statement. Kid, although gives no source

482'Epstein Does it Again. 26th April 1933, p5

More Stone Monsters - and a Bronze Beauty. ' The Daily Mirror,

118

that Epstein 'saw this powerful-looking object on its tripod as an interesting piece of sculpture [

] in its own right, and not for any sexual symbolism that

... 483 Gardiner is being naYve. As is sometimes attributed to his interest in it., early

1913,

suggestiveness

Konody

writing in the Observer of the 'nasty 484 and the Rock Drill drawings and of the whole thing was

towards the the themes which occupied of same period point sketches Epstein at the time.

For example, the drawing published in the New Age,

from [Fig ] Rock Drill behind 111 the appears to show a naked man showing the buttocks are clearly defined. At face value, and setting aside the symbolic Silber described by 'a heroic, figure [ ] Rock Drill, the as modern on nature of ... human level of power, on another epitomiz[ing] man's command one 485 Cork his sexually and materially, or generative power what symboliz[ing] terms 'the angular, rigid dehumanisation of a world dominated by mechanised 486 hot in be such a operating machinery apparently why would a man power, be Woman (1910) [Fig 112] Man Comparisons drawing the should with state? highlighted, because the shape of the man's penis is certainly similar to the drill-bit is the drill, the length the of and end of narrowing wedge-shaped feature the in is turn the of a prominent glans, which arguably symbolic of 487 Taking to drawing. the in the another comparison primitive man's anatomy level, the heavily accented and stylised detail of the woman's vulva in the Man Woman drawing is echoed in the Rock Drill studies where the tip of the drill time the Furthermore, [Fig 113]. the as same at approximately rock meets Epstein was developing his ideas for the Rock Drill he was also making other drawings which suggest that he was preoccupied with phallic imagery and sexual penetration.

In particular, the drawing Totem (c1913) [Fig 114] is an

Similarly, human copulation. explicit, albeit extremely angular, expression of Doves Drill for Rock Studies Six drawings and the centre of the sheet of (c1913) [Fig 115] 'is occupied by a commanding angular presence, in which

483

Gardiner, op cit, p 128 484Konody, PG. Review in the Observer, 14th March 1915. Cited by Cork, Richard. 'Rock (although the Also in Rose, 95 164. Friedman, she gives op cit, p p cit, op Drill,' in Silber and date of the review as 1913) 485 Silber (1986), p 32 486 Cork (1999), p 38 487Silber also spotted that 'the sexual connotation of the drill-bit evolved from the stylised (1986), 32 Silber ' Woman. op cit, p Man masculinity of 119

488 by inverted hieratic body is below the her a man pierced of a woman and in this example

Cork goes on to assert that 'the phallic tension in this

figures female is clear enough, and a small sketch amalgamation of male and doves the two on amorous elsewhere paper reinforces the theme of of 489 copulation. There is even a suggestion by Dennis Farr, who was citing Albert Elsen's hint, 490 Rock Drill be 'might that the but today we know a covert self-portrait, Epstein as the creator of the torso from the Rock Drill, rather than by its original extraordinary

state, towering over the viewer [Fig 116].

This

mutilation, a symbolic castration of the original work, makes a fitting metaphor for the beginning of the decline in his power as a radical sculptor. 2.8

Jacob and the Angel

Jacob and the Angel is another example of Epstein's work that is particularly problematic because photographs of the sculpture typically fail to show the full extent of what was undoubtedly the cause of prurient interest.

Before

addressing this, however, there is the obvious matter of the two figures' nudity, which cannot be understated. There is nothing in the Bible to suggest that Jacob was naked; in fact he had just left 'his two wives and his two slave491 before his eleven children spending the night wrestling with the girls and Angel (i. e. God). Furthermore, according to the Bible it was Jacob who would The is in Angel, the than let the as sculpture. rather represented not go of is Epstein's interpretation the is that confusing. of scene point figures locked together in a naked embrace?

Why are the

The apparently controversial

detail is not immediately obvious, but is easily visible to the inquisitive viewer large disproportionately figures both the genitals with are well-endowed of [Fig 117]. Once again, Stephen Gardiner is sure that 'there are no sexual

492 did he indicate but that to in this this not only seems work, connotationS, 488See Cork (Rock Drill), in Silber and Friedman, op cit, p 161 489Cork (Rock Drill), in Silber and Friedman, op cit, p 161

490Farr, op cit, p 219. Eisen's observation was that 'perhaps it is not too much to see to the identity figure. See ' Elsen, the the clue real as of masked Epstein's visored self-portrait op cit, p 39 Bible. London:

41 See Genesis 32: 23. The Jerusalem 492Gardiner, op Cit, p 388

Darton, Longman

& Todd, 1968, p 38

120

really examine the carving, nor question the details included by the artist. One has to assume that he was also unaware of Epstein's preparatory sketches [Fig 118], in which 'man and angel grapple so closely that, whether standing or rolling on the ground they seem to kiss [and] in essence it is still the mysterious carnal and spiritual duality of the creative act he is 493 There is little doubt that this is not a wholly 'innocent' celebrating. sculpture, because the modelling of the genitals is otherwise irrelevant to the meaning of the work, and the fact that it found its way into the seedy world of the Blackpool sideshow is not such a surprise when taken in the context of the detail and of his other work. There are no published photographs detailing the offending area of the work, and even in the Tate archive such photographs that do exist are all taken from angles which avoid the detail between the legs figures. the two of Similar observations

can be made about St Michael and the Devil (1956-8)

[Fig 119], which is notable for the way that it is invariably portrayed in photographs. itself to a full-frontal underneath,

captured

and

Clearly, the structure and site of the work lends

view, but if the work is viewed from the side or from

both easily done by any viewer, the intimate detailing of the

Devil's penis and scrotum is quite clear [Fig 120].

It is a curiously explicit

element of detail, which arguably adds nothing to the overall composition.

fact, although the devil is depicted as naked, he could have been symbolically castrated through the inclusion of just a suggestion of manhood, rather than to be adorned with such overt signs of viri lity. 494

Coincidentally, Jacob and the Angel was selected as a case study as recently different the the 2006, the readings of on work concentrating as authors with displayed. its to when position according

Gunther Kress and Theo van

Leeuwen are perhaps unique for their identification of the key element of this look from behind, faced the 'if that at angel we we are carving, suggesting Angel, the the three 'analysis' and a very striking one: principal of with an 493

See S ilber (1986), op cit, p 54 494Incidentally, the detail of his genitals is very similar to that of the Liverpool Giant and was from the model same taken presumably 121

'Possessive Attributes' Epstein emphasizes are the Angel's long hair, his 495 balls. What his fail they to and address is that the size of the balls wings bull, I to those of a and venture to propose that this was the are similar defining feature which led to the work's featuring role in the Blackpool Kress Leeuwen and van returned to the Angel in their theorising peepshow. by arguing that it is tempting here to take the human body as a metaphor, with the front the the side, public side where we articulate how we want to be read, as back the as the non-social side, the private side which is not meant and to be viewed and often has no meaning except perhaps for those with intimate. This is are most whom we why, paradoxically, it can also be 496 the most revealing, as in the case of Epstein's Angel. Perhaps this is true in this case, although the authors have also ignored the fact that Jacob's genitals are also visible from the front view, so I am not sure that this kind of reading can be applied to this, or any other of Epstein's works. 497

The Hudson Memorial - Rima Rima is especially important in Epstein's press history, because of the

2.9

devoted in inches to the the newspapers, work column exceptional amount of it their the attention. gave of cartoonists who and number

Curiously, in the

I lack is in the true this this of what would classify spite of chapter, context of it that the In detail. this intimate work rather case was as particularly shocking featured a so-called ugly nude woman, with very roughly worked breasts and [Fig 121]. distorted torso and an unremarkable pudendum nipples, a

It is

The Foreword to Friedman's from Terry length, an excerpt worth quoting at Hyde Park Atrocity (1988) to set the scene and help to explain the impact of this work: 495Kress, Gunther and Theo van Leeuwen. Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. Abingdon: Routledge, 2006, pp 246-7 496 Kress and van Leeuwen, ibid, p 258 497There is no information in any of the published texts about who was the model for Rima. Mirror, The Daily in the model from the gossip columns According to two separate comments ' The Daily Gossip Head Rima. The 'Today's Rambler, The See of Mijinski. was a Madame The by does the th (although this and model name), not mention 1925, p9 Mirror, 13 jUly th The March Rima-' The Daily Mirror, 1927, 9. 18 Real The Gossip p Rambler, 'Today's Mademoiselle Mijinska, in 1926, her to as modelled with no refers detail in Silber's catalogue Silber Rima. See (1986), to op cit, p any reference without and provenance photograph, no he for Dolores the that was model, although gives no source 160. Stephen Gardiner claims 228 Gardiner, p cit, op this assertion. 122

Epstein's unconventional interpretation of the subject shocked most people and Rima, as the memorial came to be popularly known, was condemned as the 'Hyde Park Atrocity I) 'A Travesty of Nature', 'Bolshevist art' and worse! The second half of 1925 was dominated by an unprecedentedly vituperative and relentless press campaign, fuelled by Parliamentary debates, public protests [Fig 122], anti-Semitic attacks and acts of vandalism, all aimed at discrediting the sculptor and getting rid of the appalling horror. The Memorial was the most talked about work of art of its time, perhaps the most controversial in the annals of Twentieth century art in Britain. 498 Following the unveiling of the Hudson Memorial in May 1925, up until the end 'over hundred two the of year articles and letters appeared

in the London

and journals, with the provincial press following SUit.Y499In spite

newspapers

Friedman's of assertion that most people were shocked, he goes on to explain that 'there

be doubt that the attacks, can no

spontaneous,

large-scale

rather than the result of

public animosity, were being carefully orchestrated

by the press, particularly the right-wing Morning Post and Lord Rothermere's Daily Mail. t5oo The Times 9s account of the unveiling is notable for the fact that Epstein is not even mentioned until the very end of the penultimate paragraph 501 There is no mention of any kind of immediate of a 1,000-word report. follows however, letter immediately the to after a which work, adverse reaction how there was 'a shock, like a discordant note, [which] 502 George later, Some by six months many who were present. was sustained the report describes

MacMillan,

writing

in the Morning

Post, explained

how 'when Mr Baldwin

through the to [Fig 123] the pass seemed a real shudder monument unveiled 503 tangible These the a of when examples rare are some of spectators. in is it but in this described, is response more evidently case shock noted and to the apparent ugliness of the female figure. the work is certainly

but finely the only uncomfortable carved, not

detail is that the breasts are misshapen 124]. [Fig rendered

She is certainly distorted, and intimate

and the nipples are very crudely

Low's parody of the memorial

under attack [Fig 125]

498

Friedman (Hyde Park), op cit, p6 499 Friedman (Hyde Park), op cit, p9 500 30 Park), cit, p (Hyde op Friedman 20th 501 , Minister's Tribute, Prime ' The Times, May in 1925, 11 Unveiled. p Memorial Hudson 20th 502 letter Editor], [a to ' the in The Times, May Panel 1925, 11 'The George. p Hubbard, th Moming Post, 26 November 1925, cited in Friedman 503MacMillan, George. Report in the (Hyde Park), op cit, p8 123

ým

figure the Rima reproduces of carefully and the birds above and below her left hint is but there intimate detailing on her body. A further three no of any arm, by the Joseph Lee, feature the memorial [Figs 126a-c], but artist, all cartoons, in each example the detail of the memorial itself is quite crudely rendered; it is joke the and always features birds, but there is merely an recognisable, 504 female figure. the outline of The Daily Mirror published a photograph of the memorial covered by a tarpaulin, [Fig 127] after it had been tarred and feathered in October 1929. This is reminiscent of the Oscar Wilde memorial, similarly covered by a large tarpaulin in Paris as noted and illustrated above. In both cases, such actions have contributed to an atmosphere of mystery, and to drawing yet must further attention to the carvings. Further attention to the cartoonists' interest in this particular work will be given in the final chapter. 2.10 Genesis For our delectation [Epstein] presents us with the figure of a woman with face like an ape's, with breasts like pumpkins, with hands twice as a large and gross as those of a navvy, with hair like a ship's hawser. There are other details of the figure which one simply does not care to 505 d iSCUSS.

This paragraph from a lengthy review in The Daily Telegraph is indicative of the state of anxiety about the more intimate details of this particular figure. Earlier in the text, Tatlock had made it clear that he did not think that Epstein 506 the The to healthy-minded 'normal ape echoes an reference artist. was a language used in the Daily Herald a few days earlier, where the reporter wrote that 'as a study of maternity its animalism will make it a thing distasteful to the 507 human isn't that to Such something apparently references ordinary eye. but human being, is this thoroughly clearly a representation of a are revolting; 504Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Lee's drawings is that he first used the setting in 1934 and then returned to it in 1946 and 1951, many years after the controversy surrounding the work, at a time when it would be expected that the memorial should have been long forgotten 505Tatlock, RR. 'A Statue Unfit to Show. Jacob Epstein's Genesis. Coarse and Repellent', th Epstein in (1942), op cit, p 278 1931, February 7 cited The Daily Telegraph, 506 Tatlock, ibid

507'Epstein's Latest Statue "Shocker" - Primitive Study of Maternity in Marble. ' Daily Herald, 4th February 1931

124

508 is being she compared to an ape by virtue of her non-western features. Comparisons with an image of the work published by the German Nazi party [Fig 128] have telling similarities. The caption reads Neanderthalic art. In sculpture even more than painting, Jews display their absolute lack of talent. To get the attention that their vanity demands, they turn primitive. Here, Jacob Epstein-London looks thoughtfully at his disgusting work of a pregnant idiot (1931), which he 509 Genesis (birth ). calls 'Colossal in size, staring white in colour, this mass of marble shocks us in the first place because it calls up a rush of emotive ideas with which the object 51 0 These words of the critic RH Wilenski before us is usually associated ., include the reference to the element of shock once more, and this is one work where it is perhaps easier to understand what it was that caused such a negative reaction. The sight or image of a naked pregnant woman would still for but intimate in today, the as specific some quarters even cause concern detail of Genesis, again I see this as the real cause of the disquiet.

The

breasts are quite finely worked and smoothly finished and yet the nipples are deliberately vague and roughly rendered, not unlike those on Rima, drawing belly is [Fig The 129]. features by incongruousness their to these attention but impact this the through of pregnancy, obviously extended and rounded feature is largely negated by the placing of the left arm and hand protectively down the follow to the to diverting the arm right attention our middle, across region of the woman's pudendum.

The rendering of this region of her body

implies a large triangular area of pubic hair, broken only by the slightest hint of Again, [Fig 130]. indicate the to the incision in the vulva stone surface of an be to viewed with caution. photographic evidence needs

The detail is only

it images lit is if the clearly, others show appropriately - some statue visible do not; some seem to have made use of the local environment to ensure that 508The scrapbook is on loan to the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester. In their museum notes display is 'scrapbook its book the that the the stand comment on which accompany documents the reception Genesis received from newspapers whilst on its travels. A few it but its most ridicule and maker, often using what we now think describe the work positively, language' of as racist and anti-Semitic

509This is an image I found through www. google. co. uk. Notes with the image state that the The Etemal Jew, published by the Nazi Party's book from called a photograph comes //www. See http: htm, viewed 1937. in calvin. edu/academic/cas/gpa/diebow. house publishing 19th February 2008

510

50 p (1986), Cit, op See Silber

125

the figure's modesty is protected, such as the example of the statue in place at the West Bromwich Trades Show, reproduced in the Birmingham Evening Dispatch [Fig 131].511 As with other examples, it is arguably an unnecessary detailing of element which Epstein has chosen to add, and it is inconceivable that he would have been unaware of the consequences of his incision decision. As if to emphasise the point, much of the finishing detail of the more difficult or awkward parts of the work, such as the area of stone between the arms and the torso, has been very poorly attended to. 2.11 The Jewish Mark? There is scope for comment concerning the potential of a specific Jewish identity in Epstein's work, and having studied some of Sander Gilman's writing, it is evident that the subject of male circumcision clearly remains a major issue in terms of Jewish identity. As a mark of Jewishness there are connotations of difference, of feminisation

and of primitive and savage

It is practices. notable, therefore, that of all of Epstein's sculptures, only one figure is portrayed with what appears to represent a circumcised nude male penis. This one exception comes very late in his career, on the statue Youth Advancing [Fig 132], commissioned for the 1951 Festival of Britain.

The

sculpture is relatively lifelike, albeit with a typically Epsteinesque attitude of forward motion which lacks credibility or conviction, and the detail of the genitals is unambiguous.

One wonders what could have been Epstein's

his for to this usual policy of only exception sudden motive or explanation he that the perhaps was simply except penis, modelling un-circumcised described by Buckle himself is The his the truth as model model? showing of 512 body head that the the it is boy, 'half-Chinese are and not clear although a from the same model, and Buckle suggests that 'looking at Youth Advancing 513 does he Freude durch Kraft think not and although are embarrassed we of Was Epstein this to particularly sensitive about opinion. go on elaborate on the issue of circumcision?

This seems likely, as he returned to natural

detailing on both Liverpool Resurgent and St Michael and the Devil.

June

511

240 Wagner, in cit, p op This is reproduced 512 331 p Buckle (1963), op Cit, 513 345 p (1963), Cit, op Buckle 126

Rose gives little attention to Youth Advancing but makes the simple observation that 'Epstein [ ... ] was playing safe, and his figure attracted no P514 flak

comment which is strange in view of Epstein's history, although it is

,a possible that this is simply on account of the issue of size of the genitals; the

detail is sufficiently

[read: modest unthreatening]

have to not attracted

from have been offended. As for other those attention excessive who might Stephen Gardiner merely acknowledges that the work was commentators, shown at the Festival, Silber makes no comment about the detail of the work and Cork highlights the fact that other much more avant-garde work was on show on the same site.

In an essay on the history of the Festival, William

Feaver notes that 'the sculptures lay marooned, for safety's sake, in the middle of barrier ponds or were just things that stood around mute as you ate I having 'the the that of majority sandwiches, after already asserted your classified works of art on show proved not so much dull exactly as 1515 lack it of so perhaps really was simply a case of a general unnoticeable

, interest, in view of all the other attractions on show. Notably, I have yet to find

dealing with this work. any cartoon The only other examples of a suggestion of circumcision I can find in Epstein's work are in the drawing Man Woman [see Fig 112], where the large, has figure apparently circumcised penis, an unfeasibly stylised male large feet, in the floor between the the touching male and also man's almost figure of Primeval Gods, which has had sufficient detail applied to indicate the absence of the foreskin.

In both cases, these details appear indebted to

Silber in figure illustrated in the tribal works, such as primitive, non-western or Fig 106]. [see Friedman and 2.12 The Risen Christ 'The attack upon the Christ came from all quarters - editors of newspapers, 516 Epstein It is in that the the chooses street. significant man and clergymen, first has in list, but the the this this group work to cite editors of newspapers as 514

Rose, op cit, p 245 515Feaver, William. 'Festival Star,' in Banham, Mary and Bevis Hillier [Eds]. A Tonic to the London: Thames Hudson, 1951. 1976, 50 Britain, and p Festival of The Nation. 516 96 1940), p cit, op Epstein (US 127

most interesting detailing of all his figures. Meanwhile, Oliver Brown, owner of the Leicester Galleries wrote that 'I can remember one old lady saying to me, I can never forgive Mr Epstein for his representation of our Lord: it's so un517 !,,, English Is this simply a typical example of British Christian hypocrisy, with which Epstein would have been so familiar, since common sense dictates that Christ would surely have been of Middle Eastern appearance, or how Christ have been looking could an un-English so offensive? else Coming out of the trauma of the First World War, this was Epstein's first major Risen Christ [Fig beginning 133], the the marked and controversial work, and It in his the the end of avant-garde phase. career and was of a new phase fact drawn first Christian The is his theme. that to our attention a work on also the figure's right hand is unavoidable, thanks to the gesture of the pointing index finger on the left hand. For Cecil Gray, one of the models for the Christ, this was quite clear and he wrote of 'the rigid position of the hands which are, 518 What in both senses of the word, the crucial element in the composition. interests me is that if they are the crucial elements, why have they been so consistently ignored?

We are not supposed to be focussing on the head,

which was the apparent cause of the outcry.

We are not supposed to be

drawn to the head, or any other part of the work; it is the wound in the hand the Barthes's Roland I liken to punctum. of concept which

It is the 'sting,

519 detail definition, the Barthes's little hole which grabs specific of speck, cut, the attention of the viewer. As has been shown throughout the body of this Epstein's chapter,

displayed exceptionally often subject matter

intimate

details, which arguably added little or nothing to the primary concept being Christ's Risen is that the in this The case punctum, addressed in the work. 520 [Fig 134]9 hand wound is clearly 'an anatomically correct female vagina

517

Brown, op cit, p 70 518 200 Gardiner, p cit, by Cited op 519 Barthes, Roland. Camera Lucida. London: Vintage 2000, p 27 520See the exhibition pamphlet Epstein and the Fertile Line. Walsall: The NAGW, 2005, no by Curator, Jo Digger. I the this the that written was about wrote I page number. understand Magazine (Loughborough Students Label Union) in 2002 to I sent detail in an article Epstein Leeds City Gallery Art Robert in 1987, the exhibition at In of a review (unpublished). in Clark, ' Robert. [sic] the 'Exhibition Review. ' 'a palm. opening the to virginal Clark referred (Copy in Whitechapel Gallery the 1987, number. page August no archive). Art Line London, 128

it is inconceivable that this would not have been perceived as thoroughly and insensitive vulgar, and insulting to the Christian public, assuming that it was readily recognised for what it was. Taken out of context and being presented as a wound made by a nail, itself a perfectly familiar aspect of images of Christ, perhaps it was not readily recognisable as a part of the female body to some members of the viewing public. Certainly in the case of a homosexual 521 Epstein's biographer, Richard Buckle, or a Roman Catholic man, such as priest (i.e. a celibate man), such as Father Vaughan, the most vociferous it begs the the question: would either of them have been of work, attacker familiar with the intimate details of female genitalia? In 1919, perhaps this large true also of a proportion of the wider public at large? It is was impossible to know, as there is no printed discussion of the subject. In any detailing this event, was explicit simply an error of judgement, a crass publicity Epstein human In the or genuinely commenting on condition? one stunt, was he hands by drawings the the simple round study made, are clearly pierced of holes and the focus is on a wound to the chest [Fig 135]. Paradoxically, it is both the least overt and the most explicit of the female anatomical details he in highly detailed it the the It is of palm and yet appears ever produced. Christ's hand, rather than on a sculpture of a female figure in the place one the 'to Silber to that those it. to accustomed acknowledges would expect see figure Epstein's by Victorian Jesus artists, meek and mild portrayed gentle 522 this doesn't on comment although she was extraordinarily shocking, detail. obvious Quite coincidentally, Barthes also uses the word stigmaturn in the context of 523 in this is this the punctum, particular case, appropriate especially and while it is an idea that can be applied to all of the cases discussed above. There is (to borrow feature the that studium stands out against always a particular In spite of all of the controversy relating to this sculpture, these are the only references to this identified far detail, so particular 21 Of passing interest, it is worth mentioning that there is a draft letter in the papers left by Risen Christ for the that would make a suitable memorial Richard Buckle, suggesting (The in HMI, Leeds). Co-incidentally, John the Kennedy. are papers now F John President it him because to it him the was offered when of sculpture reminded Quinn had rejected Brown, See 70-1 Wilson. op cit, pp President Woodrow 522 37 p cit, (1986), op Silber 523 96 p Barthes, op Cit,

129

Barthes's term again) of the work as a whole. Although Barthes was dealing in terms the and puncturn studium of photographs, and perhaps on a with found level in Epstein's not sculpture, I still find relevant philosophical the resonances and within sculptures. In those cases which have references generated

the greatest

level of controversy,

there

is always

something,

that is defining the or subtle, obvious whether part of the work and that may be identified

as the

root

of that

controversy.

In Barthes's

words

is that puncturn accident which pricks me (but also bruises me, photograph's 524 , With Epstein, however, there is to is the

poignant

me) .

no accident;

pricks

felt bruises by the viewer are surely delivered with a purpose and the the and fact is that in showing the Risen Christ at the Leicester Galleries, which 'were 525 having it was possible to measure that 1,000 to penny turnstileS, unique in 1,500 visitors per day paid to view the work, prompted by 'the sensationalism 526 Were the of the press reaction [which] brought large crowds to the show. 527 Christ, Hun-JeW, interested in 'Asiatic-American seeing an or people really or was there some other incentive to pay their penny? There is one final and more sinister consideration concerning this work, with the suggestion that the Risen Christ was at the root of the sudden change of for his Office, the time Epstein War towards the exemption case at at attitude from army service was under scrutiny during the second half of the First World War. According to the published history of Epstein's case, a letter was sent to the War Office by one of Epstein's known enemies in the world of sculpture. Meirion and Susie Harries's assessment

is that, as far as Sir George

Frampton's letter was concerned, IWM, head the the Fig 23a] Mond [see an anti-Semitic outburst of at with [against Epstein] would have been singularly ill-advised. [ ] Possibly ... Frampton had heard about Epstein's controversial Risen Christ [ ... ] and

524

Barthes, op cit, p 27 525 Silber (1986), op cit, p 37 526See Silber (1986), op cit, p 37. Silber was citing Oliver Brown who commented that 'the brought large On days in the press many over a crowds. popular comments extreme fifteen hundred. ' the turnstile twice through and once over or thousand persons passed Brown, op cit, p 70 527See Epstein (1942), op cit, p 102. This is an extract of Father Bernard Vaughan's Christ Risen the description of 130

this might have been used to persuade Haig, a devout Christian, of Epstein's unworthiness for a prestigious appointment.528 Silber confirms that sensitive material has since been removed from the files in the Imperial War Museum, but she doubts that the damning letter from Frampton contained a protest about this particular work. However, if it was the subject of the protest, and if it acknowledged the detail of the hand wound, this would add to the notion that this was a pivotal moment in Epstein's career the balance finally the him tipped point at which was against and which 529 have led his demise to could on the front line. In addition to the major works examined above, there are also examples from Epstein's

represented

marketable

bronzes.

For example,

some

of the poses

in his nude studies of Betty Peters (1943-45) [Fig 136] and other

models, suggest they were designed to titillate a particular type of clientele. These

cases

representing

indicate a young

sexual availability.

work

that

black woman

is distinctly

pornographic

in highly revealing

poses,

nature,

indicating

Indeed it seems certain that they sold very well, and

Evelyn Silber claims that'dealers

often begged Epstein to produce small nude

studies for which they could guarantee thriving sales, but apart from the nude studies he undertook between 1939 and 1945 he never responded to this 530 , demand. According to Epstein himself, in conversation with Arnold

Haskell, he explains that 'many dealers have suggested to me to do small 531 This was no later than 1931, 'bric-a-brac' nudes, but I am not interested ., by had his he the end of it is to that to stance adjust so reasonable assume the decade in order to make some sales during the war years, although even in his autobiography he stated that 'I myself have often been asked to furnish the dealer with what he considers the most saleable of all work, the small female nude, which can ornament a mantelpiece or a smoking-room table. I 528

Harries and Harries, op cit, p 127 529As a footnote to this work's history, on the occasion of the work being acquired by it National Gallery in Scottish 1969, Bulletin 'in their that the simply remarked present owners, Jewish its Christ was enough to ensure a stormy of character a this the case of work, Acquisitions' 'Recent Douglas. in Burlington, Vol. Hall, 112, No. August 809, See ' reception. Galleries National from Scotland the Bulletin, 1969, No. 2) (reprinted of 1970, p 561, 530Silber (1986), op cit, p 42. There was a total of at least 30 casts made of thirteen different further ten Silber (1986), ibid, unidentified 193-195 Silber studies. a notes pp and studies, 531 11 P Cit, Haskell (1931), op 131

have never succumbed to this demand reliability of his memory.

532 ,

This raises questions about the

. Furthermore, the depiction of nude blacks and

Asians, even if apparently perfectly natural to Epstein himself, was not commonplace in England, and any link with the Other invited assumptions of, disease, things, other sin, perversity and illness. Epstein, therefore, amongst himself but blatantly not only other, was was expressing a perceived illness, perversity, madness and degeneracy through inappropriately candid sexual imagery. As Gilman reminds us, 'perversion is the basic quality ascribed to 533 A direct contrast with Bomberg or Gertler the sexuality of the Other. reveals that works such as The Mud Bath or The Merry-Go-Round may have been labelled as degenerate, but they were certainly not seen as obviously sexually perverse. The fact that Epstein worked in three dimensions is the critical factor in terms of the element of shock engendered by his work and it is essential to acknowledge the significance of Epstein's chosen media: stone, marble, clay and bronze. Although he dabbled with drawing and painting, it is his work as a sculptor for which he is primarily known, and it is a particular aspect of this three-dimensional quality of his work that needs to be considered.

I suggest

that his Jewish painter contemporaries were spared much of the vitriol aimed dimensional largely because Epstein, three work of sculpture provokes a at a significantly different response in the viewer.

Susan Quinnell has written a

introduces in the and sexuality sculpture object and short exploration of erotic her ideas with the statement that 'sculpture is the ultimate erotic object, the 534 She later continues with comments final fetish in a long line of fetishes. attributed to Rodin concerning

the Venus de Medici (c. 1't Century BC), in

the 'notice the that he of curvings all voluptuous one should which explained loins it is truly the along adorable and now, ... ... 535 by The sculpture is seen here it flesh you would think caresses. moulded ... if I Epstein's is the desire. part wonder of problem work with as an object of hip

here,

the

dimples

that it provokes the desire to reach out and touch it, but that this same desire 532Epstein (1942), op cit, p 212 533

192 p (1985), cit, op Gilman 534 Quinnell, op Cit, P1 535 31 p Quinnell, Op cit,

132

is invariably denied.

Quinnell resumes with the reminder that 'so many

sculptures are softly rounded objects, reminiscent of the breasts, belly and hips of the (primordial) mother, 536and goes on to make it clear that the notion being of sculpture out-of-reach is almost invariably reinforced in the gallery

and museum environment: The history of sculpture is the history of anal/oral/genital touches of pleasure, self-reflexive gestures where artists touch objects physically later, and, viewers drink them up visually, forbidden by the ropes of museums and guards to actually touch the sculpture itself. The sculpted is indeed the erotic object par excellence in art. It is the phallus object endlessly caressed by the eyes, in Lacanian, scopic, scopophillic, 537 voyeuristic pleasure.

The instruction 'do not touch the sculpture'

is commonplace,

however

9sculptures in public places reveal the touch of many hands: they are worn Statues of naked women are rubbed away around the vulva and 538 Certainly, Epstein's Matemity appears to be stained by the touch breasts.

away.

fingers [Fig 137], and while it is not unknown for the viewing of countless for desire try to touch to the the paintings of nude, public connection with the form different level. With is solid of a sculpture surely on a completely some of Epstein's early works being literally out-of-reach, high up on buildings or behind fences and barriers, it is as if the viewer is being teased - tempted to touch but denied by the location, and I wonder if this gave rise to negative feelings, not least because of the connotations of power and control implied in this distancing?

Freud asserts that 'touching is the first step towards

obtaining any sort of control over, or attempting to make use of, a person or object.

539

Quinnell, again, suggests that 'the sense of touch is not crucial to

frisson, its its loses it but visceral some of sculpture all sculpture, without 540 Epstein the Paradoxically, was and most unattainable sculpture of effect. is, in fact, the least tactile. Rima, Day and Night and the Strand Statues were location. their to to the finished, and appropriate material used as all roughly Conversely, Genesis, Adam and Jacob and the Angel are smooth and 536

Quinnell, op cit, P1 537 Quinnell, op Cit, p 46 538 See Quinnell, op cit, P1 539See Freud, Sigmund. Totem and Taboo and Other Works. London: Hogarth Press, 1955, p5 cit, Quinnell, OP by cited 540 Quinnell, op cit, p3 133

invariably displayed at floor level, polished works,

albeit remote from the

hands. curious public's Rodin's suggestion of the caressability of a piece of sculpture warrants exploration and comment, not least because the notion of the caress was also central to the arguments of Ezra Pound [Fig 138] and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska at precisely the time Epstein, Gaudier-Brzeska and Eric Gill were literally carving out their modern ideas in stone. This has been discussed at some length by David GetSY541 and some comment on his analysis is now warranted. Using less romantic language, I simply refer to sculpture's appeal to the viewers' sense of touch, while Pound's term 'caressability' is used quite deliberately.

He introduced the idea when Epstein, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska

and Eric Gill had already begun to make their marks as moderns, although in fact, Pound's use of the term was in the derogatory sense, mocking what he saw as the old-fashioned values of Victorian sculpture and making negative connections with the notion of the Greek tradition of verisimilitude. This needs further comment before moving on to what I believe is the real attraction of the tangible, the touchable or the caressable. According

to Getsy, Pound's

signified

'a prurient

argument

engagement

against the caressable

with sculptural

was that it 542 corporea lity, and that

caressable is synonymous with the beautiful or the physically attractive, which had nothing to do with the newly emerging negative associations

sculptural

modernism.

are made through the notion thatGreek

Further

naturalism was

thinly veiled voyeurism' and that 'the traditional definition of the "beautiful" was more than the pale re-creation of that which 543 Getsy continues with the observation that appealing. nothing

was

erotically

Pound characterised naturalism and verisimilitude in sculpture as displaced interest. To him, late Victorian than sexual nothing more less "art Aphrodisiac. " These than threeas an no sculpture was dimensional nudes could be (if only virtually) caressed and fondled, and

541For further comment on this, see also, Wood, in Getsy (Modern Ideal), op cit, pp 197-198 542Getsy (Body Doubles), op cit, p 183 543Getsy(Body Doubles), op cit, p 183 134

he characterised veristic sculptors as merely supplying works to satisfy 544 i ty. this impotent form of sexual An example in the Manchester City Art Gallery illustrates how realistically the female form could be rendered; Francis Derwent Wood's (1876-1926) nude Atalanta (c. 1907) [Fig 139] is a life-size marble figure, which wants to be touched because the finish is so smooth. The hands look exceptionally lifelike and the whole figure is apparently such a perfect rendition of a woman's body that it could almost have been cast from a mould taken from the model herself. Compared to Genesis or Adam, Derwent Wood's figure is highly finished, leaving no areas of unpolished stone and no badly proportioned like figure. It to is the standing next a naked woman, almost elements on it is like to Epstein in the stone carvings, standing next examples whereas have been happen to endowed with some exceptional attributes. which Further associations are made between the nude sculpture and 'mere titillation' and, according to Getsy, RH Wilenski 'reduced the neoclassical tradition's emphasis on the nude to little more than paedophilia. Greek desirability the "the Wilenski imitators, their of at aimed argued, statues and 545 "' bodies of beautiful boys and pretty girls. both the the 'Potential physical engagement with sculpture was at core of New the the of negative repudiation positive articulation of modernism and desire 546 inherent have is the that My argument Sculpture. an viewing public denied through is desire this that touch to reach out and often sculpture, and 547 and although location or through the restrictive practices of presentation,

544Getsy(Body Doubles), op cit, p 183 545Getsy(Body Doubles), op Cit, p 184 546See Getsy (Body Doubles), op cit, pp 181-2. The term New Sculpture is defined at some last by the in the the it period covered work produced length by Getsy, but essentially covers itself The term 2-6. ibid, (Body Doubles), Getsy pp two decades of the nineteenth century. '(i) define it to his terms Gosse three Edmund as: who set out derives from the critic and poet, treatment [ ] (ii) ised naturalistic of an embrace neoclassicism; conventional of a repudiation ... the (iii) of site as a modern ]; object [ sculptural with concern a details and of bodies and ... ideality.' See Getsy (Body Doubles), ibid, p3 meaning, exemplarity, and 547At the time of writing, I have just been listening to a discussion about the opening to the insisted the that The public, house. viewing we, presenter radio Moore's Henry public of let them, them, lean "we climb children our stroke we we on Moore's work engage with because its Moore's have taken to availability of work In we " words, holes. other through the Moore Foundation Director Henry the Llewellyn, Tim seemed of Meanwhile, and accessibility. 135

ýq

this same desire may sometimes exist in the case of paintings, I suggest that this is much less likely because it would not satisfy the same compulsion to feel the shape and texture of the stone, marble or bronze.

It follows,

therefore, that if the viewing public have the desire to touch, then that same desire is surely found in the sculptor himself, only in a far more intense form. To illustrate this point, take the example of Eric Gill, who wrote about his excitement at making sculpture for the first time, apparently prompted by his frustration sexual with his wife's pregnancy. A fashioned a woman of stone' he declared, before asserting that 'it was a carving of a naked young woman and if I hadn't very much wanted a naked young woman, I don't think I should have done it. Lord, how exciting! - and not merely touching and seeing but 548 her. Getsy makes the point that 'in part, the physical actually making exertion of carving provided Gill with a substitute for the sex he was unable to have with his pregnant wife. 549This is also noted by Quinnell, who wrote that 'the very reason Gill turned to sculpture, so he says, was sexual: his wife was pregnant with their third daughter, [ ... ] and because of the 'enforced abstinence', i.e., he couldn't have sex during her pregnancy, so he turned to 550 Pursuing this line of argument, further connections with the stone carving. sex drive are evident in the suggestion that 'the discourse of sculptural modernism privileged masculinity and virility, mapping sexual activity onto the 551 Caressable sculpture, meanwhile, was physical process of sculpting. further derided for its qualities, which were directly opposed to the masculine it impotence homosexual/effeminate tendencies. that namely, reflected or Epstein himself wrote about the experience of working in alabaster in particularly revealing terms: All one's hesitations are over, the problem is solved. The sculptor with his vision, planning, working, laying loving hands upon the willing and love-returning stone, the creation of a work, the form embodying the distinctly nervous about condoning such behaviour, expressing that we do this "not too much, I hope!" Midweek, BBC Radio 4,23rd May 2007 548Cited in Getsy (Body Doubles), op cit, p 185 549Getsy(Body Doubles), op cit, p 185 550 Quinnell, op cit, p 37 551See Getsy (Body Doubles), op cit, p 187. There is also the story of Pygmalion to consider. his love in falls sculpture which is eventually brought to life; they with Briefly, the sculptor have a son and marry 136

idea, strange copulation of spirit and matter, the intellect dominating hammer and chisel - the conception that at last becomes a piece of 552 sculpture.

His language here is indicative of an intensely intimate act. He has given life to the work through his physical effort, but it is a metaphorical act of lovemaking which produces the offspring. In fact, the passage is perhaps the his in writing. As it happens, in this case he was writing most candid all of least the his physically appealing of about major carved works, Consummatum Est (1937) [Fig 140], but it is particularly pertinent if applied retrospectively to Matemity or to Genesis, for example, where the lavish full forms breasts the the to and rounded of and the buttocks indicate attention the touch of loving hands.

Here, the cartoon by Grimes [Fig 141] implying

between kind how shows of unnatural connection man and stone, some Epstein was laying himself open to ridicule and vulgar innuendo. He was not helped by the fact that he was notoriously secretive about what he was There finished. is it his hidden keeping away until was work working on, often Epstein's Big headline Wr blazing Mirror The Daily the in under a report Secret, 553in which the reporter complains about not being allowed access to finished. it Ecce Homo before was view

The sub-heading 'Hush-Hush Over

11ft carving' simply adds to the air of mystery, but perhaps Epstein was right to keep it under wraps on this occasion for, a week later, a front-page story in the same newspaper proudly declared that it would not print a photograph of 554 the work, condemning it as 'a hideous symbol. It is particularly interesting that the examples of work by Epstein and Gill are Where the Moore. Henry from those distinct older men's work of remarkably 552

(Body Doubles), Getsy in is Part 155. this Epstein (1942), op cit, p passage also cited of

185 op cit, p 53 53

th February 28 Mirror. The Daily Carving. ' Over 1 1ft Hush-Hush Secret. Wr Epstein's Big 1935, p 25 554'Behold the Man by Epstein.' The Daily Mirror. March 6th 1935, p 1. The following day the Raises 'Epstein for their a action. support confirming comments many newspaper printed th March 1935, 5, Mirror. ' The Daily Mirror. 7 Daily Attitude for and p Support of New Storm. be day, the that to the the of a subject reported work was front next on the page then on "' Statue. for Demand Removal "Blasphemous. Epstein 'MP and Parliament. in question th Bizarrely, Epstein's 1. the the 1935, March 8 only at of report, end p The Daily Mirror. for Goering? be Hitler When they to 'what and asked are about were comments recorded I to is That say' want all the statue? their views on 137

is highly figurative and unambiguous, Moore's is invariably subtle and suggestive, still inviting our touch, perhaps, but also allowing us to imagine the more sensual and sensuous qualities of his bronzes or stones. It is clear that hints of breasts, buttocks and thighs are ultimately much more enduring, Moore the trademark holes are simultaneously highly suggestive and while remarkably innocent.

The plethora of Moore parodies featuring pierced

blocks of stone avoid the obvious difficulties presented by Epstein's more representational details, but paradoxically, they are probably more suggestive of sexual innuendo, where holes in women are read ostensibly as the sex organs. George Melly confirms that 'Moore's holes [ ... ] have an obvious 555 but in spite of this, none of the cartoons about Moore's sexual significance, familiar, I with which work, am are obviously exploiting this particular opportunity for making lewd or suggestive jokes. The holes are used in a playful manner, or simply serve as a form of signature characteristic of a Moore sculpture. Ultimately, Epstein's work is difficult to categorize, and in the context of caressability, it throws up some additional problems to consider.

His early

from forms the carvings range accessible, avant-garde, simple, small with large, to the surfaces, roughly worked, public, yet remote smooth polished figurative pieces.

These smaller pieces invite physical contact, and it that

fagade, figures BMA the highly the as a on sense are caressable, whereas result of ample prompting from the press, attracted virtual, or visual, caresses from the many thousands of passers-by, forever kept at a distance and unable to make contact with the work.

These Strand Statues present a further

it is they that because, if Epstein's debate to accepted when case, reason but himself, the largely the they artist not work of were were physically carved integrity then their team or authenticity of a of architectural contract sculptors, to in be question. can called

According to Getsy, 'Gill, Epstein, Pound,

Wilenski and others all attacked conventional sculptural processes that relied impotence in their (a that of eyes) sign or elided any evidence upon assistants been bring had to the into required sculptural object that physical exertion 555Melly, George. Jokes About Modern Art, in Melly and Glaves-Smith, op cit, p 11 138

556 Meanwhile, his portrait bronzes appear to be being.

very close facsimiles

being individuals the modelled, and thus they fall into the realms of the of Pound Gaudier-Brzeska and were criticising so roundly. Nevertheless, work the very fact of their close resemblance to the models affirms their real or For erotic quality. example, the portraits of Isabel or Louise are potential defined by the sheer weighty impressiveness of their busts

breasts the are -

not presented with any sense of modesty; they are unashamedly central to the work. The eroticisation of the work is reinforced by the fact that the women are represented in a state of partial undress, as opposed to being fully nude, and Zeda (Pasha) (1927) [Fig 142], the Second Portrait of Louise (Berenice) (1937) [Fig 143] and the Second Portrait of Isabel (1932) [Fig 144], all reveal the breasts through the partial removal of a blouse or a gown. One cannot but help imagining the pleasure the sculptor took from the physical modelling of these works, and undoubtedly the same is true for the creation of the face, neck and shoulders of these and other sifters.

It could be

anticipated that many viewers are tempted to stroke, fondle or caress those be to denied access, but is there a difference they parts which would normally in the need to connect with say, Churchill's nose or Einstein's eyes, or, at the other extreme, with The Devil's testicles?

We know, for example, that the

Oscar Wilde tomb angel's couilles de taureau were broken off at some stage and we also know that Havard Thomas's Lycidas was subject to castration at 557 A further example in the the hands of a group of female gallery visitors. P6re Lachaise cemetery is Jules Dalou's tomb for Victor Noir, where touching the figure's genital area is celebrated in popular myth as some form of fertility 558 rite.

There is no doubt that the problem of private parts in public places is one of the central causes of the extensive attention Epstein enjoyed, or suffered, but 556Getsy (Body Doubles), op cit, p 187. An essay is currently in preparation, dealing with the help he have had in the to Epstein to would complete and employ order of specific question the Strand Statues on time (Jan 2009) 557So much so, in fact, that Getsy wrote of Thomas's habit of carrying spare parts in his Lycidas's Getsy (Body Doubles), the of vandalism genitals. sustained op in of pocket, view cit, p 206, n 69 558Thanks to Gillian Whiteley for bringing this to my attention. A Google image search for this touching figure, the images figure the women of or of showing photographs will return several by touch the hands been has of so many polished how the bronze 139

it has been revealing to learn about just how little of that attention was able to deal with the specific intimate detailing. Perhaps this is partly because much in the that the appeared newspapers was necessarily and comment of fact the that on account of self-censored, press reports were effectively to to sectors of society and readers of all ages. In a prudish and all available squeamish society, newspaper editors were unable to risk upsetting their core Nevertheless, is broader there interpretation to consider, also a readerships. fact Epstein the that the provocation created was not oneacknowledging dimensional. He brought a non-western, non-English style to the medium of sculpture and his modernist sensibilities promoted the practice of carving direct, thereby alienating himself from many of the traditional sculptors. The fact that his creations were modern, and un-English, and often nude, and then he to that to all conspired show was prepared challenge overly-detailed, often a still conservative art and sculpture establishment. Although there is nothing inherently Jewish in the physical detailing, it is symbolically Jewish in the sense suggested by Wolff earlier. In all of the case studies considered, the figures, by details and so are present on un-English so-called offending demonstrating an approach that was simultaneously candid, modern and foreign, and again by definition not English, it must therefore be Jewish. Clearly, this angle of analysis has acknowledged the text, but equally interesting is the way in which some of the more explicit art was presented in images, and examples of how photographs were made safe have already been given. The next and final chapter will now explore the subject of Epstein the in his where caricatures, cartoons and and work, as presented visually different distinctly is its line between a converse acceptability and artists' problem compared to that of the writer.

140

Chapter Three: Epstein Lampooned

559

So much of his art was [ ] lampooned, caricatured and satirised. [ ] ... ... Controversy dogged nearly everything he did. [ ] The horror that ... Epstein's work provoked for much of his life is scarcely creditable today. Marina Vaizey (1987)560 Epstein became known as a sculptor, just at the time when the new vocabulary for ideas in art was forging its way into the lexicon. It is clear that language had be developed deal to to new with the work under review by the critics and journalists.

JB Bullen argues that, 'the language and discourse of

561 following Fry's first Postart certainly underwent substantial modification Impressionist exhibition in 1910. He goes on to refer to what he terms 'the 562 vocabulary and grammar of painting, as if to reinforce this idea that there had to be new rules to be made and adhered to in order to negotiate the newness of the art coming to the galleries. Bullen continues to elucidate on this point, explaining that: the problem of accounting for Post-impressionist painting was compounded by the inadequacy of contemporary critical language. The familiar vocabulary, diction and phrasing of art criticism was unable to cope [ ... ] and the violent and inarticulate journalistic abuse directed at both in testifies to the power of new and unfamiliar this modern art period 563 images and to the paucity of current critical terminology. It is evident that the journalists of the day struggled with the language as much as they struggled with the artworks, so it can be argued that they turned to the action of those threatened by a strange new adversary, resorting to ridicule and name-calling to hide their own insecurities.

The same is true in

the way that cartoonists dealt with early examples of modern/futurist paintings [See Fig 176]. The key factor here is that these changes were happening develop his beginning Epstein to that time the profile and was precisely at 559This final chapter is directly inspired by the unattributed essay of the same name in Silber See 'Epstein Lampooned' Silber Friedman, in 1987 and op cit, pp Friedman's catalogue. and 73-78 560Vaizey, Marina. 'Raising sculpture from the dead.' The Sunday Times, 26th April 1987, p 55 561 See Bullen (1988), op cit, p1 562 See Bullen (1988), op cit, p1 563 See Bullen (1988), op cit, p2 141

first benefit from, to the he be disadvantaged by, among was or so reputation, the change in the way the newspapers came to report on the arts, both in terms of the text and images employed. The inadequacy of the written language of the time is crucial.

Indeed, a

Cork Richard that, 'because by asked a general consensus question posed longer how the art no existed, aesthetic aims of could members of the about [if didn't have they they the encountered work evaluate appropriate public 564 Surely, images were an essential element to aid the process language]?, formed but they evaluation, also part of the apparatus and of understanding for the dissemination of collective popular views, opinions and stereotypes. Insofar as the written language was concerned, it is evident, for example, from The first in Post-impressionist that the the exhibition critic early reviews of Times used language to make his views ostensibly the views of the is in itself belief he 'our that this In a art a short review writes of readership. flagrant example of reaction' before he goes on to assert that 'we have honestly tried [

] to find any itsignificance of gesture and movement" in M.

... 565 A second, similar and appropriate example, relating as Gauguin's pictures,. it does to a review from the Jewish Chronicle, deals with an appraisal of David Bomberg's work at the Whitechapel gallery. The critic complains that in feel justified in do our opinion, which, praising work not we certainly [ and space and wall seems merely a waste of good pigment, canvas ... is ] hurtful to our reason and common sense [ and that ] we have no ... ... ... desire to be thought uncharitable, but if In the Hold is a work of art, we 566 never wish to pen another criticism.

Both the possessive determiner (our) and first person pronoun (we) have 567 to is the language in referring writer where written specific connotations 564

Cork (ABG), op cit, p 291

565Unsigned item headed "Post-Impressionist Painting" in The Times, November 7th 1910. "ArtCork, Richard. 'From See CJ Weld-Blundell. Cork, the According to Richard author was Green, in Art, Modern British 1910-1916' Roger Fry Music": Visual and Quake" to "Pure Holberton Merrell Art. London: Fry's Roger Vision Modem. Made Art of Christopher [Ed]. Gruetzner Robins, See he the 60, op cites same review. also 1999, where Ltd, Publishers p The Times's Weld-Blundell that art critic was confirms 16, she where cit, p 566

76 (Bomberg), p cit, op Cork Cited in 567According to The Concise Oxford Dictionary, op cit, pp 1011 and 1621 respectively, our [ by ]a writer to refer to something belonging to formal [a] in context 'used and we are ... Epstein be the A evidence ' of about press-machine piece should revealing himself or herself. In the the that also was used positively. press scrapbook of cuttings to explain inserted here 142

him/herself. belonging to something

In this case it is the critic's view, of

but within the context of an item in The Times, where the article course,

was

actually unattributed, this could be interpreted as the collective voice of the readership, where the reader subconsciously accepts the status of critic as being worthy of respect. The same is true of the Jewish Chronicle's position, insinuating its own ideas on its Jewish readership.568 Further comment to support the idea of reader inclusion is made by Christopher Green who identifies the practice, employed by Roger Fry. Green suggests that 'when Fry writes of his experience [ ] he repeatedly used the complicit "we" to ... involve the reader with him 569 Green expands on Fry's style by pointing out . that: Fry writes for a reader who is constructed as the kind of sensitive yet rational, inquiring yet reflective individual [ ] capable of becoming a ... participant spectator [and] he writes to fill the world with participant spectators as committed to passionate rationalism in their relationship 570 he had been his with art as since earliest papers. It is noteworthy that Fry was a prolific writer, both for specialist publications and the daily press, and he was widely acknowledged for his expertise. Whatever the outlet for his criticism, surely Fry's success was based on the fact that he had the language appropriate to the subject and the audience. Moreover, this appropriateness of language is at the heart of a successful 571 it is With an increase newspaper, since not aimed at a specialist audience. relating to Genesis there are three examples of news reports which use exactly the same wording, as follows: 'More Epstein. New works by Jacob Epstein, including the already much discussed marble carving, Genesis, will be revealed to public gaze at a private view at the Leicester Galleries on Saturday. I am told that the exhibition is likely to impress and startle even the inner circle of Epstein enthusiasts, but beyond that general suggestion my informant would not go. ' This is from the Yorkshire Telegraph & Star, 3M February 1931, the Evening News, 4th February 1931 and the Glasgow News, 3rd February 1931. The use of the first person is clearly a deceit, as this has to have been copied directly from a press release document, presumably from the Leicester Galleries, presumably with the knowledge of the sculptor. The so-called informant could certainly be Epstein himself, and this kind of statement would undoubtedly have drawn in a large crowd. It clearly indicates that Epstein familiar his with press publicity tactics and gallerist were 568Cork went on to conclude that 'Bomberg had to face the uncomfortable fact that most members of the Jewish community agreed with this withering verdict.' See Cork (Bomberg), op cit, p 76 59 Green, Christopher. 'Into the Twentieth Century: Roger Fry's Project Seen from 2000' in Green, op cit, p 29 570Green, ibid. Crucially, here Fry may be witnessed as a supporter of modern art, seeking to his language him through use of take the audience with 571See Taylor, Frank. The Newspaper Press as a Power Both in the Expression and Chancellor's Essay The Opinion: 1898. Oxford: Blackwell, 1898, p 25 Public Formation of 143

in the amount of specialist art criticism in the periodical press during the by half the time Britain was formally the century, of nineteenth second introduced to the concept of modern art in 1910, some of the new critical language was beginning to be established for all to read, if not yet 572 Once is this the more, where value of images becomes understand. both in the use of photography, and especially in the democratising apparent, nature and power of the cartoon or caricature which, as will be shown, is a highly inclusive, extremely popular and powerful medium for communicating a biased or perception, or otherwise. wide-reaching opinion 'A pervasive, and sometimes persuasive, mode of modern communication. ' This was Randall Harrison's assessment,

not of the press, but of the

573 Having already taken into account,what was written in the press, cartoon. the specific issue of the importance and influence of press cartoons now deserves attention, because they provide a unique visual interpretationand record of his image. In the introduction to the Whitechapel and Leeds Silber does make a passing referenceto the cartoons,noting that catalogue, 'the alleged barbarismof [Epstein's]carvings,[was] mercilesslylampoonedby 574 but David Low, the considerablenumberand quality of cartoonistssuch as cartoonsand caricaturesfeaturing Epstein and/or his work suggeststhat it is An that depth. in the the of way analysis now worth exploring subject some Epsteinwas lampoonedin the press and elsewhere,gives an excellentinsight into the wider realities of the period, and it is clear that the drawings themselves serve as a visual manifestation of many of the ideas being addressed in this research, including stereotypes, racism, anti-Semitism, 572Roger Fry's name appears in Epstein's own writing in less-than-complimentary terms, so it is evident that Epstein was not helped by one of the most influential critics of the day. For from Epstein's from is following manuscript. the extract an unpublished comment example, 'The critics seem to lie in wait; and let go. Some are cunning like the late Roger Fry who form but by their forms will against of praise like speakers start a of political usually some They They [? find illegible]. to to nothing good. seem go about with almost are compelled [page fulsome 20 after the admiration of expensive of years gentlemen could be called ... It NAGW. is Epstein not at at all clear making papers, what point was See ' the archive ends]. the beginning but the the of word cunning use at paints a picture of a the end of this passage, inherent In the the the emphases suggests of same characteristics. use deceitful man, and Fry 'this headed line 'Definitions', is to the pest' and, as on a sheet papers, he also refers See NAGW. See Epstein (11942), ' 200-202 time. his in also, pp Profit 'Roger Fry 573Harrison, Randall P. The Cartoon. Communication to the Quick. Beverly Hills and 11 1981, p London: Sage, 574Silber (Epstein in Person), in Silber and Friedman, op cit, p1 144

Throughout the earlier chapters, art. and modern public nudity xenophobia, have been illustrate inserted to cartoons and support the arguments being in ideas, in to these terms of the subjects and individuals relation and made being covered in this research, there is a surprisingly large number of examples. These range from the reception of modern art itself, both painting and sculpture, the stereotypical Jew and/or American, the individual artists finally, In specific of art. spite of this wide-ranging body of artwork, and works far I have been as able to establish, there is no specific analysis of as dealing Jewish cartoons with artists, their art or sculpture, so this chapter aims to address Epstein's unique position as victim and benefactor of the It is also a record of the reflection of a modern artist as seen cartoonist's art. through the cartoonists' eye. After a discussion of the main points pertaining to cartoons and caricatures, such as context, definition, theory and other relevant and related issues, this chapter will conclude with a selection of specific case studies, chosen to illustrate how the medium can be used as a tool to support the arguments already addressed. 3.1

Why Cartoons?

Relatively recent world events have affirmed that the theme of the power, importance and influence of caricatures and cartoons, especially those printed in newspapers, is still extremely relevant.

In 2006 we were made aware of

the problems caused in parts of Europe and elsewhere, following the publication of cartoons,

in a Danish newspaper, featuring the prophet

Mohammed. This was reported to have caused considerable offence to many Muslims. The impression given was that this was in some way associated in in of society the many quarters with ever-increasing anti-Muslim sentiment th the post-September 11 world, however, shortly after this story appeared in his Low in by David that became it headlines made the news clear comments insult instigator he the too that of a major was unwitting autobiography, show English Hobbs's in Jack the following 1930, cricketer, success In to Islam. Low Grace's WG number of runs scored, a cartoon record surpassing Hobbs Mahomet [sic], Adam alongside and featured a representation of 145

--q

[Fig 145], only to find that, according to a so-called celebrities other several Calcutta correspondent of the MOming Post 'the cartoon has committed

had it taken which offence, serious place in this country [i.e. India], would have led to bloodshed. What was obviously intended as a certainly almost harmless joke has convulsed many Muslims to speechless rage. 575 In the light of this example, it warrants repeating that during his career, many socalled Christians took offence at Epstein, a Jew, creating images of Christ find did they not acceptable, in accordance with their white middle-class which assumptions and traditions. This highlights several points that remain Firstly, today. that a study of history often reveals that many things relevant be to we assume unique or peculiar to our own time, are in fact nothing 576 Secondly, that the cartoonist still has the means to communicate new. quickly to a huge audience. Thirdly, that one man's harmless joke is another man's deepest insult.

Fourthly, that in a society that reveres its right to

freedom of speech, including the written word or visual representation, there is in fact no absolute right to freedom of speech and that newspaper cartoonists in particular have a responsibility to allow for the multi-cultural, multi-racial readership of their audience. In spite of a general lack of analysis of the relationship of cartoons with the field of fine arts, there has been at least been one book published which deals specifically with the relationship between cartoons and modem art, and although it is a relatively modest volume, A Child of Six Could Do It. Cartoons About Modem Art (1977), is especially relevant to this study because both of the authors include comment about Epstein's Rima in their respective essays. Reference to Melly and Glaves-Smith Is observations about Rima and other fact but the they to this be issues chapter, are relevant wider made, as will that they both were familiar with the Rima examples re-enforces my assertion that the Epstein/press/cartoon relationship is extraordinary enough to warrant closer analysis.

In addition to this, the American scholar, Adam Gopnik, has

575Low, David. Low's Autobiography. London: Michael Joseph, 1956, p 123 576While searching through newspaper archives, I have come across several stories and from 2007. For have dropping litter, come example, people well not reports which could driving, traffic they calming and noisy motorcycles screaming are talking to people when few found The in Times just in June 1925 a are through towns and villages 146

the on subject, particularly in a lengthy essay titled written extensively 'Caricature9published in 1991 to accompany the major fine art exhibition, High October between 1990 Low, September 1991 in New York, staged and and Chicago and Los Angeles. The essay concentrates on caricature, as it exists high-art, brand to the of as opposed aspect an as of popular caricature I am dealing with in this study, but nevertheless, it is a valuable text with some ideas, concepts and historical details which directly inform the arguments Gopnik history traces the of caricature through such painter under scrutiny. luminaries as da Vinci, Bernini and Carracci via Arcimboldo to Hogarth, Gillray finally Klee Dubuffet Daumier, to in addition to a specific and and and and detailed focus on Picasso.

Several other names and examples appear in

between but there is no attention given to the popular newspaper caricaturists Gopnik's the twentieth survey and analysis is a rich source of century, and yet I draw ideas at the appropriate times. on which shall of There is an argument that cartoon critiques of culture and society, satirizing for kinds function 'the of proper all measure as conduct and manners, 577 Smith continues by citing the author Martha Banta's insistence behaviour. that 'manners [are] the means by which moral principles, or their lack, go on 578 it is because Both display. these clear elements are noteworthy of public that much of the motivation for the anti-Epstein feeling appears to have had both in his fact he do that the to a physical work was rude, and something with (i. he in the (i. was not conforming social sense e sense e. explicit nudity) and is 'the Harrison As behaviour). English cartoon to argues, standards of polite it doing in deforms; but does form, so, and rather not conform, a which informs. '579 This strange conflation between deformation and information is The the the cartoon. newspaper power of central to the understanding of the through dissemination ideal cartoon is the itself and of means newspaper lie truth cheaply quickly, it effectively communicates simultaneously a and a and regularly. 577See Smith, Shawn Michelle. 'Book Review. Barbaric Intercourse: Caricature and the No 2, June Banta. Literature. Vol Martha ' American 76, by 1841 Cufture of Conduct, -1936, 2004, p 397 578 lbid 579 67 R, p cit, op See Harrison, 147

Here it should be stressed that it is widely recognised that the introduction of a humour helping of graphic was an important weapon in the editors' regular in an ever-present newspaper circulation war. arsenal

In fact, as Lionel

Lambourne notes, 'editors of newspapers began more and more to rely on the humorous 580 their draughtsmen to of their qualities It sell copies of papers. has also been pointed out that, while he was still a young man seeking business, in the David Low 'promptly persuaded [ ] the employment ... Canterbury Times, that his cartoons could help win a circulation war. 581Once more, Low is an important character in the argument and Richard Godfrey explains that When Low arrived in London [ ] there were nine different evening ... papers in the capital (there is now only one) and the cartoonist could be a vital weapon in the circulation battle. His function was generally to support the editorial policy of the paper, which probably reflected the 582 its views of owner.

Connections with the newspaper business are perhaps obvious, but LucieSmith sums them up by asserting that caricature is generally two things - popular and public - and it is print which enables it to be both. Print is, after all, a very special mode of communication. It speaks to us privately, as individuals, yet cheapness of material and rapidity of production make it available to almost everyone. To enjoy printed images one does not even have to be able to read. In this sense caricatures are as universal as music. They are also ephemeral, which is one of the essential and inbuilt characteristics of printed matter in newspapers and magazines. The printed image, therefore, has a bias towards not merely popularity, but topicality. It 583 makes its comment on whatever is going on at the time. The key element here is that of the topicality of cartoons, married to their ephemerality.

When they are successful, it is precisely because they mirror

fashion, in the time is happening of publication, albeit an exaggerated at what held information the source of about commonly reliable giving a strong and ideas, opinions and perceptions of the day.

They represent an under-

580Lambourne, Lionel. An Introduction to Caricature. London: HMSO, 1983, p 45 Schoff. Jim David Colin Low. London: Secker Warburg, and Seymour-Ure, See and '581 1985, p2 582 23 p Godfrey, op cit, 583Lucie-Smith, Edward. The Art of Caricature. London: Orbis Publishing, 1981, pp 13-14 148

body historical of primary recognised and under-utilised evidence.

Other

factors by Lucie-Smith those identified are of cost, speed of production major and circulation, and the universality of the image. As illustrated in the described Tweed, below, Boss illiteracy is largely no concerning example barrier to the enjoyment of a visual joke, although in many cases the caption be text the essential component, so drawings often have may or embedded the power to communicate more widely and more immediately. 3.2

Context

Although the evidence is neither comprehensive nor conclusive, there are some particularly

interesting

facts to help to put Epstein's case into

A database the recent search of perspective. of the works held in the British Cartoon Archive (BCA) at the University of Kent, returns 43 examples which include either a rendition of Jacob Epstein himself, a parody of his sculpture, or an allusion to the sculptor or his work. Twelve of these feature a caricature of Epstein himself.

By contrast, a search for Henry Moore returns 27

examples, of which twenty three feature parodies of his sculptures, or feature Moore himself, four to the the all allusions artist, and of which actually Epstein in by Low, include the same drawn David two also of which are 584 drawing. There is just one example which features Barbara Hepworth, and Gertler Bomberg, Eric Gill, there are no examples of only one mentions while Kramer. or

Of the 43 Epstein examples, twenty-nine are by Low, while the

This Moore for just the total examples. number of six of same artist accounts is merely a snapshot of one particular archive, and it is certainly flawed because there are undoubtedly some examples that are not attributed or indication to does it is that but as give an my point cross-referenced correctly, the relative level of attention paid to Epstein, if only in those examples 585 this in particular archive. represented In addition to the works identified in the BCA, although I have located many Epstein featuring his (all and/or are work, of which caricatures or cartoons 584See http://library. kent.ac.uk/cartoons/ (consulted on numerous occasions) 585There are 35 examples linked with August Rodin, 31 of which involve a reference to The The jokes Kiss. The four Giacometti two centred on are are only the other Thinker and for Brancusi nothing and references 149

in the illustrationS586), accompanying reproduced nothing similar has yet come to light featuring his immediate Jewish contemporaries, Bomberg and Gertler, 587

just I features Jacob Kramer [Fig 146]. aware of one am which and

Of the

English other artists working at the same time, there are a few many Wyndham Lewis Augustus John being featured in cartoons of and examples [Figs 147-149], often usually as one of a number of other characters, rather than as the primary butt of the joke.

One example, by David Low in the

588 Standard [Fig Evening 150], shows the painter, Percy Wyndham Lewis, behind a canvas so we cannot see the picture on which he is working, perhaps a tongue-in-cheek reference to Velasquez's celebrated painting Las Meninas (c1656). There are also some examples featuring CRW Nevinson's works [Figs 151-152] and, according to Glaves-Smith, 'the cartoon image of modern painting developed during the twenties relates as much to the work of 589 Nevinson as anyone else. 1 have yet to find any evidence, however, of Nevinson himself appearing as the butt of the cartoonists' jokes, although his was a much

anonymous,

unremarkable

face

in terms of the

caricaturists' attraction to the more distinctive features of the likes of Epstein or John, for example.

It is significant that one of Britain's most celebrated

cartoonists of the time, Max Beerbohm, is conspicuous by his absence, because in spite of the size of Beerbohm's body of work, and the number of examples of his work featuring Augustus John, curiously there is no evidence 590 There however, having Epstein. is, this a of cartoonist caricatured

Moore's [Fig focus Henry that on work considerable number of examples 153], rather than on the artist himself, and Roger Berthoud does suggest that by the end of the Second World War, Moore 'was on his way to becoming a fame his if home, institution rested on cartoonist's some of even national at 586Where not specifically included in the main body of the text, additional examples are IF Appendix in re produced 58 Thanks to Rachel Dickson for directing me to this example. There are a few examples of William Rothenstein being the subject of Max Beerbohm's work, but Rothenstein was of an figure, his known therefore more much as an establishment was earlier generation and inclusion is largely irrelevant 588Low, David 'Low's Topical Budget. ' Evening Standard, 30th April 1938 589Glaves-Sm ith, op cit, p 100 590Rupert Hart-Davis lists a number of caricatures of Augustus John in his catalogue of works 821 829, but to These 825, is in a numbers are only one example, printed Beerbohm. by Max A Catalogue Rupert. Caricatures the Hart-Davis, Max Beerbohm. See of of the catalogue. 84-5 1972, pp London: MacMillan, 150

591 Two examples by Low [Fig 154] present mockery.

a wholly anodyne

image of a seemingly normal, albeit diminutive, middle-aged Englishman. The point to be stressed here is that Moore was largely known primarily by his work, albeit an imagined, stereotypical pastiche of his work in many cases, rather than by his own physical image. In support of this, Donald Hall asserts that 'at one time there was a cartoonist's statues-with-holes-in-them category, like the psychoanalyst's-couch category, and the two-prisoners-in-striped592 In other words, almost any suits-talking-on-a-cot category.

cartoon of

modern sculpture would invariably feature a Moore-like wood or stone block pierced by one or more holes. Nevertheless, in one brilliant example by David Levine, Moore is actually depicted curled up inside one of his works, where he looks rather lonely, upset or angry [Fig 155]. Why David Low should have been so keen on Epstein as a target is unclear, except to assume that he was diligently reflecting the fact that the sculptor continued as a prominent figure in public sentiment, and although there is no intention to analyse Low's character in any depth here, it is helpful to consider some telling evidence.

According to Simon Hoggart, 'Stanley Baldwin once

[ ] wrote of a cartoonist called Strube that he was 66 a gentle genius ... who hits below the belt. never

Now Low is a genius, but he is evil and

593 This is reminiscent of an observation made by Francis Grose malicious.,, in his Rules for Drawing Caricaturas (1791), in which 'he cautioned that a modest amount of deviation causes laughter, while a great amount of deviation incites horror. 594 If Low was evil and malicious, it is curious that he should have devoted so much of his creative energy towards one particular artist. There is no suggestion that Low was in any way anti-Epstein in fact his in he in general; outrage wrote about particular, or anti-Semitic Mosley Blackshirts, in detail the Oswald and some about and also concerning his encounter with an un-named man, which ended in Low himself being

591Berthoud, op cit, p 168. See Berthoud, 592Hall, op cit, p 79

pages 226,227

and 287 for example cartoons

593Hoggart, Simon. 'Simon Hoggart's Diary. ' The Guardian, 9th October 2004, p 15 594See Brennan, Susan E. 'Caricature Generator: The Dynamic Exaggeration of Faces by 4,2007, 393 No Vol 40, p Leonardo, Computer. '

151

595 labelled as a Jew.

In spite of this, there is clearly some tension in the

Low/Epstein dynamic and it is inevitable that suggestions of animosity between the two may have existed. Indeed, taking the Freudian view of the way that humour can express feelings towards the object of the joke, 'by making our enemy small, mean, contemptible, comical, we take a roundabout for to getting ourselves the enjoyment of vanquishing him, which the route third person - who has gone to no effort - endorses with his laughter. 596 Thus, we the newspaper readers are endorsing and sharing in Low's belittling of the sculptor and/or his work. Low is also famous for his work having upset both Hitler and Mussolini, for criticizing their respective regimes, and for his cartoons being banned from Germany and Italy, starting from the early to mid1930s. In a review of a major exhibition of Low's work in 2002, Tom Lubbock referred to Low's political judgement, which he described as 'remarkably sharp and sound. From early on he's very conscious of the danger of fascism 597 Nazism, On the other hand, and of anti-Semitism and other persecutions. the cartoonist is known to have been associated with the well-known antiSemites, GK Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc [Figs 156-159], and he also writes 598 Valentine Castlerosse time [Fig 160], of spent with a personality who 599 Epstein's in appears momentarily unpublished writing. Indeed, of the cartoons and caricatures I have located, the work by David Low certainly stands out as the most prolific, in terms of his jokes centred on either 595

See Low, op cit, pp 296-298 596 Freud (The Joke), op cit, p 98 597Lubbock, Tom. 'A Cartoonist's Finest Hours.' The Independent. 21st May 2002, found on www.findarticles.com, August 2007 598See Low, op cit, pp 290-1. There is at least one example of Low and Castlerosse collaborating on an article for The Evening Standard in 1933, and Low caricatured Castlerosse a number of times between 1928 and 1938 599A curious omission from the published copy is Epstein's comments on Lord Castlerosse (1891-1943), a known associate of Beaverbrook, who used to visit and watch the sculptor at 'I face the the Epstein mostly was astonished at colour of man's and was glad wrote work. ' This line followed large the is he left, windows afterwards. a circled with opening when by 'libellous', the including followed word again circled and a question mark. question mark, [See Fig 3]. Unfortunately, there is no certain link between Castlerosse (mentioned at the end last line 3) this forms text it the and of as as start of a new sheet of of a sheet numbered (if Page 4, indeed there 5. 4, have the was ever a page as numbers as paper, numbered According Richard to Godfrey, Castlerosse was 'a celebrated is ink), missing. in been added for Sunday the Express, (See Godfrey, columnist gossip and bon op cit, p viveur, socialite, for Epstein? A Castlerosse he by attacks on responsible caricature was of 124) so perhaps issue 1929 Tatter, from the balding, dating of a shows a Wysard, corpulent man, Antony his See Godfrey, ibid, in the 112-3 waif-like of company wife. pp sucking on a cigar, 152

Epstein or his works. Undoubtedly, Low's method of caricaturing Epstein's features means that his are the most readily recognisable images of the however, Note, that EH Gombrich [Figs 161-168]. as sculptor explains, fit is for likeness the which we are originally programmed, perception of not really but the noticing of unlikeness, the departure from the norm which stands out 600 Low's in Epstein the examples mind show and sticks as a somewhat ., diminutive figure, always with exaggerated nose and lip detail, dark curly hair and usually with a rather miserable expression. However, they never appear to be particularly cruel caricatures, tending to present a pathetic, ridiculous figure, rather than a hateful one. In a very recent review of an exhibition of Low's work, Tom Lubbock, writing in The Independent, mentions the name Epstein once more, commenting that [Low] doesn't seem to have been rattled by either feminism or "modern art", which are good signs in a 20th century cartoonist. A cartoon about the danger facing the modern elder statesman of finding himself sculpted by the likes of Epstein and Moore is perfectly genial [Fig 169]. It is also notable for including a depiction of Barbara Hepworth, even though Low 601 had looked like. clearly no idea what she In many of these examples, where Low includes an Epstein joke as part of his [Figs it 'Topical Budget' 170-173], reinforces the scale of regular series Epstein's profile and public reputation at the time.

Sometimes, he is just

he but Low knew that by joke in about sculpture, mentioned name a general could include him and be assured of recognition.

It is obvious that Epstein

familiar Low's highly to bankable thus audience. was a personality, and was Furthermore, as discussed in Seymour-Ure and Schoffs 1985 publication, it is feature happens to large the that a rendition colour plates noteworthy one of These [Fig 174]. drawing focus Genesis the the examples surely of of as the that Low/Epstein the the revealing relationship, affirm significance of featuring drawing the success and popularity of any cartoonist could count on the sculptor or his work.

The fact that confirmation of the existence of the

his in book Low's in appears a modest study of cartoons, even work sculptor indicate Epstein that is importance brief of sufficient article, and in a relatively In Art Beyond Gallery, Cork the oeuvre. uses an in this particular cartoonist's 394 p cit, Brennan, op Quoted by 601 Lubbock, oP cit 600

153

Low from David 1935 [see Fig 96], and claims that Low cartoon a of example 602 Epstein's however, Low himself was strangely 'was no admirer of work, Epstein, his relationship with making just one passing reference silent about 603 This is odd, in view of the attention he gave to Rima in his autobiography. to Epstein and his work over a considerable period of time; in fact, his Epstein from featuring 1920-1957. range cartoons There is clearly a question of the level of fun, spite, sarcasm, wit, mockery, for humour, the etc., which cartoonist must be held accountable. As malice, Brennan suggests, 9encoded in traditional caricature is not only the identity of the subject but also that of the artist, as revealed by the drawing's style. When viewers encounter a caricature, they interpret the style and other 604 Low himself wrote variables such as political context and expressiveness. about the art of the cartoonist but avoided revealing too much about his own philosophy, except to record right at the end of the book that 'useful comment [ ] must be confined to the remark that at least the philosophical attitude to, ... from [my] be the comments intentions technical cartoons may guessed of, and 605 [the] book. He opened with remarks concerning the English in expressed by humour, lack to the of a sense of wit and continued sense of as opposed suggesting that 'some Englishmen [are] under the impression that wit pointed humour, disdain is disapprove the things they and wit pointed or against 606 against the things they approve or respect is offensive vulgarity. When it comes to parodies of the sculptures themselves, Low's attention to detail is reassuring, as it does at least indicate that he has studied the work to some considerable degree.

Adam is clearly recognisable, as are Rima,

Genesis, the various figures from Primeval Gods and Day and Night. Even the his imagination, to Low has to of a rear view create such as use when does Gods, he this Primeval from figure skilfully and subtly, and showing main by leaving doubt identity the to the for of no the work as sculptor's respect 602

Cork (ABG), op cit, p 55 603 Low, op cit, p 193 604 395 p Brennan, op cit, 605Low, David. British Cartoonists Caricaturists and Comic Artists. London: William Collins, 1942, pp 46-7 606 ibid, p7 (1942), Low 154

figure. The only hint of a slightly more sinister bias to be found in Low's work is in his use of manufactured names in a few cases, as already discussed, but it is fair to assume that this is simply acknowledging the fact of widespread British insensitivity to this form of racial stereotyping. One ironic feature of Epstein is that he wrote of how, in his own work, 'the character of the model begins to impress itself on me. In the end, by a natural process of observation, the mental and physiological characteristics of the 607 Thus he impose themselves the on clay. acknowledges that the sifter finished the itself in the of sifter expresses character sculpture, in the same manner as the character of the individual is expressed in the insightful exaggerations of the cartoonist. the

underneath

veneer

Arguably,

Epstein's

David Low sees inside or

outward

appearance,

although

conversely, it may be true that he is simply seeing and presenting the commonly perceived image of Jacob Epstein. As an alternative to photographs, combine

simple

renditions

the cartoonists'

of the artworks,

interpretations

were able to

often with some simple text,

invariably designed to ridicule the work or the artist, or both, with the added advantage that they were cheap, topical and easily reproduced on newsprint. By definition,

these newspaper

cartoons

and caricatures

of the period can

have been because they topical, they summed up public were only successful historical barometers the they of as valid, sentiment or opinion, and survive social and cultural newspaper

atmosphere

columnist

of the days when they were created.

'nothing that wrote

is harder to recapture

than old

be )608 is I believe this but that can cartoons where newspaper controversies , an extremely useful resource.

Along with the news text and photographs,

the truth, the sense of cartoons a also communicate supposedly reporting the together these the of public and elements now all of opinions mood and form part of the huge press archive, preserved as valuable historical documents. 607Epstein (1942), op cit, p 69

th Life Below Waist. View. the ' The Standard. 25 June 1987, no 608Barker, Paul. 'Personal in the Whitechapel Gallery archive) (copy page number. 155

A further unique property of the cartoonists' art, which should not be their is that work often carries very specific details giving overlooked, the truth, about clues or perceived truth of the period in question, evidence or location, situation or a particular or about the degree of acceptability or about forms For representation. of example, these may include simple of certain historical details, such as the type of people making up the readership, the type of dress worn by those portrayed, the details of buildings or motor d6cor the or of rooms. vehicles,

Other examples include the degree of

images, such as when the body far is less of parts explicit than in the originals, in order to representation manipulation or

correction applied to

levels acceptable of nudity in the public domain. Some examples comply with to illustrate the significance of such evidence will be included in the case I below, but important the point want to stress is that cartoons may studies have historical sometimes a greater significance than simply being a topical joke. They are valuable documents, often providing under-utilised evidence, Nevertheless, in this, daily in they the spite of press. and are most prevalent there is a need to be cautious when attempting to take evidence or draw Glaves-Smith his At the essay, start of conclusions when analysing cartoons. makes it clear that both the uses and the pitfalls of cartoons as art-historical material are be instantly [i. its to basic in the this need e. medium rooted property of Inasmuch by the appropriate readership]. recognised and understood index be familiar, taken deal in they the they of what an as can as must had filtered through to the type of people who formed the readership of a (The the time. readership of nature given particular publication at any Osbert For instance, in borne be mind. aimed at should always Lancaster will incorporate in his drawings intended for publication in book form references which would be lost on some of his Express readers. )609 The use of the word 'pitfalls'

indicates that it can be easy to make hasty

judgements

about certain features employed by cartoonists,

and assumptions

truth truth the of is and perceived needs careful concept where and this Glaves-Smith that the a Furthermore, muses cartoons, as on way attention. develop to genre, seem

and then survive on the basis of a repetition

609Glaves-Smith,op cit, p 97 156

[that] 610 situations crop up again and again,, as noted in the certain cartoon in the case Of sculptures with holes, before going on to ask 'is example, earlier 9

it because they represent the public's idea of the truth, however inaccurate it 1 61 Essentially, be? this repeats the ideas explored in Chapter 1 may the perception of stereotypes, whereby the constant repetition of concerning individuals, about races, religions, art movements and so on, perceptions creates an accepted reality which becomes entrenched in the collective In addition, as Harrison acknowledges, 'European scholars national psyche. [ ] consider [cartoons] a serious reflection of society's inner vision. They see ... it as a vital form of art and communication which, in turn, shapes a society's 612 The assertion remains, therefore, that the cartoon is an perceptions. indicator of widely recognised traits, assumptions, prejudices and beliefs in general society, and as such they represent vital evidence in this study of a particular artist and his work. 3.3

Definitions

Before going any further, it is necessary to examine some of the suggested and accepted definitions of what actually constitutes a caricature or cartoon. According to The Concise Oxford Dictionary definition, caricature is 'a depiction of a person in which distinguishing characteristics are exaggerated for comic or grotesque effect, 613whereas a cartoon is 'a drawing executed in 614 It is for humorous an exaggerated style a useful and effect. or satirical subtle distinction, for I want to illustrate both how Epstein was himself caricatured

and also

how his work,

contemporaries, featured in cartoons.

his the and work of some of

There are several examples of each

forming part of a very interesting body of evidence about Epstein, sculpture and British society. representational

David Low's own definition is thata cartoon is a drawing,

humorous that makes or a satirical, witty, or symbolic,

610 Glaves-Smith, op cit, p 97 611 Glaves-Smith, op cit,, p 97 612Harrison, R, op cit, p9

613The Concise Oxford Dictionary, op cit, p 213 614The Concise Oxford Dictionary, op cit, p 216. David Low records that in the early 1840s Jerrold, the Punch, first the Leech to the John editor of and were use word the caricaturist, Low (1942), that 18 caricature up until point. called op cit, p work the graphic cartoon to 157

615 be for This the Low's may case own art, but point.

as the editor of Punch,

William Hewison, identifies, there are many types of humour that are most by the These include 'social comment, visual cartoonist. exploited commonly 616 humour, humour black topical [ ] According to Harrison, and ... satire. puns, however, 'some caricatures are too vicious to be funny, 617and this potentially drawing of nature a should always be borne in mind. aggressive At the start of his study, The Art of Caricature (1981), Edward Lucie-Smith raises the matter of definition, and immediately asserts that the terms 618 Meanwhile, in his study caricature and cartoon are virtually synonymous. of English caricature, Richard Godfrey's pithy definition, highly appropriate to this angle of research, is that caricature is 'a blunt instrument for the 619 Godfrey also gives a more detailed expression of national prejudices. summary of personal caricature, arguing that it consists of the graphic distortion of the salient points of a person's appearance or habitual costume so as to excite amusement or contempt. If they have no salient points, then some must be invented to create an agreed fiction. A tendency to fatness can thus be enlarged to elephantine proportions, or to the image of an elephant itself; a 620 prominent nose to an interminable appendage. In addition to his own definition, Godfrey later adds one from one of the most celebrated British caricaturists century, Max Beerbohm.

of the late-nineteenth

and early-twentieth

He writes that, according to Beerbohm, 'the most

perfect caricature is that which, on a small surface, with the simplest means, most accurately exaggerates the highest point, the peculiarities of a human being, at his most characteristic moment, in the most beautiful manner. 1621 Harrison's own more expressive definition is that the cartoon 'takes the fruit of juices. the and squeezes out vital everyday experience

It may take the

finally farthest But it limits to imagination. that the the of mundane and push 615See Harrison, R, op cit, p 43 616See Harrison, R, op cit, p 44 617Harrison, R, op cit, p 54

618

'many that Harrison noting writers use the words 'cartoon' and Icaricature' Randall agrees, latter but the usually suggests a representation of a specific person, interchangeably; almost ' Harrison, R, 54 or celebrity. op cit, p known politician a such as 619 Godfrey, op cit, p7 620 10 P Godfrey, op cit, 621 23 p Godfrey, op cit, 158

distils a potent potion, one that can be imbibed quickly, one that packs a 622 This idea that a cartoon acts as some kind of mind-altering liquid is wallop. it since suggests that the viewer is effectively powerless to appealing rather the the is cartoonist message conveying. resist Meanwhile, Gombrich and Kris write of the genesis of the word caricature, its inventor, Annibale Carracci (1560-1609), is reported to and quote what have said about his new art form: Is not the caricaturist's task exactly the same as the classical artist's? Both see the lasting truth beneath the surface of mere outward appearance. Both try to help nature accomplish its plan. The one may strive to visualise the perfect form and to realise it in his work, the other to grasp the perfect deformity, and thus reveal the very essence of a personality. A good caricature, like every work of art, is more true to life 623 than reality itself.

According

to the

Harvard

professor,

David

Perkins,

a caricature

'deliberately inaccurate, yet the subject is often quite recognisable

perhaps -

more recognisable than in an accurate portrait or photograph. It lies about its 624 subject's shape, but in doing so, often comments delightfully on that shape. Notably, Perkins excludes the property of humour from his definition but he does assert that caricature

is 'a symbol that exaggerates individuating 625 thus making it more visible, echoing Paul characteristics of the subject,

Klee's aphorism that 'art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes 626 illustrate the The is the that can visible. accomplished caricaturist point individual, warts-and-all, invariably giving a faithful rendition of the significant characteristics of the subject.

Ultimately, however, as Gombrich and Kris

into is the to transform true the 'the man whole caricaturist assert, real aim of 622

Harrison, R, op cit, p 44 623Gombrich and Kris, op cit, pp 11-12. Kris worded this slightly differently in his earlier deformity; in discover likeness in this 'caricature to that way, so seeks a paper, pointing out does [i. it truth than to the time the theory e. seventeenth century], comes nearer runs the of Caricature. Journal Psychology ' The International 'The Ernst. of ' Kris, of reality. psychoanalysis. Vol 17,1936, p 288 624David Perkins, as cited by Harrison, R, op cit, p 13. Note also that according to research from 'when familiar four 1956, is in dating Schwartz a object presented all by Ryan and drawing, line drawing the shaded and photograph], cartoon accurate [i. cartoon, modes e. See ' Harrison, R, 118 decoded quickly. most is op cit, p usually representation 2 62 David Perkins, as cited by Harrison, R, op cit, p 54 626See Klee, Paul. 'Creative Credo [1920],' in Klee, Paul. The Inward Vision: Watercolours, York: Abrams, New 1958 Klee. Paul by Writings Drawings, 159

a completely new and ridiculous figure which nevertheless resembles the original in a striking and surprising way.

627

The key words from these definitions, which encapsulate the essential qualities of a caricature are distortion, amusement, contempt, invent[ion], fiction, exaggerat[ion], peculiarities, lies, recognisable and ridiculous. agreed It is also significant that in order to have caricature, there must already be an established sense of the normal, in order to allow identification with the abnormal, the absurd or the peculiar. Multiple images of Epstein conform to these qualities of caricature, and he became widely recognised as a Bohemian, as a modernist sculptor and as a Jew. Through these caricatures he was presented as a figure of fun and he is almost invariably portrayed as ridiculous and unsympathetic. Having established the definitions attached to this particular form of art, what of the physical properties of a cartoon or caricature? 3.4

Cartoons and Art

George Melly starts by remarking on the 'astonishing persistence of visual 628 jokes about 'modern art, , and there is undoubtedly something distinctly appealing about modern art that has consistently invited jokes and ridicule from the general public. By way of a suggestion to explain this phenomenon, Melly opens with a reference to Freud, reminding us of the psychoanalyst's theory that 'the main function of the joke [is] to "economise on unconscious thought, M and going on to explain that 'the sudden discharge of laughter 629 little from inhibitions expense. or anxieties at comparatively releases us The following comment from Ernst Gombrich, suggests that it is because but for inherent, largely human desire to an suppressed, cartoons appeal mischief: There was a time in all our lives when we enjoyed being rude and has have in but succeeded or should succeeded education naughty, We do into let joy this abhorrence. not ourselves relapse into turning 627

12 Kris, p cit, op Gombrich and 628 Melly, op Cit, P9 629 Melly, op cit, P9 160

that state again, and if ever such impulses break loose under the influence of passion, we feel embarrassed and ashamed. In caricature, however, these forces find a well-guarded playground of their own. The knows how to give them scope without allowing them to get caricaturist 630 out of control. Thus the cartoon has a special property, somehow justifying and validating our rudeness, naughtiness and shamelessness

when having fun at the

expense of the victim of the joke. This notion of rudeness and naughtiness also points to an experience that is both adult and pleasurable, and caricature is an art form, which can be genuinely enjoyable with no need for serious skills of appreciation on the part of the viewer. It is true that only those subjects which are high in the public's consciousness will work in a caricature individual features

parody, and thus the number of times a subject or

in this form of art is a significant

indicator of their public

As Todd Endelman asserts, ia caricature succeeds only because it 631 in however corresponds some way, exaggerated, to reality, even if that profile.

reality itself may be a widely recognised Clearly the target caricatured,

audience

perception,

rather than the truth.

must be able to recognise

the person being

and at the same time the subject of the joke must be instantly As Glaves-Smith

correctly observesl 'if [the cartoonist's] jokes have to be explained, their impact is IoSt.,632 This point further reaffirms the recognisable.

earlier statement that cartoons are a major indication of what was important in the news of the day.

Once again, the difficulty here is that the recognisable

reality is perhaps only the reality of perceived characteristics, the Jewish stereotype, for example. that the caricature recognisable,

of Epstein,

as in the case of

However, it should also be borne in mind

as perfected

by David

Low, is instantly

that, baby, is depicted the so even much when artist as a we so

the identity [Fig 175], is the doubt in child's about even child when are no has in its hair! doll a ribbon and playing with a

630

26 Kris, p cit, op Gombrich and 631 189 (1990), p cit, OP Endelman 632 97 p cit, Glaves-Smith, op 161

Added to the physical evidence a drawing can provide, the way that dealt is the movements art new with quite revealing because it cartoonists detail by historical contextual showing that their pictorial provides valuable language was originally incapable of addressing the new visual language of the works they were attempting to ridicule.

For example, in the case of

Futurist paintings, often the emphasis is on the imagined bizarre methods finished by than the the artists, rather on work itself. In two cases, adopted 633 The Daily Mirror, dating from 1912 and 1913, [Fig 176] both by Haselden in the final frame of his work includes an oblique view of a finished work, but this is secondary to the method, as if he were unable to satisfactorily render a Futurist painting caricature. credible

A third example by Haselden shows a

[Fig Post-Impressionist 177], he his exhibition of and at an works man where frame leaving for dominate little the the artist's cartoon, each of room words cursory attempts at renditions of the paintings themselves. A lengthy series of drawings by HIVI Bateman,

effectively

presents an early strip cartoon

representing the development of a penniless traditional painter to a successful Futurist [Fig 178]. In some cases, as identified by Glaves-Smith, 'the cartoons j634 he image the and goes on to give real one , create an which supersedes the example of the reaction to the first Futurist exhibition in 1912, identifying

the fact that to the than drawn images, attention cursory with no more often cartoon in the the illustrations themselves paintings of actual outnumber works daily press which published cartoons, at that time only the Daily Mirror in the them Express, Daily the more sophisticated equal and and 635 Sketch. illustrated magazines, such as The Bystander and The When compared to the French caricaturists of the nineteenth century, it is from focus in the been has of attention, away a seismic shift clear that there Eitner, Lorenz According to they that the the art to the artist, and worked. way form be instrument the to art of pictorial of a new, purely came caricature The journals illustrated Salon regularly words. without reviews criticism: " individual travesties Salons, "Comic paintings consisting of of published

633See Haselden, WK. 'How to Paint a Futurist Picture,' and 'Futurist Portrait Painting: Is Any th th March 1912, 15 8 April 1913, Mirror, Daily The p7 and p9 respectively Model NeededT 634GIaves-Smith, op cit, p 98 635 98 p cit, Glaves-Smith, op 162

images that surveyed, and ridiculed, miniscule or of pages crowded with 636 IS. whole gallery wal In the example image used by Eitner [Fig 179], it is clear that the emphasis is detail the themselves, the paintings of and on the sheer volume of on There displayed is in the salons. nothing to suggest the existence examples themselves. the of artists or appearance

Notably, Eitner concluded that 'the

quality of these cartoons rarely rose above that of trivial amusements, and their humour hardly transcended the platitudes of the written reviews or the 637 philistinism of the public.

3.5

Caricature Theory

Although this is not presented as a detailed analysis of the specific theory of been has be there that it some work acknowledged should caricature, them the and enjoy we are popular; why reasons why caricatures addressing they achieve. what

In his writing about jokes and their relation to the

his in Freud includes analysis some comment on caricature, unconscious, joke form to deal this does his text a great extent. of visual with not although In addition, in 1936 Ernst Kris published a paper titled The Psychology of Caricature, where he referenced Freud on a number of occasions.

Some

ideas from both of these writers are considered here to help to explain what in being in from, the learn for, considered look wealth of examples and we can this study. his 'is jokes tendentious most text Freud's of one According to John Carey, on 638 is to key the understand points brilliant of one and and convincing, clear, than tendentious, invariably merely comic. rather that caricatures are almost three 'requires joke persons: apart tendentious which Freud defines a as one is taken it joke, the as telling who is person needs a second from the one who joke's the in third whom the object of the hostile or sexual aggression, and a Art Popular Men: Real Language Life in Common the From of 636Eitner, Lorenz. 'Subjects Adam Kirk Varnedoe, French Painting' in Nineteenth-Century and in Tradition Modern and Harry York: Low, New Readings High Culture. in Popular Art and and Gopnik [Eds]. Modem 69 1990, p Inc, N Abrams 637 69 ibid, p Eitner, Joke), (The Freud in op cit, p xxi 638Carey, John. 'Introduction' 163

intention of producing pleasure is fulfilled .,

639

They are calculated to promote

Kris cause or point of and, as view particular establishes, 'they are aimed a individual an or at a type, whom they portray with single features either at exaggerated.,

640

The second critical point is that relating to how jokes work,

here Kris defers Freud by to accepting that 'the occasion of our pleasure and is a comparison; in caricature this relates to reality as compared with a distorted reproduction of

641 it.,

Freud explains how he believes a joke makes its way from its author, through to the first person who will find it funny and who will laugh at it. This person must then seek to retell the joke to a third party, who he hopes will also find it funny, and by this process the original listener achieves a level of enjoyment he cannot otherwise attain, because he already knows the punch line. The point is that this third party must be someone compatible with the first two, or as a Freudian example puts it, 9aggressive witticisms will not be understood by uncultivated folk who are used to giving free rein to their pleasure in 642 He goes on to assert that 'every joke demands its own swearing. laughing far-reaching jokes is the and at same evidence of physical audience, 643 This raises an interesting comparison, relating once more to compatibility. language.

In the case of a verbal or written joke, perhaps with very witty

language, or alternatively, highly bawdy language, certain elements of the Iaudience' will be excluded from the joke, either because they don't get it, or because it is too coarse. Potentially, a cartoon, by contrast, can be enjoyed by people of a much wider section of the community, unless it relies heavily for tool is This text, cultivating and perpetuating potent a really on of course. a view to a wide audience. Where Freud is difficult to fathom, Carey helps by explaining the basic that tendentious the and writes premise of

639

95 Joke), p cit, (The op Freud 64' Kris, op cit, p 287 641 Kris, op cit, p 287 642Freud (The Joke), op cit, p 145 643Freud (The Joke), op cit, p 145 164

[tendentious] jokes make possible the satisfaction of an instinct, whether face lustful, in of an obstacle that stands in its way. This or aggressive is repression, by civilization caused obstacle and education. Tendentious jokes thus allow us to return to rimary sources of pleasure 64P barred by our internal censorship.

normally

The use of the words 'instinct' and 'primary sources' indicates that there is human inherent in the condition has to do with aggression and lust something towards others.

When Freud does write specifically about caricature, he

asserts that it by highlighting one single intrinsically comic trait out of the features as a whole; the kind of trait, that is, sublime object's expressive which is bound to be overlooked as long as it could only be perceived By isolating it a comic effect can be achieved, the total picture. within extending our memory to the whole - provided, that is, that the presence of the sublime object itself does not hold us fast in an attitude of Where kind is absent, trait this an overlooked comic of veneration. caricature will go ahead and create one by exaggerating one that is not in itself comic. Again it is indicative of the origin of comic pleasure that the effectiveness of caricature is not fundamentally damaged by such 645 distortion of real ity. degrades

Freud indicates here that there are certain physical human features that we find to comic. are pre-disposed

For example, big ears, a long chin, goofy

teeth or an abnormally large nose, perhaps?

Even though they aren't, the

the that for features confirming effect, comic caricaturist can still exploit such widespread understanding of stereotypes exists. Jokes allow us to deal with this and the pictorial joke, published widely lust the to through the press, allows us same aggression and/or experience itself been has that level, written and which supplementing on a widespread ' A internal 'our 'civilization by this censorship. and education' and repressed the is likely to in the editor libellous cause newspaper article specifically be interpretation drawing is to and can however, open an amusing problems, ideas and recognisable, are obvious and sentiments which to express used the in in the expressing a way which written word and yet still acceptable Nevertheless, do be exist, can and exceptions unacceptable. same would (The Joke), Freud in op cit, p xxi 644Carey, John. 'Introduction' 645Freud(The Joke), op cit, p 194 165

highlighted Islamic the cases earlier, although in the case of depicting such as images of Mohammed, it is nothing to do with libel, nor is it about differences in interpretation. Taking Marcel Gutwirth's argument pertaining to the wider issue of laughter (rather than specifically cartoons), the issue of laughter is the issue of its acceptability. Laughter can be enlisted in a cause to the degree that it sanitizes its employment of the forbidden (the offensive). It is in fact management of the offensive that is its rhetorical function: make the jury laugh without alarming their 646 sensibilities.

By substituting the words cartoon or caricature for laughter in this quotation, it is evident that a 'funny drawing' has much more latitude with its potentially offensive material, than would an equivalent piece of text. Freud also makes reference to the way that caricature is 'a particular favourite for use in enabling criticism or aggression towards persons in high places who 647 claim authority, and this is undoubtedly

why political caricature,

form branch is this of humour. He continues with the particular, such a rich of kind humour 'represents this that a rebellion against of argument, suggesting such authority, a liberation from the oppression it imposes' and stresses that caricature is so appealing because 'we laugh at it even when it is badly done, merely because we consider rebellion against authority to be a creditable 648 Clearly, the connection with the lampooning and satirising of the thing. in is this context, its problematic creators phenomenon of modern art and because artists and their work don't represent authority, although it is possible that they are seen as inhabiting some form of 'high place' in society. They have no power, however, but it is perhaps a valid notion to pursue in the sense that the stereotypical arrogance, or confidence, of an artist represents the kind of self-imposed authority that is potentially upsetting for the layman. Who are these people who come along and implant their own vision on us, 646Gutwirth, Marcel. Laughing Matter. An Essay on the Comic. Ithaca and London: Cornell 30-31 1993, pp University Press, 647 100 Joke), p cit, op Freud (The 64'3 100 Joke), p cit, op Freud (The 166

living their bohemian lifestyle, ignoring or flouting the accepted norms of our have People taken collective pleasure in seeing them ridiculed may society'? back down if for brought to size, only a moment in the frame of the and drawing. Perhaps this partly helps to explain why Henry Moore seems to have been treated so lightly by the cartoonists, although more importantly, when compared to the outsider Epstein, Moore's persona - that of a relatively quiet, modest English gentleman - did not emit an arrogance or authority, nor have the alien stigma, which was likely to upset the established order. Important comments made by Roger Berthoud in the prelude to his biography of Moore, published in 1987, serve as a significant marker of the differences in the two sculptors. Of Moore, he wrote that no one could have been further from the popular conception of the artist Bohemian, Outsider as as or as obsessed egocentric than this down-toearth family man with his preference for regular working hours, his extrovert, unpretentious manner, his sometimes slightly squeaky voice, unfinished sentences, and engaging giggle. [ ] Many people must ... have asked themselves how a man who seemed so normal and straightforward could have produced such 'abnormal' and 'distorted' work, as it often seemed to those unfamiliar with it. [ ] His apparent ... normality as a human being helped people to accept the apparent abnormality of his sculpture. Since he was evidently a warm, genuine, and in some ways lovable man and not a poseur, prima donna, or intellectual snob, his work was often given the benefit of the doubt. Such a man was unlikely to be trying to pull a confidence trick on the 649 publ iC. The importance of this description

is that it appears to be entirely opposite to

that which is so commonly applied to Epstein, which emphasises the fact that as an English (gentle)man,

Moore was much easier for the British public, and Moore became the antithesis to Epstein, even

press, to accept.

Essentially,

though sometimes

their works were seen to be almost indistinguishable

180].

John Rothenstein's

description

[Fig

of Moore is that he 'seems always at

P650 fellow-men impressively, himself he his and, more with and peace with ,

'exceptionally him someone who enjoyed as easy relations with writes of those with whom he has dealings, whether patrons, editors, assistants or 649Berthoud, op cit, pp 14-5. Later he was described in Art News as a man who 'captivated decency. ' See Art News, January 1951, in his simplicity and sweetness, cited everybody with Berthoud, Op cit, p 232 650Rothenstein, John. Time's Thievish Progress. Autobiography /I/. London: Cassell, 1970, p 77 167

critics.

651

It is clear that this is not a description in any way applicable to

Epstein.

As Andrew Causey summarises, 'though Moore's work was difficult sculpture and [it] exasperated conservative critics, it was less polemical and 652 demonstrative than Epstein's. Nevertheless, because Moore's work was highly perceived originally as provocative, ridicule of the work itself was least in not common, cartoon and caricature satire. Kris eventually gets to the key property of the caricature, as it pertains to my interest in this form of graphic art. He declares that the primary social character of tendentious forms of comic expression appears to be conditioned by two factors; in the first place, another person's approval is used to justify one's own aggression, and furthermore wit and caricature can easily be recognised as an invitation to that other person to adopt 'a joint policy of aggression and 653 regression ,.

It seems to me that this 'policy of aggression' is what is being promoted in the newspaper cartoons and caricatures, where the artists' and editors' ideas of fun and their particular prejudices are foisted upon a huge readership.

Kris

adds later that 'caricature indeed also tries to produce an effect, not, however, Ion' the person caricatured, but on the spectator, who is influenced to 654 Meanwhile, Freud writes accomplish a particular effort of imagination. about how 'our laughter is undeniably the expression of our pleasure in the 655 superiority we ascribe to ourselves in relation to [the butt of the joke], and this is a major factor in the way newspaper cartoons were exploited.

Each

time a figure such as Epstein appeared in a drawing by Low or anyone else, he was effectively being belittled systematically by the general readership of the newspaper; they were having their collective superiority reinforced through the visual art of the caricaturist.

Supporting evidence is available in Marcel

Gutwirth's study, subtitled An Essay on the Comic (1993), in which he 651

Rothenstein, ibid, p 77 652 Causey, op cit, p 280 653 Kris, op cit, p 294 654 Kris, op cit, p 298 655 189 Joke), p cit, op Freud (The 168

how comedy 'depreciates or caricatures the human race) before explains , asserting that comedy depicts 'those we feel able to look down upon, our inferiors inferior because and social they moral morally are socially 656 To further develop this idea, Gutwirth explains that 'what we laugh inferior. at falls below the norm, that it is a failure of worth, a quality impaired, [ ] that ... it discriminates between such socially arrived at judgements as the fair and the ugly, the better and the worse, the successful and the failed. 657 The recurring theme, here, is that most of the caricatures of Epstein and/or his born are of a inherent sense of superiority over him, both on the part of work the newspaper editor and the cartoonist, and by association, therefore, the wide readerships of the various publications. Whatever the theories of jokes, the particular properties of the cartoon that are so relevant here are that they are visual jokes and they are regularly and widely disseminated virtually instantly to a potentially enormous audience. In days before the mass communication apparatus with which we are now so familiar, verbal jokes were often spread around quickly through telling and retelling, but not as quickly and widely as a newspaper cartoon would have been, nor so exactly.

The same message could be seen at the same time

throughout the country, or even on a relatively local level in the case of provincial newspapers or even the London-based examples. 3.6

Topicality and Ephemerality

The primary disadvantage of the cartoon or caricature is that it is very much a joke of the moment, reflecting a particular mood or event of the day, meaning that it is less amusing and perhaps even unintelligible to future generations. Nevertheless, this property does strengthen the argument that a cartoon is a It is but document. the historical not an accurate snapshot of moment, unique it is a record of a moment, as filtered through the artist's viewpoint.

656

30 p Gutwirth, op cit, 657 30 p Gutwirth, op cit,

169

lit

Freud comments on what he refers to as 'the factor of topica Y

658

and

how jokes can 'contain allusions to persons and events that were explains 'topical' at the time [but], after [ ] interest had died down, after the affair in ... question had been settled, these jokes too lost a part of their pleasurable effect, indeed quite a considerable part.'659 This is where the newspapers' visual jokes survive as a valuable record of the period in which they came to the attention of the public. They express what was happening, what was funny, what was widely accepted as news and as entertaining. Today, many of the cartoons are not so much amusing as they are revealing of an unwritten truth. To illustrate the point, there is an excellent example of how a cartoon can reveal so much about the time on which it is commenting. Pont's (i. e. Graham Laidler's) The British Character. Importance of Not Being an Alien (1936) [Fig 181]660is making a joke which today is not at all obvious, although the 'alien' is clearly the diminutive man in the centre of the picture, who is looked-down upon by everyone else.

He is also the only person wearing spectacles,

implying that he is in some way deficient, and his suit appears to be a poor fit. Closer inspection of the image reveals, however, that the joke, and the real black Otherness, he is 'wearing his is tie that a when white was sign of 661 drawing, Hollowood's Bernard the According to account of obligatory. the odd man out is probably a professor of sociology at some university in Central Europe. His physical handicap is matched - in the eyes of the devil's The his blunder by the poor of nationality. elegant company trousers are too short, his collar is too shallow, and his tie is black. The him to ladies the him treat an affront see as contempt, with gentlemen 662 their Britishness [original emphasis retained]. The subtlety of this kind of detail indicates that the reader of Punch was familiar with what Godfrey describes as 'the subject of British character, and 663 but it how drawn it, image also proves carefully can a popular clich6s about 658Freud (The Joke), op cit, p 117 659Freud (The Joke), op cit, p 118

15 April Punch 1936 in on The cartoon was published 661 128 p cit, See Godfrey, op 662Hollowood, Bernard. Pont: an Account of the Work of Graham Laidler (1908-1940), the 1969 Collins, London: Great Punch Artist. 663 128 p Godfrey, op cit, 660

170

provide valuable evidence about social and cultural history. For the joke to know the what was perceived as obligatory behaviour, audience must work, be it therefore that assumed even such a minute detail as a black tie must and further to enough not need explanation. Another point this was obvious highlights is devices that the one of a cartoonist can employ 'is to example introduce a "hidden element," something the viewer knows but the characters 664 This places the viewer in the dominant position and do in the cartoon not. firmly situates the character as victim and butt of the joke. The subject of the satire in the cartoon is excluded and is unable to laugh, and it is a situation bullying, the characteristics of racism and bias where the symptomatic of from dominant beliefs. In this case, the is the mainstream or other excluded figures drawing includes in the the the viewer who can see the concept of faux Furthermore, this ephemeral and topical quality pas. central character's is a helpful indicator of the mood of an otherwise forgotten period, or detail of

news. A further consideration to be acknowledged is that the art of the cartoonist is allowed humorist to the No freedom denied to who one complained great art. a drew a bulb-like face with an enormous nose: "But, my dear chap, are " Did look like don't that. Faces blind? nose? such a you ever see you Everyone smiled and understood because he was fully aware that that 665 him. that of expected was was all This excerpt, taken from Gombrich and Kris's 1940 publication, Caricature, highlights one of the most ironic/paradoxical aspects of the cartoon/modern art relationship.

The distortions of the artist, such as in Epstein's large

by Low distortions the and employed carvings, were roundly criticised, while for complaint. no cause give and amusing as seen others, are

Indeed, the

Harrison, by is the who raised cartoon(ist) issue of there being no criticism of 666 but has had detractors, the critics. not the 'for cartoon part, that most notes huge basis, amount of and enjoys a The cartoonist sells work on a regular 664See Harrison, R, op cit, p 44, where he cites Jack Markow from the Cartoonist's and Gag Writer's Handbook 665 Kris, p4 cit, op Gombrich and 666 48 R, p op cit, Harrison, 171

but s/he doesn't have to stage exhibitions to sell work, nor undergo publicity, the close scrutiny of the art critics. Furthermore, the successful newspaper ist/caricatu rist is that rare commodity in the world of the visual arts; cartoon s/he enjoys the privilege of having work published on a regular basis, perhaps day or every week to a very wide audience, so in a sense, this is the every ultimate measure of success for a visual artist; a regular and wide audience, and a very good, regular income, allowing the practitioner to explore and express his or her ideas (within certain editorial constraints.) In fact, it is known that when David Low was first contracted by Beaverbrook in 1926 his salary was E4,500, rising to E5,500 in 1929, which equates to some f-175,000 and E224,000 respectively in today's values. Furthermore, his contemporary, Strube at the Daily Express was earning El 0,000 (E436,000) in 1931, making him 'the highest paid employee of any newspaper at that time. 667 The conclusion to be drawn here is that cartoons were a hugely important element of a newspaper's content. Nevertheless, the arbiter of taste in this case is the newspaper editor, leading to the conclusion that so long as the cartoonist continues to make work which appeals to the readership (and therefore the editor), then s/he will continue to sell work and make a good living. There is undoubtedly an element of power and influence residing in many cartoons and caricatures.

It should be noted, however, that the power of the

cartoonist's art, whether real or perceived, has sometimes created problems for the artist himself, and this consideration gives a clear indication as to how influential a carefully drawn caricature may be.

For example, as Randall

Harrison points out French and Spanish monarchs sent political cartoonists to prison, death, In day. 1981, the to this And that practice continues and exile. Cartoonists Guild was holding benefits for, and trying to negotiate the Uruguayan imprisoned into political cartoonist, of, exile release 668 Francisco Laurenzo Pons.

667 See Benson, Timothy. 'Low and Lord Beaverbrook: The Case of a Cartoonist's University Thesis, Kent PhD Canterbury, November 1998, pp of Unpublished at ' Autonomy. 70 and 56, respectively 668 14 R, p cit, op Harrison, 172

Harrison continues with this observation by listing the key elements of what he 669 fear 'the traditional the to These of ruler's as political cartoon. refers include 'the he cartoon's availability, even to those who explains, elements, literate,, he illustrate be to this point even and goes especially on not may by he feelings 'the quoting what suggests are of Boss more emphatically Tweed. He said, in effect, I don't care what they write about me. But those 670 " [original them! damn pictures - people understand emphasis retained]. Once again, it is the significance of the visual element of the press which is so important when it comes to communicating information to a wide audience. Nevertheless, it is also a fair assumption that while the subjects of cartoons or be by insulted to the they upset and ridicule suffer, at may profess caricatures the same time, many would no doubt agree that it is better to be ridiculed than to be ignored. As Godfrey argues it is the historical birthright of public figures [ ] to be exposed to public ... Churchill's Winston like it, in they may not always ridicule and although downcast 'they when the cartoons stop. are quite offended and words: They Wonder what has gone wrong, they wonder what they have done 671 amiss.

In a comment relevant to this point, Stephen Gardiner claims that 'Epstein didn't in the least mind the music hall jokes about him, David Low's cartoons, he Jewish (when they called or what noses), steered clear of caricatures 672 having himself, he Iman-in-the-street jocularities, , contradicts although by damaged hurt, 'easily Epstein how described much offensive was earlier

669

Harrison, R, op cit, p 14 670Harrison, R, op cit, p 14. William M Tweed (1823-1878), usually referred to as Boss City New York defrauding of millions American Tweed, was a corrupt politician, convicted of Nast Thomas by drawn Wikipedia and the to According dollars. cartoons political entry, of [to in the Weekly, candidates opposition election of numerous resulted published in Harper's I don't damned "Stop them is Tweed pictures. Tweed] in 1871. attributed with exclaiming, darn it, but, they My can the can't read, me. constituents about say papers care so much what 2007. November 30th //en. hftp: See consulted " org/wiki/Boss_Tweed, wikipedia. see pictures! 'my but Tweed, time the this line to words attributed Isabel Simeral Johnson quotes a similar The ' Isabel. 'Cartoons. See Simeral Johnson, included. also are read' can't constituents July 1939, 42 No 3, Vol 1, Quarterly, p Public Opinon 671Godfrey, op cit, p 7. It is also worth noting that, according to Irving Lavin, in the early [ ] important themselves 6princes personages recognizing enjoyed and history of caricature, ... See ' Lavin, the the inventiveness the of game. artist enjoying and great admiring and others, Bernini Satire' Time: Social Varnedoe in Art Their the Before Low and of Irving. 'High and (The from 23. translation quotation comes a of an original p cit, op (Readings), and Gopnik dating from 1713) (the Bernini son) artist's text by Domenico 672 213 p Gardiner, op cit, 173

673 publiCity, when caricatured on stage at the Chelsea Palace in 1917, after he managed to prevent further performances. which

In the final analysis,

Epstein's regular lampoon quotient affirmed his reputation and served as an indicator of the strength of his celebrity status, even though this was largely represented in derogatory terms through the cartoon characterisation, placing him as a diminutive figure to look down upon. Harrison makes it clear that 'in the broader communication framework, the is used as a message to reach specific audiences, [and that] the cartoon 674 be Bearing in mind that the target audiences may particularly vulnerable. habitat likely of the cartoon caricature is the newspaper or periodical, for most designed they to appeal to the taste of a particular were originally which it be beliefs be that can specific opinions and may seen views, readership, In disseminated images. the context simple and amusing via popular, readily history being in the this the examined argument, newspaper period of of for direct have been the the only engagement with visual arts cartoon may been have in they That is that to not many cases would say many readers. interested in real fine arts or the avant-garde per se, but in the fun to be had at the

artists'

expense,

irrespective

any

underlying

prejudice

Of been have the or perpetuating. promulgating cartoons may misinformation the that they is the it common opinion of what express case possibly course, cannot be said otherwise. It is evident that we should not underestimate the significance of cartoonists themselves.

Because they are concerned with a visual art, surely their

in the the interpretation visual avant-garde of modern art, or perception and 673Gardiner, op cit, p 171. Gardiner stresses that this was at the time when Epstein's incident, Rose to be this to also refers the completed. about army was conscription into Matin6e, Monster in the Epstein that called caricatured a pantomime further was explaining force ' him into the 'part to army. of an elaborate conspiracy an event which was apparently dances Whistler, included The playlets, and about 105. also songs show Rose, op cit, p Rima is in There the John. a newspaper of a caricature of report Rosetti and Augustus (unidentified) two to throw young stand and eggs, women up caused Aldwych Theatre, which According in the to the the protest. press report, stage women at tomatoes and oranges See do ' leave 'Uproar in don't 'why own alone? your work and us you stood and shouted Caricature Eggs. Leave Alone! Rima ' The Daily Offending Pelt with us Theatre. Women Rose June identifies Dolores 2. the Anita, but 1925, pair as and p Mirror, 20th November Rose, 138 this op cit, p assertion. does not give a source of 674 116 R, p cit, op See Harrison, 174

itself has arts, a unique importance, particularly as it is frequently the one prompt source of arts information to which the wider public has regular, cheap access. This position of cartoonists is also recognised by George Melly, who points out that 'it is perhaps necessary to bear in mind that cartoonists, being themselves concerned with visual communication, may feel more involved than the lay public,' although he does go on to qualify this by stating that he 675 it '[no] than importance. On the contrary, it regards as of more marginal may be argued that the close association with the visual arts generates an between tension the serious and the frivolous. underlying

In fact, Judith

Wechsler makes the observation that both Hofmann and Gombrich 'recognised that while the heart of caricature is its message, its formal means have much in common with modern art: linear shorthand, a sophistication 676 about graphic relationships, and an underlying abstract element. It should also be borne in mind that the cartoon is created as a work of the artist's imagination. In these drawings, invariably signed by the cartoonist, of course, the opinion and viewpoint of the author is open for all to see. S/he is wholly responsible for the composition and content of the cartoon, and everything we see on the page is a deliberate statement by the artist. Here, the difference with the photograph is most significant, because even though a photograph may be manipulated, and this is specifically discussed elsewhere, in most cases the film records what is there in front of the lens. In simple terms, a photographer could not contrive or compose the scenes imagined by the caricaturist, not least because the subjects would almost certainly be unwilling to put themselves into situations designed to make them look foolish. As Harrison reminds us, 'the cartoonist starts with a blank sheet of paper and creates something which has never existed before, a unique message for 677 fantasy image humans, we are presented so combining with a other imagination, fiction the to truth, and allowing artist communicate elements of his or her own personal message, invariably without public criticism.

675

Melly, op cit, P9

676Wechsler, Judith. 'Editor's Statement: The Issue of Caricature: Winter 1983, p 317 677 31 R, p Cit, op Harrison,

S/he

Art Journal. Vol 43, No 4,

175

freedom in the to the enjoys ridiculous a way that would see the artist explore victim roundly vilified as being mad or as suffering from defective eyesight. Harrison argues that the cartoonists' message 'can be described in terms of it but content and code, complexity, also operates in a larger communication 678

context,

and he continuesby explainingthat

larger framework, look this within we can at the cartoonist and the social forces which influence cartoon creation. We can look at the channels distribute We the cartoon. which can explore the audiences and the feedback which influence further cartoon production. Finally, we can begin to frame broader questions about the cartoon's impact and functions in society. 679

Examples of how the reading of the detail of a cartoon can impact on the reader will be addressed in the case studies below. 3.7

Jews, Stereotypes and Anti-Semitism

In 1981, Randall Harrison explained that wider research into cartoons was taking place, and of particular note is that he identified that one of the 'types of 680 by content' provided cartoons is one of 'ethnic and racial minorities. For a second time, the book A Child of Six Could Do Ift, is a curiously relevant point of reference in the context of this study, because it also includes a reference to anti-Semitism.

In the penultimate paragraph of his essay, Melly

comments on Nazi Germany and records his surprise that 'given that the Nazis chose to believe that modern art, like everything they proscribed, was the work of the Jews, we didn't come across any anti-modern art cartoon on 681 French. this theme. Indeed the only example of an anti-Semitic nature was He doesn't elaborate on this, nor give any examples, but the fact that it faced here is is interesting. The in a short essay problem such appears at all that, as with press writing, it is difficult to point to examples of an overt antiSemitic bias against Epstein in the caricatures. The fact that he is pictured as Jewish features, least certain acknowledged Jew, stereotypically with a or at 678

31 R, p cit, Harrison, op 679 31 R, p Harrison, op cit, 680 116 R, p cit, op Harrison, 681 13 p Melly, op cit,

176

is not necessarily a sign of anti-Semitic prejudice; rather it is a statement of the reinforcement or perpetuation of the stereotype already deeply embedded in British society at the time.

To add some context to this, in a detailed

life Max Beerbohm, John Felstiner writes that in the and work of analysis of 'women, Jews and Americans

Beerbohm's caricatures

by or unfair stereotypes. scantily

are represented

[

] When he caricatured Jews, he ... 682 large, distasteful Felstiner further cites an unfailingly stressed a nose. 683 he describes having 'real unpublished cartoon which as an iMUS, in it. 'Entitled "Jermyn Street, " [it] depicts a slobbish store owner, obviously rich

684 fat, beckoning hands. Further contextual evidence may be and with oily found in the events of late nineteenth century Vienna, as described by John Carey, which indicate that once again this is not an isolated nor specifically British phenomenon.

Carey explains that 'the Stock Market crash of 9 May

1873 led to an orgy of anti-Semitism.

Jewish bankers were blamed for the

A rash of anti-Semitic propaganda hit the popular press with 685 depicting hook-nosed financiers. As noted in Chapter 1, even in cartoons catastrophe.

1959 in The Times's obituary of Epstein, reference is made to his Jewishness 686 his 'dusky complexion and markedly Jewish appearance and to and it is hardly surprising, therefore, that over the years, the best of the caricatures did exactly the same thing by emphasising his features, his clothing and his perceived 'un-English' carving. Most of the examples of cartoons so far identified which appear to be addressing

the

question

of Jews,

specifically,

stereotypical

illustrate to the text Jews, have been included elsewhere within perceptions of particular arguments.

Of those which could reasonably be accused of direct

the in manner, and puerile a rather unoriginal anti-Semitic sentiments, albeit 682Felstiner, op cit, pp 129-130 683This Tom Lubbock is in Low a review of a exhibition. asserts used animus, same word, fool, low Nobody in is hated. Nobody is than is animus. a that'Low's work worse remarkably Lubbock, See ' op cit Hitler. not even 684 Felstiner, op Cit, p 130. Ironically, Felstiner then carried on with some debate about Jew, himself both Malcolm Muggeridge that Beerbohm a claiming was and whether or not fact 'in in flight from his Jewishness. Beerbohm ' Felstiner, panic was believed Ezra Pound ibid, p 130

685Carey, John. 'Introduction' 686 The Times, op Cit, p 10

in Freud (The Joke), op cit, p xxvi

177

humour is largely based on imaginary names attributed to the characters. For David Low example, created and applied the names Chumpstein and Georgstein to two of his characters, and these examples are addressed There are several other cases, however, which should also be elsewhere. The first acknowledged. example by Sidney 'George' Strube, published in The Daily Express dated 9th March 1935 [Fig 182], shows a room full of men, 687 foreign discussing a sculpture in the apparently speaking with accents, shape of a pound sign. On the right hand side of the drawing a pair of men be having to appear a conversation, as detailed in the caption which reads 'Nepstein. Don't you worry Sir. It may not be a pound to them but it is a ' The figure to pound us. of the artist is leaning on the pedestal, and he is overlooked by what resembles a parody of the First Portrait of Mrs Epstein (1912) [Fig 183], although he does not look like Epstein; the hat is unfamiliar and he appears to have a moustache and to be too tall and slim. According to the notes on the archive source material, there are added details on the original artwork, including variations on the name, with the caption beginning 'Epsteined! / Nevstein, 688rather than Nepstein, indicating that this element of the joke was given more than just a passing consideration. Secondly, Frank Reynolds's example from the Vt July 1925 issue of Punch [Fig 184], includes a line attributed to the young woman model, who says: '61 was sifting to a man called Pipstein this morning. He stands on his head to 489 In the third case, an earlier example by Strube, dating from 1925 paint. and captioned Mr Winstein's Memorials [Fig 185], the caricature of Winston Churchill in the corner is unmistakeable, but his name has been relieved of its British identity. The use of the moniker Winstein is clearly intended to belittle Churchill and to draw connections between foreigners, (perhaps Germans, development bizarre the Jews) of new sculpture. and perhaps

One of the

be identified Epstein's the can perhaps as a parody of cartoon elements of Weeping Woman (1922), but the other works imagined by the cartoonist are 687The words applied to the group of men include the phrases "No backgroundsky!", "Eet is lacks!" and "But vot mean it?" See Sidney 'George' it leetle "Dot somedings ", unpossible! http: //library. 1935 kent. March 9th at Express, ac.uk/cartoons/ Strube, Daily 688See http://library. kent.ac.uk/cartoons/ 689See 'Epstein Lampooned' in Silber and Friedman, op cit, p 76 178

In of as parodies existing works. unrecognisable all three of these cases, the 'Stein' the suffix surname reinforces the notion of the relationship of use between the foreigner and radical new art, and is reminiscent of the limerick in the which refers to Epstein, Einstein and Gertrude connections Stein, cited earlier in this study.

In view of the ongoing tensions in the

relationship between Britain and Germany at the time of these cartoons, it is Stein that the reference is making fun of its German origin, rather conceivable than to a specifically Jewish heritage, but the target is clearly Epstein, the 'foreign' sculptor. There is even one cartoon which features an Epsteinesque Adolf Hitler [Fig 186]. Its date, authorship and context are unclear at of statue the time of writing, but it is an interesting drawing, simply for the fact that a cartoonist made a direct connection between the two men. One of the really interesting notions raised by Gopnik is that according to Charles Baudelaire When it comes to the primitive nations cannot conceive of caricature ... grotesque figures that have been left to us by antiquity - the masks, figurines, the muscular Hercules, the little Priapuses with their tongues curved into the air - ... all these things are fully serious. We laugh after the coming of Jesus The idols of India and China do not know that ... 690 they are ridiculous; it is we, Christians, who know that they are CoMiC. Gopnik's own response to this is that the way we deal with caricature 'is a measure of our sophistication,

and it is possible only in a civilization that is at

once Christian and corrupt, dreaming of a lost innocent unity and conscious of 691 Clearly these comments resonate with the its own departure from it., details of this study; Epstein's penchant for the so-called primitive, so evident in his work,

and the tension

of his predilection

for Christian

themes

he baggage, ideally to that his to suggest placed was religious opposition own be attacked by the sophisticated

declaring the medium of caricature, at once

English superiority and religious intolerance.

690Gopnik, Adam. 'Caricature' in Varnedoe, Kirk and Adam Gopnik. High and Low. Modem N Abrams Harry York: Inc, New 117 1990, Culture. p Art and Popular 691Gopnik, ibid, p 118

179

Another of Gopnik's themes deals with the concept that caricature may be form 'Showing therapy. as a of us the grotesques of life, comedy explained taught us discrimination and good manners; we enjoy satire because we are 692 (or learn) it is better be that like to Thus, Epstein that. not reminded is in itself his a symptom or proof of caricatured otherness, and it is through the perpetuation of jokes at his expense that the public at large is reminded of their status as normal Britons, and of his as an outsider. Todd Endelman gives some illustrations of Jewish Stereotypes in caricatures. There is an example which he attributes to Walter Sicket [sic] creating a 693 Israel Zangwill for Vanity Fair in 1897 [Fig 187], Carlo caricature of 694 Benjamin Disraeli for Pellegrini's the same publication in 1869 [Fig 188], which Endelman describes as 'a more "Semitic" portrait, ' while pointing out 695 An example from his that Disraeli was 'continually reminded of origins. 1905 is included as illustrative of 'the rising hostility to Jews after the turn of the century, 9 and is full of verbal and visual evidence.

In Bateman's cartoon

[Fig 189], the schoolmaster asks 'What fault did Joseph's brothers commit in let 'im too 'They Jewish him? ' to the go schoolboy replies selling which 696 in is like little looks The boy, shown old man, a more who actually cheap. has the effect of accentuating profile, which

his facial details.

He is looked

down upon by the schoolmaster

(very faint) he is map of a stood under and

England, both details augmenting 697 status.

his inferiority and outsider and reaffirming

3.8

Targeting Epstein

British in the the based been As has already evidence on established, he how in terms is Epstein or often Cartoon Archive, of an exceptional case his work was the target and victim on the caricaturist. In David Low's study of 692

Gopnik, ibid, p 119 693 166 (2002), p cit, Endelman op 694 154 p (2002), Cit, op Endelman 695 61 p 1990, cit, op Endelman 696 72 p 1990, cit, op Endelman 697Endelman also reproduces Spy's (Leslie Ward's) Chief Rabbi Hermann Adler, from 1904, it is Rabbi in his drawing the in this but Fair, simply case a representing Vanity from also be inoffensive Endelman image the to accurate, an of man. seems and rabbinical vestments 126 2002, op cit, p 180

British cartoonists, he comments on how some of James Gillray's victims 'live in his caricatures much more vividly than in their conventional historical has for he the true instinct caricaturist's portraits, not only for expressing in terms but physical characteristics, exaggerated also for using the physical to he the spiritual', and summarises by insisting that Gillray's express the as supreme caricaturist had 'partially guided, partially achievements formed, and generally reflected the convictions of the many. 698 This section Epstein the way was personally, physically portrayed by a will examine number of different artists, especially Low, who was himself responsible for forming and reflecting the general view of the sculptor. guiding, As early as 1931, Arnold Haskell's description of Epstein, was that 'many people can only see him as the caricaturist Low has depicted hiM. '699 This was an astute observation by the writer, and it also establishes one of the central premises of the Epstein/newspaper relationship.

Low's work was

visible to the masses through the daily press and his construction of the image of the sculptor and his work was highly influential in the process of Epstein. image the of public creating and perpetuating

This theme is

how Gombrich Kris, they in explain and where repeated it may [ ] happen that when we meet the victim [of caricature] in real life ... is linked inseparably his because forced laugh him, to picture at we are in our minds with the caricature we have seen. We have been taught by the artist to see him anew, to see him as a ridiculous creature. This is at 700 bottom the true and hidden aim of the portrait caricaturist's a rt.

Thus, to an extent, the public and popular image of Epstein was created by David Low (and others), with the irony being that the cartoonist's distortions became popular and amusing, while Epstein's distortions remained the in Epstein Melly, I For general was considered subject of ridicule and abuse. that the modern Ia gift' to humorous artists, P701 earlier comment made echoing 702 to level, However, 'good according sinister on a more itself Copy., art was 698Low (1942), OP Cit, pp 13-14 699Haskell (1931), op cit, p iii. This is also cited by Gardiner, op cit, p 216 700Gombrich and Kris, op cit, p 13 701 10 Melly, op cit, p 702Clearly, Melly sees Epstein as an exceptional and important example because, of those figures he includes the sculptor with a number been have of ridicule, historically, artists who,

181

Gombrich and Kris, 'to copy a person, to mimic his behaviour, means to 703 his individuality, and the trivialisation and parodying of Epstein annihilate and his work, through the popular medium of the cartoon, undoubtedly contributed, to some degree, to the undermining of his status as a credible Clearly, he sculptor. was not completely disadvantaged by such things, as in acknowledged the truism that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Caricatures of Epstein are typically recognisable, either as the man himself or what is perceived as a stereotypical Jewish man. Leaving aside the specific and substantial case of David Low, which will be dealt with in the case studies below, the additional examples given all feature a man with very dark, very curly hair, a prominent nose, fleshy or thick lips and slightly shifty eyes under heavy brows. 704 The Will Dyson example [Fig 190] doesn't specifically name Epstein, (nor Augustus John and Wyndham Lewis for that matter), but the caricatures are sufficiently recognisable for us to be almost certain of the 705 detail, and although the joke is aimed at the image of the so-called modern artist, the hair, nose eyes and lips of the Epstein figure mark him out as different.

The other two figures are much more vaguely portrayed, hidden

facial large hats hair. under and

Notably, they are shown to be in a bar,

Epstein figure is sat clutching a glass. the where

Similarly, the Frank

Reynolds drawing from Punch [see Fig 184] is not openly about Jacob Epstein, however, references in the caption to an artist called Pipstein and to of other specific examples. These range from Manet as representative of the Impressionists, Matisse and Duchamp for the Post-Impressionists and on to Dali for the Surrealists. He concludes his list with Henry Moore who, he notes, 'provided the most long-lived and frequently exploited butt for ridicule in the entire history of modern art.' Melly, op cit, pp 1011. Once more it should be emphasised that it was Moore's work, rather than the artist who was directly ridiculed 703See Gombrich and Kris, op cit, p 14. This is their assertion, based on asking 'the psychologist' about the aim of caricature (04It should be noted at this stage that in at least one example, Epstein is said to have had Sarah Rachel Dickson [Eds]. Embracing Exotic. London: the MacDougall, See hair. and red Papadakis Publisher in Association with Ben Uri Gallery, 2006, p 58. Felsenstein writes of how Judas was commonly portrayed with red hair and a red beard. See Felsenstein, op cit, p 31 705See Cork, Richard. Vorticism and Abstract Art in the First Machine Age (2 Vols). London: for Cork's this cartoon includes question marks against 146. 1976, caption p Gordon Fraser, The drawing Lewis. The in New Age, Vol. John 14, and was published Epstein, the names Further that is this be found 1914. nd evidence January a credible assumption may No. 12,22 by kept Gallery. 21 the There is cuttings a cutting of this cartoon press in the scrapbook of in Epstein. the See included to Tate the Age pages of cuttings relating New from The 8024.1 TGA Archive, ref 182

the male figure, who is labelled as an 'acute revolutionary' leave little doubt as to the target of the humour. In this case, the male figure appears to be swarthy and unkempt, and he is a drinker, while he further appears to be considerably older than his young, beautiful female companion, whose intimate relationship to the man is implied by the way her arm is draped his shoulder. The Bert Thomas caricature [Fig 191] is the third to across include a reference to alcohol and in this case Epstein peers out from under heavy eyebrows and wild hair, once more clutching a glass, looking slightly guilty and apparently somewhat the worse for drink. Edmond X Kapp's (18901978) drawing from 1914 [Fig 192] is not a particularly accurate or skilful caricature, and perhaps would not be recognisable as Epstein but for the caption. It is, nevertheless, probably the most explicit in its detail because the use of the profile image clearly demonstrates the exaggerated detail of the nose, lips, eyes and eyebrows, and these details, coupled with the excessive attention to the black curly hair, make it quite clear that the subject does not conform to the usual perception of an Englishman. There is a marked contrast between Kapp's portrayal of Epstein and his contemporaneous drawing of Wyndham Lewis [Fig 193]. Lewis is a relatively small figure in a stylised, perhaps romantic image, whereas in the Epstein drawing, only his head is presented with the nose, mouth and chin as the prominent features. His neck seems excessively long, echoing that of Epstein's sculpture Rock 706 Drill Adrian Allinson (1890-1959) drew caricatures of Epstein [Figs 194 & . 195] and Marinetti [Fig 196] in 1914 and 1913 respectively and the contrast in the style and emphasis of the two images is striking. In the case of Marinetti, Allinson concentrates on the forceful character and demeanour of the Italian, indicating by the flushed face that he is reciting his poem with his characteristic

considerable

energy and volume.

His head and face is

facial features his his body, to are not and essentially correctly proportionate highly detailed.

The representation of Epstein, on the other hand, is much

has Allinson in that the delicately applied extensive sense worked, more lips, hair, the detailing to chin and beard, although the arguably eyes, nose, features facial best, the suggest a sinister, or a at mean of porcine qualities 706Lionel Lambourne notes that Kapp's 'incisive linear portraits included such varied figures See Larnbourne, ' Elgar. 45 Shaw op cit, Matisse, and p as Picasso, 183

long-established to stereotypical view that 'Jews were actually a allusion 707 The inclusion lovers the 'South Sea Idol' itself seems of of pork. covert it is incidental, the identified though focus of the caricature, even almost according to the caption.

In fact the focus is on Epstein's physical features,

becomes yet more apparent when compared with the alternate version, which hair detail to the do the changes chin and where nothing to soften the image 708 favour. The image is also reminiscent of pictures of Oscar in Epstein's Wilde, especially noticeable in Max Beerbohm's caricature of Wilde [Fig 197], and in view of the date of Allinson's drawing, it is entirely feasible that he was making comparisons

between the two men, in the wake of the furore

for Epstein's in Paris tomb the erected writer, at about the same surrounding time. An important side issue relating to Allinson's caricature of Epstein with the example of non-Western art, is that it acts as a valuable historical document, because it provides evidence of the date of the advent of the Modernists' interest in so-called primitive art. If Epstein was being caricatured be inference that 'his interest and in the must such matters, as an expert This known in has 1914.709 to allowed claims expertise were sufficiently well Silber to surmise that 'almost certainly Epstein began collecting [primitive art] seriously in 1912.710 Edmund Dulac's drawing [Fig 198], dating from 1920, appears to take its inspiration from Allinson, situating an exceptionally large version of Epstein is drawing this Once the striking aspect of again, with a piece of sculpture. the particular attention given to the hair, which in this case suggests the distinctive ringlets of orthodox Jews.

Meanwhile, a pair of narrow, slanting

707See Felsenstein, op Cit, p 132. Felsenstein also writes of how old stories tell of how a Christian who converts to Judaism would father a pig-faced child. Ibid 708Allinson's two versions of the same joke are remarkable for the subtle but revealing is is this it is the real of no original, clear one not which although and made changes biggest he to the the the is that The clothing, colour of made change point consequence. detail is the to the the to the of style restricted neck and size of to personal the change while bohemian Epstein's hair His is nature. either collar-length recognise the hair, both of which but black. The disapproving thick and still neater, very and and shorter and curly, or slightly it is unlikely that Epstein would have found these is and maintained suspicious expression images flattering 709See Silber (1986), op cit, p 25 710Silber (1986), op cit, p 25

184

lower lip large to conspire pouting a and confirm that this man is a nose eyes, English. not surely In his study of cartoons, Randall Harrison comments on how 'in an era of important humour in the media than ever tension, seems more great 1 71 Harrison was writing in 1981, and the era to which he refers has before. little in common with that of the interwar years during which Epstein was most frequently the victim of the caricaturist.

Nevertheless, the concept that

humour in the press may have some kind of placatory effect on its readership is worth considering. Would anti-Semitic feelings about Epstein and his work have been mellowed by the presentation of him as a figure of fun, or as a figure be laughed Perhaps it was better to cast him as impotent to at? small, figure, rather than as a strong personality against which a pathetic or comical been directed? feelings have may more aggressive

Our post-Holocaust

find it inappropriate to that should now we viewpoint and experience means be perpetuating the image of the Jew as victim, Outsider and other, but at the height of Low's popularity, his regular attacks on Epstein had very different implications and they still serve as a reminder of the widely held sense of 'fair game'of the period. Of particular interest are the four examples which directly associate Epstein taste least these two his and of raise questions of sculptures, and at with decency, with the implication that the sculptor and the sculpture are in some form of perverse embrace, or union.

Anne Middleton Wagner features the

Grimes cartoon [see Fig 141] in her examination of Genesis, and after asking Iwho or what has made [Genesis] pregnant? ' she answers herself with the following assertion: 11

This is the the is to "the exactly to respond answer right. get artist , horrors! Behind [Grimes]. the by artist curtain offered suggestion fact Genesis The that a postcould generate embrace. and artwork thematic the intercourse fantasy a gives white-and-black of Pygmalion 712 forcing fore. to the twist, race important and sex again and new

711 712

28 p R, op cit, Harrison,

225 p Wagner, op cit,

185

The Grimes cartoon is remarkable for the fact that Epstein is immediately his head, half from hair just the top of with eyes and partial nose recognisable detail providing the usual indicators, should we not recognise the distinctive head of Genesis. This example is similar to most of Low's references to the illustrated because, two exceptions with above, he only ever same sculpture, shows the head of the woman.

In other examples, he either only draws the

head or he hides the body by some means. Some useful evidence to explain this apparent prudery may be found in press reports from the period Epstein from Evelyn Silber's to the world, and was unveiled anecdotal evidence. Firstly, in the Daily Herald, the reporter states that Genesis is 'a three-quarter 713 is become length statue of a woman who Clearly the about to a mother. Silber is inappropriate, and who commented that 'at the time word pregnant Epstein started working, if you mentioned pregnancy in the House of when Commons, it could cause nervous tiftering along the benches, ' confirms 714 th iS.

There are echoes of Grimes's lewd suggestiveness in the much earlier kind Sykes features in by [Fig the 199], some of sculptor example which (c. It Venus is 1914-16). his the not clear second of versions of embrace with hand-held be here, inclusion to is implied the a of what appears and what but the face incongruous, is the particularly sculptor's mirror, reflecting implies his in to the a certainly work relation attitude proximity of sculptor and less than innocent, or perverse relationship between the two.

The third

the Tell's imaginative sculptor and sculpture of parody example, witty and (although innocent, is [Fig 200] at more much mirroring each other's stance least he doesn't shy-away from the detail of Rima's nipples), but it is also hair. for Epstein's to the attention remarkable once again

The solid black

forms identifies the hair sculptor and effectively characterises and shock of the central focus of the drawing.

In fact the whole attitude of the profile is

described Kapp the example, above. reminiscent of

713'Epstein's Latest Statue "Shocker" - Primitive Study of Maternity in Marble. ' Daily Herald, 4th February 1931

714Transcribed from the television documentary Rebel Angel

186

The fourth example by Ernest Forbes [Fig 201] is most interesting for its 'The Confrontation: Sculptor Jacob Epstein prepares a fresh problem caption, for his public,' and also for the rather crazed expression on the sculptor's face and the way he is holding his tools. The use of the words problem and confrontation reinforce the fact that notions of tension are associated with the but the idea of 'his public' is also revealing for its implication that he has man, a very specific kind of supporter. The sculpture itself is unrecognisable, while one member of the audience in the background, shown in profile, appears to be very similar to Jewish individuals featured in caricatures by Quiz [see Figs 23a and 30]. As in these examples, Epstein is also balding, corpulent and has a prominent nose and lips. There are at least three cases that have taken the idea of caricaturing

the

sculptor to another level; a pair of similar examples by Sava and Mark Wayner portray Epstein

as a sculpture

Epstein as being diagnosed phobia [Fig 204].

[Figs 202 and 203] and the third depicts

with suffering from what the doctor calls Rima-

Sava's drawing, dating from 1926, is a rather subtle and

sympathetic design, carefully using light and shade to capture a very distinct likeness of the sculptor's face, albeit located on the shoulders of an extremely distorted torso. background

The inclusion of the hastily sketched bust in profile in the

carefully locates Epstein within one of his exhibitions and adds

Sava's to weight choice of subject - Epstein was included with only a small number of other prominent personalities of the day. The Wayner example, Epstein

"Remorse"

(although

this

noteworthy

Epstein into fact it for the that a piece of work, makes again

(c. 1931) is perhaps

particular

sculpture

has

a parody of Elemental been

less time this sympathetically much although

dated

1932),

[Fig 205], but it is

than in Sava's example.

Here

Epstein simply looks ridiculous and as if he is suffering from some form of 715 mental breakdown.

715The drawing is also especially interesting for the fact that it is almost identical to the figure dating from [Fig 236] February 1931, a drawing which also Strube's cartoon included in North Wind 0 Gerrard's 928-9) featured AH in Wayner's image as of of includes a parody 'a [Fig 237], Epstein for bas 1931) to (c. subtitled suggestion a relief Lansbury George 187

I am unaware of any comments from Epstein on the way he was caricatured, found line I have a single note on a list of ideas in Epstein's although 716 front 'the in his block. Sexual sculptor of manuscript which reads analogy. Unfortunately there is nothing else in the notes to expand on this, but he may have had in mind the Grimes cartoon, or perhaps the Charles Sykes drawing referred to above. There are other, more philosophical considerations about humour, which be should acknowledged.

According to Simon Critchley, in a chapter headed

Foreigners are Funny, 717

humour is a form of cultural insider-knowledge, and might, indeed, be function like a linguistic defence mechanism. to Its ostensive said untranslatability endows native speakers with a palpable sense of their distinctiveness In this sense, having a cultural or even superiority. 718 humour is like common sense of sharing a secret code. My assessment is that it is particularly this sense of superiority which is the driving motivation behind the many caricatures which were designed to belittle Epstein and other outsiders.

Critchley asserts that 'ethnic humour is very

much the Hobbesian laughter of superiority or sudden glory at our eminence and the other's stupidity, P719and he goes on to quote George Orwell's aphorism that 'the British Empire was based on two fundamental beliefs: 64 funny"', Y? "foreigners nothing ever changes , and are concluding that 'in ethnic humour, the ethos of a place is expressed by laughing at people who are not like us, and usually believed to be excessively stupid or peculiarly canny. 720 To summarise and illustrate the arguments considered here, there are some following in the examples which warrant closer scrutiny case excellent specific

studies.

716

NAGW the Archive See the of 717The full title is Chapter 5, 'Foreigners are Funny - the Ethicity and Ethnicity of Humour' in London New York: Humour. Routledge, 2002, pp 65-76 On and Simon. Critchley, 718 67-8 jbid, pp Critchley, 719 70 ibid, p Critchley, 720 68-9 jbid, pp Critchley, 188

3.9 Case Studies 'Caricatures are often the most faithful mirror of life.' Baudelaire721 Now there is a deliberate shift in the emphasis and focus of this research, because I want to illustrate tangible examples of how so many of the ideas, stereotypes and prejudices, already discussed above, can be physically identified in caricatures. The detail of the analysis is purposely thorough, and is intended to illustrate and help prove many of the assertions and assumptions gleaned form the textual research. The first case study is of a drawing published by The Evening Standard on th 14 December 1929. The cartoon is captioned 'Adventures of Santa Claus. No. 1- At Mr Epstein's' [Fig 206], and is clearly a parody centred on Epstein's Night. carving,

It makes an interesting comparison with the only other

caricatures of the carving Night so far located [Figs 207-209], for the way that the central figure parodies the original by adopting a rather absurd pose, rather than imitating it too closely. The title of the cartoon itself indicates an interesting hierarchy; bearing in mind that this is part of a series of drawings by Low, on a very particular seasonal theme, the fact that Epstein was chosen 722 as the first of his dvictims', speaks of the status of his reputation at the time. The scene depicted in the drawing shows Epstein at work, not in his studio, but in what appears to be his living room, giving the immediate impression that his work and life are inseparable; that there is no distinction between the two and that his private life is work is equally as bizarre as his artwork. We hangs from fireplace the an enormous which and mantelpiece, can see Christmas stocking, (which actually looks more like a large boot or a shoe), 721See Wechsler, Judith. 'Editor's Statement: The Issue of Caricature.' Art Journal. Vol 43, No 4, Winter 1983, p 317 722Between 14th and 23dDecember 1929, Low created a series of six on this theme, with the George Wallace, Bernard Shaw, Beaverbrook CB Lord Edgar being and other victims boxer Carnera. See ' Low, David. The Best of 'a named outsized Cochran, as well as certain Cape, Jonathan 1930, Toronto: p 211. For details of all six cartoons, see Low. London and th //opal-kent. hftp: 17 November Archive 2007. ac. Cartoon uk, consulted the British hundred 'one the this 1930, cartoon was one particular of political and social in Furthermore, Evening Standard work by Low.' See Low (11930),ibid, his best the from of cartoons selected be important it to an work, and selected only one other of He clearly considered front cover. (No. 2, Edgar Wallace) Claus Santa series the Adventures of 189

and there is the picture on the wall bearing the words 'Bless Our Home.' The floor is littered with lots of stone debris and there is a bucket separating Epstein and Santa Claus, perhaps placed on the floor to catch water drips from a leaking ceiling, or to collect the stone debris and general rubbish. An alternate reading of this is that the inclusion of the bucket in the middle of the room, alludes to connotations of bodily waste and the resultant foul smells There are Christmas associated with human excrement and urine. decorations hanging from the ceiling, including some bells and a sprig of mistletoe. Attending to Epstein is an attractive, slim, smiling, glamorous young woman, whose skin colour appears to be darker than that of the sculptor and his male model. She is wearing a fashionable dress, cut to the knee; she has a very modern hairstyle and is wrapped in a shawl, and she is wearing smart, fashionable shoes with a reasonably high heel.

She is

standing as if posing for a photograph and is offering Epstein a tool, although the sculptors attention is directed elsewhere, away from the woman, giving her an air of submissiveness. It is possible that the image of the young woman holding Epstein's tool in her hands is also a rather lewd and 723 Furthermore, both of the tools she and Epstein are suggestive joke. holding appear to be too small, and of the wrong type for the job in hand. Commonly, a sculptor's mallet has a round head, rather than common double724 ended mallet shown here, although there is at least one image of Epstein working on Night with what appears to be a small steel-headed mallet [Fig 210]. Another example of Epstein caricatured with a small tool hanging out of his pocket dates from 1942 [Fig 211]. In the Low cartoon, the young woman her is in herself this especially as master scenario, ridiculous attendant seems ignoring her. My initial assumption was that she is intended to be one of the for, Epsteins, known have lived the to Asian with, and worked many women for Epstein her In fact, Low in a model own right. and who was probably 723According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first recorded use of the term tool to imply from It dates 1553. also cites the use of the term in James Joyce's the male generative organ it have been in use at the time of the indicates that would probably 1922, Ulysses in which Oxford English The Dictionary., Second Edition, Vol. XV///. this caricature. publication of 233 1989, Press, p Oxford: Clarendon 7241 have discussed the various tools for sculpture with the sculpture studio technician in he that the the 'taking the unprompted exclaimed cartoon, cartoonist On was LUSAD. seeing 2007 November Conversation, piss!, 190

himself confirms that it is Sunita, and he notes that she is 'betraying in her manner the subjective influence of her long posings for the Madonna and 725 One has to question what she is doing there, and the marked Child. contrast of the beautiful young woman with the ageing, ugly, dwarf-like On is the mantelpiece are examples of what are sculptor very obvious. bronze busts, and only partially obscured by a screen is what probably appears to be a plaster model for Rima, (the central figure of the Hudson Memorial (1926)), while on the opposite side of the room is a large, hidden large tarpaulin, which has been tied with work unidentified under a string around what is probably the neck of the sculpture.

Epstein himself is

shown in profile, standing on a stool, holding a mallet and he is wearing his familiar cap, a striped jacket and checked trousers.

He is made to look very

small in stature and is in fact represented as significantly shorter than his female attendant.

Size here is critical.

Gutwirth explains how, in comedy,

'contrast is a powerful agent of the comic double take', before suggesting that 'the play of size by itself creates something of a visual gag. 726 Randall Harrison points out that 'in the typical humour cartoon, the head accounts for about one-fourth of the total height727 of the human figure [Fig 212]. In Low's drawing, Epstein's body is approximately 3.5 times the size of his head, for Sunita By is 1: the 5. approximately whereas ratio reducing the relative further his diminutive Epstein, Low to size of stature, and gives emphasis head Harrison larger-than-normal 'the that whereas asserts

makes the

728 , it figure in this case simply exaggerates a cartoon seem cute and child-like

, to the the The immaturity. of refers quality work, child-like element sense of be it head-to-body to the itself has or can also sculptors, ratio similar a which The Epstein's curious role and quality as an artist. read as a comment on Sunita, female the the and relatively normal size of attendant, combination of the grotesque distortion of Epstein adds to the joke, but at the same time it towards Perhaps the respect polite she was not of woman. reflects a sense 725See Low (1930), op cit, p 171. A photograph of Epstein with Sunita and her son Enver Weekly. American It in 1930 the in accompanied part of serialisation of was published her life, but it is an especially interesting image as it Dolores's, of story Epstein's model, boy is holding Epstein's family the hand unit; trio a as P206 sitions the 141 p Gutwirth, op cit, 727 61 R, cit, op p Harrison, 728 62 R, p op cit, Harrison, 191

funny enough in her own right, but the normal/abnormal contrast depends on her appearing as a sympathetic, albeit incongruous figure. In addition, an head 'exaggerated size gives play to the facial features and of artist's use an expressions, [ ... ] the cues which usually communicate personality and 729 feelingS, and Low's face of Epstein has a miserable expression, a large dark hair and a shock of curly which sprouts from under his cap and sits nose on his collar. Epstein's sifter is an uncomfortable-looking Father Christmas whose awkward large is in the pose repeated carving, clearly a pastiche or caricature of Night, albeit with quite significant alterations to the design of the original work. The further implication here is that Epstein is unable to capture the likeness of his model, and, except for the basic pose, the sculptured work is unrecognisable; it is certainly not Santa Claus. At the very edge of the right hand-side of the image is an indistinct object, probably intended as an example of one of the many items in Epstein's collection of non-western art, although this is purely my assumption and speculation about what else Low could have illustrated in help The to to the make scene and as order as complete authentic possible. position of the mistletoe, directly above the carving may be read as a sign that the sculptor should be expected to embrace his statue, echoing the lewd suggestiveness of an unnatural relationship with his work, as seen in other Genesis. Grimes's Venus Sykes's take parody of and on caricatures, such as In the scene itself, ostensibly Epstein's domestic environment, there are also undertones

and

suggestions

of the

potential

existence

of a

British

Christian/American Jewish tension, because here we are presented with the Jewish man, apparently celebrating the (British) Christmas tradition in a it is British but the time It is a at same a recognisably scene, slightly odd way. distinctly alien one, because it is not quite right. follows: diary is 'Extract from diary: - "Arrived Santa's note as The content of Mr. Epstein for his "Spirit to long-standing engagement with pose Kept safely. of 729

fellow. (Mem. Shall leave his in 1 doz. Claus"; stocking charming Santa

62 R, p cit, op See Harrison, 192

bottles of cure for mental elephantiasis and 1 tin zambuk)."' Low's choice of text is interesting. Elephantiasis is 'a condition in which a limb becomes 730 grossly enlarged, so the suggestion of mental elephantiasis is that Epstein's brain or intellect is grossly enlarged, although perhaps diseased be a more appropriate description in this case. As for the zambuk, this would is an ointment, variously described as for the treatment of minor wounds, burns, scalds, chapped hands, insect bites and muscular pains, or to help relieve skin irritations, cuts, sores, bruises, strains and sprains, chilblains, insect bites and stings. The significance of this item here is not at all obvious, except that it implies that the sculptor must be suffering from some pain, from which any form of relief would perhaps lighten his mood. According to Low, the cures mentioned in the text 'have reference to the sculptors well-known largeness (as some will have it, swollenness) of conception and the typical 731 his bronzes. In fact, the subject of his 'largeness of rough surfaces of conception' will be explored further in the second example of Low's work, below. Low's interpretation

of the scene is typical parody and caricature.

There are

elements of fact which are blended and distorted for comic effect. The scene implies that Epstein is struggling to present an English home, but the inclusion hasn't he detail large boot indicates that the quite got it or stocking of such as American his that this right and may reflect

upbringing.

According to Low's

foot has fireplace is troubled the cartoonist with 'over the a which own notes, its hints and rumours of the truth behind Iife 9732This remark makes no sense . in isolation, however, in Low's text it follows the citation of a quotation from a Mr James Douglas which reads '[Epstein's] noble bronze reveals the profound behind hints truth the ] It troubles [ life. of and rumours us with mystery of ... life, 733so it is presumably a subtle, sarcastic joke, the meaning of which was but is irretrievable. time the now virtually probably obvious at

730

462 Dictionary, Oxford p op cit, The Concise 731 171 p cit, Low (1930), op 732 171 p cit, Low (1930), op 733 171 p cit, Low (1930), op 193

It is noteworthy that Low actually presents Epstein as the smallest figure in the scene, slightly off-centre with the carving-in-progress dominating the frame, and this piece of sculpture is supported by several other works making The back-drop to the the room. scene presented is a messy, perhaps up malodorous place, in which the highly familiar figure of Santa Claus is mirrored by the unrecognisable figure for which he appears to be modelling. Thus Epstein is visually characterised and caricatured as a crude, incompetent734foreigner, while the addition of the text from Santa's diary Low direct to make reference both to a perceived mental condition and allows to an uncomfortable physical condition. The implication is that, if only these two ailments could be cured, Epstein may indeed be the 'charming fellow' of Santa Claus's diary entry. The fact that Low has created an image of an amalgamated studio and living space is either indicative of the likelihood that he was personally familiar with 18 Hyde Park Gate, (the Epstein's home from 1928), or that he knew it by reputation, which was that it was notoriously full of people, models and work, either completed examples or in those still in progress, and that it was invariably in a state of relative disorder. Photographs of Epstein's studio show 735 and this element of the cartoon work covered with sheets or tarpaulins, his that the the often secretive about sculptor was very reinforces perception by Low be indication that the but it work an read as can also unfinished work, is just too ugly or grotesque to be inflicted on the reader. The fact that the tarpaulin is tied around the neck may also imply that the cartoonist thought the by killed be strangulation. metaphorically work should

It also resembles a

Epstein's that the figure, sculpture was so at worst, view affirming ghost-like frightening. it that was strange On a compositional level, Epstein is framed between his two massive front in latest the looking impotent he of rather stands work, creations, whilst by (probably It the overshadowed male) phantom. with his very small mallet, 7341am dealing with an analysis of Epstein's carving technique in a separate essay 735For example, see Ireland, Geoffrey. Epstein: A Camera Study of the Sculptor at Work. (no 1957, plate page Deutsch, number) seventh Andr6 London: 194

literal he the that incapable observation seems raises of 'standing up' to his Epstein Furthermore, and the sifter, Santa, balance each other in own work. the scene, with each one assuming a rather ridiculous position, either in pose or stature. The inclusion of the model for the Hudson Memorial figure (Rima) is a useful device to remind the viewer

about the previous

occupied the nation's consciousness such a recognisable

press furore, which had

some four years previously.

figure, with her upturned

Rima is

nose, long flowing hair and

pinched waist, that she acts as a reminder to the readership,

(if one were

needed), that this is the same Mr Epstein, and that his new work is equally grotesque.

The model for Rima has been adapted by Low and is largely the

product of his imagination.

He has altered the position of her arms and has

included details of the legs, which are absent from the finished work.

(There

is no existing evidence that Epstein prepared any kind of working model for the Hudson Memorial carving, so Low's inclusion of the figure could imply that there had been one in Epstein's studio. ) The standing pose of the clay or is legs knee one raised, acts as plaster model, which nude with apart and with a counterpoint

to the female attendant, who is fully clothed and is stood with

knees together.

Again the suggestion could be drawn that, in fact, the only

female who is open to Epstein's perceived charms is the work he has had to create. [cf the Grimes and Venus cartoons]. instantly noticeable sanitised.

that Low's depiction

As already discussed,

form a significant

focus, whereas

On a point of specific detail, it is

breasts is the suitably model's of

in Epstein's finished work, the large nipples Low's omission

is indicative of a widely

too the of anything printing or reproduction about

acknowledged

nervousness

representative

bodily detai 1.736 intimate of

The closely observed detail of the bronzes on the mantelpiece [Fig 213] from be left familiar identified, this they Low can indicates that with work was 736It should be noted, however, that this was not always the case, as seen in an example by British Laura Knight (1877the a nude woman painter of painting a where Low represents intimate detail her breasts, because include here to more on perhaps is 1970), which allowed to of a painting, and paintings are subject a version more relaxed Low is merely reproducing female the in the nude? of case standards, especially 195

to right, as the First Portrait of Mrs Epstein (1912) [Fig 214], in the middle, a babe's head and the third reminds me of the Second Portrait of Kathleen [Garman] (1922) [Fig 215]. This element of the drawing could be read as a barb Epstein's love life, with representations of the subtle nature of at very both his wife and his mistress included in a domestic scene, which also presents us with the pretty young woman in close attendance. The detail may historical the suggest a perpetuation of stereotypical view that 'it was [ also

... believed Jews found that the means to undermine the fabric of commonly English society by taking innocent Christian women as their mistresses and thus seducing them to their faith. 1737 Ultimately, what Low portrays in this caricature is the necessarily rather Father Christmas for situation of posing preposterous a ridiculous sculpture, apparently being carved by Epstein with ridiculous and inadequate tools. Santa's pose, with his arm over the head is purely Low's invention, Night, held belief Epstein's that the original work, was emphasising widely Headquarters London Underground its the to new entirely alien site on building in London.

Nevertheless, at the same time the caricature is a very

in the of artist at work characterisation closely observed, albeit exaggerated his home. Thus it serves as an interesting historical document or a snapshot it time, that Epstein's such as an and as particular situation at amalgam of important piece of evidence in the Epstein story.

It gives a great deal of

information about the sculptor, about his home, about his female companions Standard Evening The in it fact The that his was published and about work. London by been have it that a wide seen and enjoyed means would image familiar the been have name and with already readership, which would In the f,inal analysis, there is a

London his Jacob Epstein carvings. and of

drawing, detail in this information my perhaps and and of great amount intimate been has interpretation of an possible as a result only analysis and in the domestic his Epstein not circumstances, which was knowledge of and Low time the working. was domain at public valuable 737

historical

record,

re-enforcing

Nevertheless, the drawing is a

and

complementing

the

press

118 p cit, See Felsenstein, op 196

to the the adding popular image of the sculptor in whilst period, comment of terms which could not be written down so explicitly in the reports or gossip of the newspaper columns. A second caricature of Low's, dating from 1931 [Fig 216], concentrates of the two figures of Epstein and Albert Einstein, some two years before Epstein his head. to The drawing presents us the scientist model portrait actually met leaning Epstein posed on an enormous barrel containing the with a casually heavily criticised sculpture Genesis (1929-30), whereas the opposite half of the frame depicts a more upright Einstein, with his back to two large telescopes and with a small box on his left hand. Low's caption reads 'The difference is that he [Einstein] offers his in a closed box [original emphasis retained], Pand there is a small arrow pointing to Einstein, confirming exactly to whom he is referring.

Although this is a much less complex and cluttered

Santa Claus, The Adventures in there are still many elements of than of scene interest which comment directly on Epstein's press and public profile. The statue of Genesis is all but hidden by the wooden barrel, but Low has her figure's faithful likeness the plaited profile and of of captured a relatively hair. Even if the work were unrecognisable, the inclusion of the large label on the side of the barrel identifies the work and the author and, significantly, Low has inscribed the name of the work in text that is several times larger than the in heavy large this The the sculpture and extremely placing of name of artist. the hide does to but it barrel is soof all serve quite ridiculous, an old wooden is The location the body. figure's detailing the scene of of called offensive be in to it is because an observatory and clearly supposed also noteworthy the sculpture must have had to have been transported here; a task which is the difficult both been one have scene resulting and and expensive, would Epstein's belief held that the many of widely of total incongruity, echoing barrel is The the their ill-suited to environment. of choice carved works were large it implications bringing of either a quantity with in itself also noteworthy, barrels that a with recognition coupled old are often spirit, beer, or wine of In both transporting there waste materials. cases, are and for collecting used form this associated with smells of storage. strong of connotations

The 197

inclusion of the 'use no hooks' label suggests that handlers need to be told that this particular barrel contains something other than waste, and this is a further indication that Genesis was not readily recognised as a work of art. The label provides the assertion that, even if it was thought to be a poor piece be disposed it should not sculpture, yet of or destroyed. of The way Low has defined Epstein's posture in this drawing is very reminiscent of many photographs of the sculptor; he is often portrayed in direct contact his creations, an action which inevitably asserts a sense of ownership with [See Figs 46,47 and pride

& 54].

In this case, however, he is actually

from direct contact with the work, so contact with the barrel seems prevented like a rather defensive, futile or desperate act of a man who is intimidated by the man opposite him. Both the barrel and the size of the sculpture itself also hugely overshadow him. His pose is so casual that it signifies a certain sense but it leaves him looking off balance and unable to move of arrogance, forward. His right elbow points to the work, whereas Einstein's hand gesture simply draws attention to the small box he is holding.

Epstein's legs are

crossed and his weight is towards the work, implying that he is fixed, static Einstein, in contrast is upright and his right foot

and stuck in the past.

indicates that he is balanced, mobile and ready to make progress. Epstein is buttons his long baggy detail to the and coat with given pockets and wearing a The his is the top to of chest. open and sagging pockets appear shirt opened to indicate that this is an old and well-worn garment, echoing stereotypical deal believed in to how Jews old clothes, where were associations of 'typically, the dealer's clothing is ragged and patched. j738 In contrast, Einstein featureless dark tie be to coat, and a neat, yet appears wearing a collar and although

his

exaggeration

hair

characteristically

wild,

conforming

caricature

feature, the recognisable and pre-empting most man's of

Epstein's interpretation of the subject in 1933.

Einstein is drawn as being

the the two than taller and, although sculptor men occupy a similar marginally does form he focus In the terms the the of territory page, work. on amount of is that in drawing directs the the everything reading one of composition, 738

78 p cit, op See Felsenstein, 198

to the than the rather scientist, artist. The two telescopes are the most viewer obvious manifestation of this point, directed as they are at Einstein, but Genesis's gaze also appears to be towards him, over her creators head, and the line of Epstein's left elbow is angled towards the scientist. Finally, the curve of the railings leads the eye to the scientist and then stops abruptly at a solid block, before reaching the sculptor. The close attention to detail in the Einstein's is telescopes in marked contrast to the much more of rendition sketchy style applied to the head of Genesis and to her barrel. An alternative is that the two men are treated equally, each occupying half of the reading image, each presenting their ideas in a container, with black versus white and art versus science, but neither being comprehensible.

Probably the most

telling aspect is Epstein's apparent air of confidence and superiority. Low has added some text within the image, which reads as follows: Cable News Professor Einstein has astonished the world once more by producing a new conception of the universe. He said that "no matter what equation is used, space could never be anything similar to the old symmetrical spherical theory. " He offered his new conception "as a closed box. it In addition, the text in the caption, written under the cartoon, appears to favour Einstein, and also alludes to the fact that Epstein had also 'astonished the world once more by producing a new conception, ' but the implication is that he was not modest enough to keep it completely under wraps. In fact, it is so large and ugly that it is not possible to keep it entirely out of sight, is far Einstein's safely contained within a conception modest more whereas included the is Epstein's box. Furthermore, picture, within wholly work small albeit largely covered

by the barrel, whereas

the significance of the

telescopes pointing out of the frame towards the stars, indicates that Einstein's work is much more mysterious, or intellectual, and that as such, it frame, drawing. the indeed the the of be or realms, cannot contained within Perhaps Low is also suggesting that Epstein, as a mere sculptor, would not Einstein is to intellectual understand what working on, capacity have had the be The to the the also of applied readership could same and presumably, Evening Standard.

199

The pairing of Epstein and Einstein is a very interesting device, because the drawing predates their first meeting by some two years, and it could be argued that the two men have nothing in common, except for the similarity of their names and their shared eastern European Jewish heritage. As already discussed, it was not uncommon for the names of Einstein and Epstein to be confused, so it is conceivable that the inspiration for Low's joke is a continuation of the perception that all Steins are fair game for parody. The Stein, suffix, name also appears in further drawings by Low, most notably in his 1933 cartoon Budget Gods [Fig 217], which is the next example to be addressed. Budget Gods is a closely observed parody of The Sun God and Primeval Gods, carved by Epstein between 1910 and 1933 [Fig 218].

On the left-hand

side of the drawing Low parodies The Sun God by retaining the exact posture of the original as well as the highly distinctive mane of hair blending in to the stone, but in this case, instead of a finely muscled, naked young man with prominent genitalia, Low presents us with a very fat man whose genitals have been hidden by a crude skirt, reminiscent of those worn by African tribesmen. On the right-hand side of the cartoon, Low concentrates on the reverse side of the stone block and has depicted a relatively faithful rendition of Primeval Gods, albeit with some significant adjustments, either for comic effect, or for reasons of prudery and modesty. The figure of Neville Chamberlain appears in both halves of the cartoon, but the journalist

or reporter

left hand be the side. seen on may only

Unfortunately, Low did not include any text on the journalist's notepad. Chamberlain is wearing what appears to be a slightly ill-fitting check overcoat long, had too the trousers darker are although cut which on right check and image the trousers are a plain dark colour. He appears to be unshaven and his hair is dishevelled, whereas the journalist looks to be very neatly dressed light trousers hat. top dark coloured plain and a overcoat, in his simple,

200

As with the two previous examples, Low has again included an important element of text to reinforce his parody. This example reads as follows:

Mr Chumpstein's Latest. The Famous Sculptor Interviewed. "The front part was done before the War", said Mr Neville Chumpstein patting his 700,000,000 lb masterpiece. "I call it Sunny Boy! The back is, of course more recent, but I have the whole nicely balanced, I think." "Has it any meaning?" asked our representative. "No" answered Mr Chumpstein. "it is just art." "What is it for?" "I thought it might make a pretty good tombstone.)9 The first obvious point of interest is the invention of the name Chumpstein, combining the derogatory term chump, an informal term for a foolish person, with the foreign name suffix Stein.

The inclusion of the forename Neville,

makes it clear that Low's joint target was Neville Chamberlain, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer.

In an earlier work, Low had already targeted

David Lloyd George and Epstein, this time with the addition of a plaque in his drawing with the caption 'Sculpture by LL Georgstein, ' [Fig 219] so it is very likely that the addition of the word Stein was a recognised symbol of fun or abuse. Low has also included several items of embedded text alluding to the Chancellor's budget ideas. The Sun God holds labels reading 'Economy' and 'Low Prices' whilst across his belly are the words "'Sound" Finance (for Rentiers and Interest Snatchers). j On close analysis, it is apparent that the six pieces of cloth or paper that make the figure's skirt are El notes. On the Sinking Fund' ' Fund' Hump, 'Drinking 'Industrial the and other side, words appear on the bodies of the three figures. Comments on various elements of Low's drawing are necessary to explain the has detail how Firstly, the the the of work art. cartoonist's subtler points of been elevated above the ground on blocks of timber indicates that Low was familiar with how the work was displayed, but his representation of the is inaccurate, impression that to the the block the stone adding of thickness of fact, indelicate. In Epstein Primeval heavy carved and after work is extremely Sun God, final The the block thickness the of of the was Gods on reverse [Fig 220]. ten than centimetres to more not reduced 201

Even though this is a male figure, the stylised detail Epstein gave to the has not been included by Low, echoing the cartoonist's familiar nipples representation of his most well known character, Colonel Blimp [Fig 221], who is always bare-chested and dressed only in a bath towel. Epstein's original Sun God has the face of a young man bearing a slightly enigmatic expression, whereas Low's version is sporting a very wide, perhaps gormless, grin. In the text, the name given to the carving by Chumpstein is Sunny Boy, which is a bastardisation of the informal familiar form of address to a young boy (sonny boy) and, in this context, implies a rather patronising judgement on Epstein's undoubted serious concept of the work. At the same time it infers that this bizarre work is the bastard child of the sculptor himself, and that he has sired an enormous, simple child. The dominant figure of the parody of Primeval Gods is an almost entirely faithful copy of Epstein's original, except for the omission of the figure's genitals.

On the original work, the central figure is usually interpreted as a

being figure, delivered into by the the third child male world who, laying back her legs birth. Low has the with apart, represents mother giving retained the pose of the male child, but he has added two tankards of beer to the child's upraised arms and has added a somewhat gormless expression to his face, figure's by inclusion the is the of protruding which made even more comical 739 As with the father figure, Low has again removed all details of the tongue . boy's genitals. The mother's posture is also true to Epstein's carving, but form in facial details, the this time Low has of a rather sad added once more expression.

As with the two male figures, Low has removed all information

dealing with the figure's sex by ignoring the detail of the vulva, which is quite Inclusion budget details in the the in the sculpture. of original obvious finance direct 'interest to the text, references and snatchers' and embedded Jewish the their community and associated with are notions commonly

739The beer reference can be attributed to the fact that in the budget Chamberlain had See both being 'Penny-off-the-Pint Budget. beer and cheaper stronger. details of announced th The Daily Mirror, in Quality' 26 April, 1933, Better p1 Cut and Beer Duty 202

stereotypical association with money lending, so even though Epstein himself is absent from the scene, Low reminds us of the sculptors Jewish heritage. In the central block of text, the inclusion of the ludicrously exaggerated weight for the sculpture is a rather clever play on words. Low has chosen to use the weight unit pound (lb) rather than ton, which is more commonly used to indicate the weight of a sculpture of this size. When the words seven hundred million pounds are spoken, they could easily be mistaken for the price or value of the work in pounds Sterling. Either way, the massive exaggeration of either weight or value comes across as an extremely sarcastic form of criticism. Being so far away from a credible figure leaves the reader in no doubt that the 'editor' has nothing but contempt both for Chamberlain and for Epstein's work. The other language employed by Low is amusing. His use of the phrase 'the front part' is surely a cheeky double entendre for that detail which he cannot show. This continues with the admission that 'the back is [ ] more recent, but I have the whole nicely balanced. ' Again, the use of the ... word whole, easily mistaken for the word hole in spoken English, suggests to me a subtle joke about the figure's bottom. In other words, this can be read as the back end of The Sun God, where the more recent carving of the Primeval Gods takes the place of where one would have expected to find the original figure's bottom. The figure of Chamberlain is shown with his hand on the work, exactly as Epstein has been photographed on so many occasions. This is indicative of the fact that for Low, the figures of Epstein and Chamberlain

were

interchangeable and that he was poking fun at the two men simultaneously, Einstein the cartoon, there had been no direct connection although, as with 740

between the two men.

740There is no evidence that Chamberlain and Epstein had any personal dealings, although, Winston Churchill in House the Commons of Chamberlain a contemporary was of of course, Prime Minister, Chamberlain, tried to Nazis it as the to who appease was ironically, prior and, War Word the Second 203

The inclusion of the question about the meaning of the work, to which Chumpstein replies "it is just art, 19is recognition of Epstein's own well 741 itself. documented declaration that his work speaks for

It is difficult to assess accurately what Low's message was intended to be in this cartoon. In spite of all of the budget details and the inclusion of two views Chamberlain/Chumpstein, Mr his closest attention is to the sculptures and of to the text, which is predominantly about the art, rather than the budget. In view of the evidence from the news film, referred to below, it could be argued that this cartoon is actually a direct parody of the launch of the new work, and of the way that it was reported both in print and on the film itself, although the film only shows the side on which Primeval Gods is carved. If this is the case, the inclusion of the journalist figure is also a highly pertinent detail. In spite of the comic potential of these two pieces of sculpture, I have been unable to identify any other artists who published drawings mocking either the Sun God or Primeval Gods. There is, however, one drawing in the Henry Moore Institute archive [Fig 222] which uses the figures of Primeval Gods in a Parthenon Frieze. The the complex parody of work is undated and there is no indication that it was ever published. The artist was Edward Tennyson Reed (1860-1933), who 6was a well known political cartoonist who worked for Punch 742 here It Sketch Bystander. is included the to the and and also contributed devote to to mocking time indication the artists were prepared as another of Epstein and his work. 3.10 Verse In addition to the visual lampooning, there are a number of examples of Epstein being mocked in verse, and while these don't have the same impact 741 Furthermore, the comment which acknowledges that it 'might make a pretty good tombstone' appears to be a direct reference to an interview with Epstein, filmed by British Paramount News in 1933, at the opening of the exhibition at which Primeval Gods was first Epstein: "some to think interviewer that things the film, says people you carve On the shown. Epstein " be to "well, kerbstones, that them which replies: would putting and out of tombstones from British Paramount News film Transcribed " it? a excerpt, which to good use, wouldn't Rebel Angel documentary television the in was broadcast 742See Worsley, Victoria. Guide to the Henry Moore Institute Archive. Leeds: The Henry 33 2005, p Moore Institute, 204

do further the they caricatures, still provide as useful evidence of Epstein's public profile and reputation. As with the cartoons, he must be recognisable for the joke to be successful and relevant. Evelyn Silber has acknowledged that Epstein became a household name, the butt of music-hall jokes, limericks and cartoons. For a large proportion of the British Public he behaviour was The Modern Sculptor incarnate - Bohemian in dress and 743 beauty. flouting conventional standards of morality and and In at least two examples dating from 1926 and 1928, illustrated below, both cartoon and rhyme appeared in support of each other.

The first is from a

744 drawings by individual himself collection of and verse an signing as Tell : A Carver. Mr Jacob Epstein (1926) He carves in stone, and more's the pity For stone is obstinate and gritty Oh how I wish he were a cutter In liquorice or lard or butter So that posterity might miss His primitive absurditieS745 A reproduction

of the caricature

[see Fig 200] that accompanied

this verse

in The Daily Mirror, with the comment that it 'appears in a 746 In spite of the wide range of other figures remarkable collection of satires.

was printed

included in the collection, once more it is indicative of Epstein's profile at the time that it was this example that was chosen for the newspaper, rather than 747 any of the others.

The second example comes in a book of poems by Reginald Arkell, with a 748 caricature of Epstein by Bert Thomas accompanying the verse. Art for Marts Sake (1928) The Maker looked upon His work 743

Silber (1986), op cit, P9

744Tell. A Rude Book. London: Cecil Palmer, 1926. (In the copy of the book held at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, there is a copy press cutting claiming that the identity of the little information is Buhrer, additional Albert although given) author was 745 Tell, ibid, p 16 th Mirror, September 1926, p5 Daily 14 746'Epstein and Rima. ' The 747These include: Max Beerbohm, Hilaire Belloc, GK Chesterton, Winston Churchill and Augustus John 748See Arkell, Reginald. Meet These People. London: Herbert Jenkins Ltd, 1928, p 66. It book includes the known that the Hilaire work be on anti-Semites, recorded also should Mosley Oswald Belloc, GK Chesterton and

205

And found that it was good He also found it beautiful Or so I've understood In fact the world was going strong Till Jacob Epstein came along Now, Beauty is a bourgeois thing And Joy and empty creed To sit and watch the setting sun Is very wrong indeed How God must hide His head in shame At sound of Jacob Epstein's name! There is a field in Gloucestershire Where grass is growing green The buttercups and daisies there Are fit to grace a queen But Epstein wouldn't see beyond The bull-frog croaking in the pond There is a spot beneath the Down Wherein, by God's good grace The happy and contented find Their final resting-place There is a splendid gargoyle, too Just like the Rima Epstein drew Though Ugliness should be the theme Of every poet's song Though Epstein may be in the right And prove his Maker wrong -

I'm glad he didn't interfere 749 When God first fashioned Gloucestershire

Bearing in mind that this was written at the time that Day and Night were building, London Underground Headquarters the the to the unveiled world on God, Maker, it taking to the that a emphasise or was repeated references Christian perspective on a pair of inherently un-Christian looking figures.

the accompanying drawing [see Fig 191], Epstein is again depicted in an from heavy looking his inevitable out under eyebrows, with unflattering pose, time this clutching a glass of wine. prominent nose,

That the 'poet' should

have invested so much energy in creating five verses designed only to ridicule

749

66-67 ibid, pp Arkell, See 206

the sculptor is indicative of the strength of feeling Epstein and his work aroused. Whereas the two examples above appeared in published volumes, it is interesting to note that other rhymes appeared in the daily newspapers. Not The Daily Mirror employing a cartoonist, but also a poet (or perhaps only was be better term a versifier) to comment on topical matters. Under the would a following Merry Andrew, the examples appeared in 1929 and 1931. moniker A Rhyme of the Day - Night-Thoughts and Day-Dreams Parents who wished their children to rebuke In olden days would scare them with a spook Our fathers would adopt the simple plan Of making us "beware the bogey-man! " And now if we our children must affright We've only got to show them Epstein's "Night" Some parents much prefer the quicker way Of shocking them with glimpses of his "Day" 'Tis strange that Epstein, as himself must own Can (Imake Night hideous" in silent stone And, dreaming in the grim archaic way Produce a nightmare from the glorious Day One fitting aspect of the case is found To view them both - you must go underground Indeed, when once you've viewed this Day and Night You'll rush below - for artificial lights Ah, Love, could thou and I with Fate conspire To grasp this sorry group of freaks entire Would not we shatter it to bits and then 750 Remould it nearer to our Art's desire? (extract) in Funniness Fashions Day the Rhyme A of But we who find such hoary humour cheap'll Discover fresher forms of fun - to wit Young People Bright the Epstein freaks and The of 7,1 it! Who ask for Ep-Stein Song! The Day the The Rhyme of nd jUjy

1929, 2 Mirror, Daily The p7 Merry. Andrew, th jUjy 751 1929, 13 Mirror, Daily The p9 Merry. Andrew, 750

207

(Readers are requested not to write and point out that have confused Epstein and Einstein) Now Epstein, my son, is well known to the smartest Of folk as the great mathematical artist And, though quite a few find it hard to forgive it, he Invented a theory about Relativity Called Art for the Artless. Its principal menace is A flat contradiction of all that's in Genesis! Each day more emphatic and primitive he grows To prove you and I are related to Negroes He goes forth demented, turns Day into Night And drives us all Underground, filled with affright! This theory of his has no Rima or Reason For souls who are simple and travel by Season Tho' learned astronomers, clever as Jeans And playwrights like GIBSknow what it means To add to his crimes and to finish my fine song 752 I feel quite convinced that he's written the Stein Song There is even an example of a reader submitting a rhyme to the letters pages of The Daily Mirror. The following is from a cricketer, simply signing himself as D, at the height of the furore surrounding the Hudson Memorial in 1925: Fair Maid, why hide your charms in Hudson's thicket? Your place should be at Lord's in some Test match For you've no legs with which to guard your wicket And hands like yours could never miss a catch 753 The renowned satirical magazine Punch featured many cartoons in its pages over the years, and Epstein did not escape its wit, of course. In addition to the images, at least one limerick was printed, again at the height of the Hudson Memorial rumpus: There once was a sculptor of mark Who was chosen to brighten Hyde Park Some thought this design Most uncommonly fine 754 But most liked it best in the dark Yet another example delights in an association between the two Steins, Ep linking Punch 'Einstein, iconoclast the time this Ein, with of science, with and traditional iconoclast the of Epstein, values in sculpture': Jacob th

February Mirror, 6 1931, Daily The Merry. p7 Andrew, oth 753 Mirror, Daily The 1 October ' 1925, Memorial. Hudson p5 D. 'The 754From Punch, 3rdJune 1925, p 595, cited in 'Epstein Lampooned.' Silber and Friedman, op Friedman, p6 cit, op 75 and cit, p 752

208

Einstein and Epstein are wonderful men, Bringing new miracles into our ken. Einstein upset the Newtonian rule; Epstein demolished the Pheidian School. Einstein gave fits to the Royal Society; Epstein delighted in loud notoriety. Einstein made parallels meet in infinity; Epstein remodelled the form of Divinity.755 Another lengthy poem was printed in Punch: When round the bird's sequestered shrine Hot controversies fume and sizzle, And writers of the press consign To Hades EPSTEIN and his chisel; When they revive the former feuds About the Agar Street abortions, Which some acclaimed as perfect nudes And some as decadent distortions; They miss the point; all this to-do Is merely waste of good invective, And EPSETIN'S work, though strange and new, Is for its purpose most effective Its motive, in so many words, Is less to add to Art Undying Than to preserve the spot for birds And scare us human Pauls from prying. 756 Finally, this short verse was reproduced in the major Epstein retrospective

catalogue: EPSTEIN Tons of Gods is his line Raises tumults and dusts bUStS757 Then does glorious Throughout these examples, there are a number of words which reinforce the Epstein had These to include: endure. rebuke, associations many negative (twice), hideous, freaks bogey-man, shocking, affright grim, nightmare, spook, 755See Sontag, Raymond James. A Broken World 1919-1939. New York and London: in 182-3, 'Epstein Lampooned.' Silber and Friedman, 1972, also cited pp Harper Torchbooks, Punch is in the detail (No reference given either of publication) 73. p op cit, 76 Printed in Punch, 3rdJune 1925. Quoted in Friedman (Hyde Park), op cit, p 41 757See Gordon, Jan and HM Bateman. Art Ain't All Paint. London: Feature Books, 1944, p Silber ' Person. Friedman, in 'Epstein 75 Silber, and in op cit, p 62, also cited 209

(twice), menace, primitive, demented, dark, demolished, notoriety, and tumults. Very little, if anything, of a positive nature is included to soften the it is that the born clear rhymes so were attacks, of the spite, fear and found favour have that easily would among the various readerships. prejudice Essentially, the verses serve as a form of textual caricature, dwelling on the in this sense they serve as an additional body of evidence of and negative, bias and prejudice. widespread and relatively sophisticated

210

Conclusion Having set out to understand how artists in general, and Epstein in particular, could have been helped or hindered by the attention of the newspapers in the first half of the twentieth century, there is now no doubt that an unusually large amount of press text and images accompanied Epstein's career through this most accessible arm of the media. There is also no doubt that circumstances beyond his control (i. e. his race, religion, nationality) conspired to encourage a less than sympathetic press interest, particularly in the earlier period of his life in England, but it is now also clear that many of his own actions and decisions be could viewed as having been deliberate attempts to maintain a high public Whether Epstein's decisions and actions could or should be seen as profile. legitimate, or else as a series of, arguably crass, attempts to create a succession of succ6ses de scandale with little to do with fine art, is a large element of what makes Epstein's case so interesting, and there are so many elements which can be recognised in today's so-called celebrity culture. Indeed, in spite of all of the ridicule, spite, prudery and bias, the fact that he eventually had the honour of a Knighthood bestowed upon him, is a clear indication of how he gradually shifted towards mainstream acceptability. Most of the existing studies of the sculptor prefer to concentrate on the negative aspects of the way he was portrayed, and this is perfectly understandable in It is they tenor the the coverage on rely. view of of so much of press which balanced helps to however, that shed a more additional evidence now clear, light on the artist, the work and the events for which he is usually remembered. In the final analysis, it has been the pictorial evidence that has been most firstly, the two in ways; published photographs are contrasting revealing invariably inadequate, ignoring, avoiding and hiding the critical detail, which has in turn gone unnoticed and/or unremarked, as a consequence of which a Epstein's has been work of not previously achieved; balanced appraisal the have surprising number of cartoons uncovered conversely, secondly, and here to primary of evidence, source presented a as serve as been invaluable 211

tangible proof of the bias and prejudice often only suggested or hinted at in the more commonly acknowledged text. Now, there is absolutely no doubt that the pervasive role of the press is an integral part of Epstein's history, and without its constant attention Epstein have been his lifetime, in not such a success would nor such a figure of his death. While this same hypothesis could be equally true of curiosity since many other artists, in this particular case the sculptor and the newspapers are inextricably linked in a unique way. This thesis has been designed to attempt to explain this exceptional artist/press relationship, and to establish why it was that Epstein was such 'good copy' for so long. He was certainly newsworthy factors, immutable and the subjects of modern art, on account of a series of modern sculpture, race, religion, primitive art, sex and nudity, were all aspects life It is his to readers alike. also true that the editors and which appealed of geographical

location

historical and

period of his career were major

his factors to the of newsworthiness. scale contributory Surely, few art historians would now agree with Richard Buckle's assertion that Epstein was 'the greatest sculptor of modern times, P758but it is certain that during his lifetime he was one of the most well-known thanks to his constant presence in the newspapers.

British artists,

I have shown that, in the

he first half twentieth the Britain in the was newsworthy, century, of context of both as an individual and an artist, and I have also concluded that he was particularly adept at maintaining England.

a press profile throughout

his long career in

If he 'took the brickbats, ' as Henry Moore was so keen to assert,

then that was one of his primary achievements

in terms of modern sculpture,

but he was also one of the first to fully exploit the publicity opportunities first became the Press. He celebrity of one by popular emerging an offered from handful the of successful a British artists of modern era, and, aside how build demonstrated to legacy is he Epstein's that groundbreaking works, and develop

a reputation,

not just with the help of critics and writers, but

758This is a line cited by David Irwin in his review of Buckle's 1963 book about Epstein. See Sculptor Epstein by Richard Buckle. ' Burlington, No. 738, Jacob Review. Irwin, David. 'Book 431 1964, p vol. cvi, September 212

through the attentions of so many journalists and other artists in the guise of

cartoonists. The structure of the argument, and the disparate key topics featured in this been have for their chosen with an carefully overriding all consideration study, Crucially, the in to the be subject of press. relation each element can place linked directly with the newspapers, either to explain their interest or to illustrate their means of communication to the masses. The focus on the question of race was aimed at gathering together sufficient large, that the the to and show newspapers, public at were evidence fact Epstein Jewish, in ignore the that to and addition was collectively unable to his race and religion, there was also the question of his nationality to Of these bias. it their only course, was not negative predominantly explain factors that prompted so much press attention, but at the heart of their initial interest in Epstein was the fact that he was in England, overtly challenging British standards of art, sculpture and decency. In addition to his alien background, the most significant factor in Epstein's firmly he in his the is in terms situated entirely was never canon; of place story As both field in a carver and a modeller, or another. either one as a sculptor he was positively and exclusively neither of these at the most advantageous his for As him. personal status as an mirroring a result, effectively moments between forever he Briton, American/Jew/immigrant/naturalised wavering was the inside and the outside, and this undeniably had an influence on the press for time, he a was avant-garde coverage. As a pioneer of modern sculpture, is he for his now and he but ultimately portrait modelling was most successful controversy. largely of press many episodes of so a result as remembered in the his for place and uncertain One reason curious, ambiguous status historical timing the by the years most productive of be explained canon can that Curtis's this Penelope explains analysis of situation of his career. in to than one sculpture way make modern more there was whereas by 1930, there Britain, in c. really only one way America, was Europe or to to be To was carve, and carve abstracted modern being modern. of figure. dependant human Henry the but from on not forms derived 213

Moore's dominance of post-war British sculpture has mean that history emphasizes early-twentieth century carvers at the cost of the 759 modellers.

Extrapolating this argument to apply specifically to Epstein, it is true that, he he directly in carved stone, although eschewed the abstract, while in the half his he of other studio relied on modelling the rich and the famous in order to make a living. According to Curtis's hypothesis, therefore, by the 1930s Epstein could not be categorised as modern. Furthermore, Curtis writes of the 'tradition of carving' and the notion of 'truth to materialsy both of which she , argues are 'concepts [which] are still invariably attached to the idea of 760 'British' 'modernist,,. Again, by something especially and essentially following this line of reasoning, it could be argued that Epstein is largely, and ostensibly, excluded from the accepted modernist canon, by virtue of the fact that his Britishness was adopted and therefore, inauthentic. A final telling factor in Curtis's essay is that 'to understand the narrower art-historical definition of direct carving we need to recognize its inherently self-limiting (and 761 definition, by kind class-ridden) as carving one of artist rather than another. As an outsider who came in to the British art world, Epstein was inevitably disadvantaged by such considerations, and the point is that, thanks to the found images in the newspapers, tenor the of words and sustained negative his original, foreign identity was never forgotten. The identification and, more importantly, naming of the specifically the how the Epstein's in details of newspapers shows now work controversial images. in their do in text their the to nor neither same, period were unable Whereas it is true that Epstein is widely accepted to have been the recipient 759Curtis (Modern British Sculpture), op cit, p 291. Later, Curtis qualifies the date, explaining that the turning point from European 'modern' to British 'modern' was 'around 1930, after ' is British, the is the the carved. modern, and modern and modern Moore represents which lbid, p 295. Note that in 1930, Epstein was already fifty years old. It is worth mentioning that differentiating between Gill the two that Eric was modes of sculpture, writing 1917, as early as 'model' his is that the to and assume shapes word a sculptor one who 'I oppose the word cut' See ' Gill, Eric. by Essay (1918)[sic]' in 'Sculpture: pressing. an not by cutting and material Potts [Eds]. Modem Sculpture Andrew Reader. Leeds: Henry Hulks and David Wood, Jon, 56 2007, p Moore Institute,

760Curtis (Modern British Sculpture), op cit, p 292. She goes on to qualify this by stating that (1a direct 'taille directe) but in Britain did it to only carved come also (artists in other countries lbid ' be to modern. the way be equated with 761

lbid, pp 292-3

214

little has level been done to attention, of press an unprecedented examine of his life The it that and work so newsworthy. made exactly was existing what history lacks the kind of analysis and attention to detail that allows the reader to reach a balanced conclusion about the way the sculptor has been treated in during the his lifetime, but popular press particularly portrayed, and also in the history written in the years since his death. This relatively orthodox history, to the allied a more pragmatic view of the of existing examination largely ignored physical evidence has found and understood the actual source Epstein's life and work. This the controversy which accompanied much of of has been as simple as a close inspection of the detail of many of his sculptures, through to the more painstaking archival research during which an examination and interrogation of items of unpublished writing has revealed new aspects of Epstein's personal ideas and opinions. The result has been the addition of critical information to the history of this sculptor, the correction identification the in of certain and previously published work of some errors detailing to the to the aid above as puncturn critical areas of - referred understanding and interpretation of the more contentious works. The most unexpected and most revealing body of evidence to have come to light is in the form of cartoons and caricatures, and in particular, the apparent Low. David he enjoyed with symbiotic relationship primary evidence of the particularly

More significantly, it is

unusual nature of the artist/press

drawings, the items Thus, the particularly of pictorial evidence, relationship. have proved to be a unique source of historical data, particularly for the cultural historian,

but here as invaluable art history data.

The really

interesting part of this discovery is that, since most of the examples have been found in the pages of newspapers, it is evidence that has been routinely When to the allied a credible resource. archived and yet overlooked as books, the in and normally quoted essays reports newspaper reviews and interpretation the of widely and a new understanding allows pictorial evidence It to time. the the the beliefs most also points one of way of held views and further has been there research, a of as only interesting potential avenues field in the it of cartoon analysis as relates completed limited amount of work in in The the and sculpture general particular. use of arts of to the portrayal 215

the pictorial information, especially that found in the topical cartoons, introduces a new dimension to the way newspapers may be employed to provide valuable archival evidence, particularly where words themselves but Epstein's this, it indicates that other proves case also prove problematic. historians could exploit this form of resource as an additional means of historical research.

Surely, a concentrated trawl through the newspaper

forgotten pictorial evidence. archives would now uncover a vast amount of Overall, this research has analysed, challenged and updated the extensive Epstein, flawed Jacob by his history his of questioning relevance and existing, bringing It has in to the the new evidence subject. canon and reviewed place the existing history, combined with a look at contemporary evidence, from formulate Epstein's has been to it story. possible a unique view of which Undoubtedly, the existing texts do not present a sufficiently balanced account became Epstein how simultaneously successful and notorious. and why of A final point to stress and to place on record is that one of the most positive that the has been the by-products this recognition of research outcomes and New Art Gallery in Walsall, now home to a collection of Epstein's own work, (as well as a number of pieces of art from his personal collection), is a This the takes evidence. primary valuable, yet under-utilised source of crucial form of the sculptor's handwritten manuscript and letters, the details of which did thought. into the hitherto largely and man what untapped glimpse gives a Ultimately, Epstein's case illustrates the very nature of the art business, where high-profile feed reputation, a and another, off one scandal success and from those business to bad, however good, or and commissions attract serves his Some fashion. latest the themselves may art of with to associate wishing in terms technical aesthetic and merit762 of good been have particularly not far 'good editors as newspaper copy' as his usually was but story values, Epstein's of many experience encouraged undoubtedly and were concerned, far his As develop their to him as own publicity strategy. those who followed

7621am

his limited technique of as a carver analysis closer a on now working 216

legacy and place in canon is concerned, Epstein surely does hold a significant history, least British because in in 20th to the art not addition place -century his experience also reveals so much about the subject of modern sculpture, first Britain during half in the This the climate of century. cultural all and social helps to illustrate, if not explain adequately, some of the characteristics of the British press, British society, and the fickle nature of the fine art business.

217

Images

218

Fig 1: Jacob Epstein (cl 910)

219

Fig 2: Tom Titt. C Lewis Hind, published in The New Age, 27th February 1913

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highlighting the that this Epstein's An from manuscript, autobiography suggestion 13: extract be libellous. comment may particular face he left, the the the at colour of man's and glad text was when opening 'I astonished ie reads: was mostly likely ' It is Castlerosse that the Lord to comments relate windows afterwards.

220

Oft!

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Max Beerbohm. The Literary Life: Mr George Bernard Shaw in his Library. Published in The Sketch, 18th November 1903. Shaw is studying a Press Cutting slip, which would have been sent to him by his agency

1LI:

5: John Hassall.

if Ii

Time: Any Morning During the Publishing Season. Published in The Sketch, 18th November 1903.

What Mabel: is Press-cutting follows: Agency, Daddy? a as The caption reads hundred for insults dear, that twenty-five one sends a and a guinea Daddy- An institution, my

221

-ýg6.- Quiz. Caricature of Roger Fry: "Before the footlights of aestheticis-rn. Saturday Review, 30th December 1922

Publisha. 4 in Th-n CA

Fig 7: Tom Titt. Roger Fry, published in The New Age, 3011April 1914

) /

Fig 8: David Low. Henty Moore. Published in Leader Magazine, 21 " May 1949 Generation Younger The (7), the by Low. This is a rare title and the seventh of was of series a artoon went under there being Moore-like although himself caricatured, are countless examples Moore of parodies of !xample of sculptures, examples of which are given later

He Offers is His in a Closed Box. (Detail). Published in the that Difference DDavid Low. The Evening Standard, 711February 1931 for fact the Epstein interesting that did Einstein 1933 not meet especially until drawing is The

222

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223

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20th Low. Cartoon David from 12The Spectator (New Zealand), published on February 1908 )

e caption reads- "Well, Mr Moses, I see you're in luck's way - you haven't had a fire! " "Haven, t had one! And call that luck? What about the fellows who've turn all their old stock into cash at one pop? "

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The caption reads- 'Grand army of income tax dodgers. ' is this 'National Adjectives, Jewish' the cartoon religion, categorised or under* race in is of there )ugh no mention British Cartoon Archive 224

"ig 14: WK Haselden.

When two girl worker take a flat together No. 2. Published in the Daily Mirror, 15th July 1918 Note that the bill is headed Shylock and Co.

NEW JEWISK RADIO Jewish Radio Stat'cr dgdaaýý

would t>r-,Complete-, television. wlikout C-ý

th JU Iy 5: David Low. Detail of Low's Topical Budget, published in The Evening Standard on 6 1935

it appears to be an image of a nose on the television screen 225

Fig 16: David Low. (Left to Right) (Detail). Presents Mr Epstein Published in The Revenge itself to Opportunity Adequate for 7e Evening Standard, 22ndOctober 1929 and ,entures of Santa Claus. No. I-

At Mr Epstein's (Detail). 14th December 1929

Published in The Evening Standard,

foul-smelling kind bucket nearby, Epstein placed perhaps suggesting some featuring of waste a with 0 cartoons

226

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Fig 19: Norman Lindsay. Detail of a Cartoon from the Bulletin (Australia), published on 21s' December 1932 he caption reads- 'These Hard Times. ' Cohen: "Come inside an' I'll sell yer something. " Isaacs: "Me! Vat for? " Cohen- "Practice! "

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Bithness Suspended

228

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Figs 23a-e: Detail from cartoons illustrating exaggerated noses on Jewish men. Clockwise from top left: (1926) Alfred Moritz Mond Evans). (Powys Quiz a. b. Tom Titt. Rothschild (1913) Schoolboy (1905) Jewish Bateman. HIVI c. in in foreground large the [Epstein the two Confrontation. men and d. Ernest Forbes. The background] (1937) (1907) Businessman Jewish Low. David e.

230

NOT QUITE SO EASY AS THEY THOUGHT.

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Figs 26-29: Clockwise from top left: Tom Titt. Anthony Ludovici, published in The New Age, 5th February 1914 Tom Titt. Father Bernard Vaughan, published in The New Age, 2911August 1912 Henri Gaudier Brzeska. Lord Alfred Douglas (1913) George Moore and Lord Alfred Douglas (1915) NinaHamnett.

232

Fig 30: Quiz. Sir William Joynson-Hicks Ousting Aliens with Discrimination Used as an illustration in an essay by Colin Holmes. No date given

th Nicholas, Isabel 8 January 1934 Epstein 31: Fig and Silber leaving London in his child seen and a cinema, reproduced youngest of 'Ographof Epstein and the mother Friedman, p 242, although no source detail is given 233

Fig 32: The Slade School Picnic, c 1912

mberg,Gertler and Nevinson feature, along with Dora Carrington, Isaac Rosenberg and Dorothy Brett. Photograph reproduced in Tickner, p 144

Fig 33: Mark Gertler.

The Merry-Go-Round

(1916)

234

34- Tom Titt. George Bemard Shaw. Two examples published in The New A-ge, 131hJuly 1911 and 12th March 1914

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The implication is that the 'cubist artist' is not British, or is a spy

June OtI Standard, 1 Evening The in Published (Detail). Budget Topical Low's David Low. 136, 1939 his is religion or Epstein race of name, on account suspicion, with still viewed that The implication is

235

EPSTEIN CUIT-Jr,, PSTEINED MQRE SCULPTURE MONSTROSITIES

A- monstzosity Moore which

1*lo37- Epstein Out-Epsteined

at an exhibition of sculpture surpm. ses in repuLiveness even

by Mr. Henry that of Epstein.

More SculPture Monstrosities Published in The Daiýv th Mirror 14 April 1931

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Fig 39- WK Haselden.

Epsteinizing Our Statues. Published in the Daily Mirror, 4th July 1929 pencilnote at the top of this cartoon, Haselden wrote 'Epsteinizing our statues. (Why shouldn't some of our statues be remodelled to be more in keeping with modern ideas of art.)' 23 6-

Figs 40-42: Clockwise from top left. Mark Gertler. Jewish Family (1913) Jacob Kramer. Day of Atonement (1919) David Bomberg. Ju-Jitsu (1913)

237

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Fig 44: Private Epstein of the 38 Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, 1917-18 Reproduced in Silber and Friedman, p 172

I-

Adam Matemity Ecce Homo, Epstein 45: and Fig at work on

239

Fig 46: Epstein with Mother and Child

Fig 47: Epstein with Ecce Homo Note how his hands echo those of the sculpture 240

Fig 48: Epstein Being Filmed (c. 10111-J13)

Studio his in Epstein with an unidentified work under wraps Fig 49241

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Fig50. David Bomberg and his Painting Ju-Jitsu, published in Jewish World, 18th March 1914

51- CRW Nevinson and his Painting Tum-Tiddly-Um-Tum-Pom-Pom, Daily Mail, 15th May 1914

Westem The published in

2-12

Fig52: Wyndham Lewis with some of his paintings, and with The Laughing Woman (c. 1912)

14 Evenine

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their friends) (and Wadsworth two Edward of some with unidentified 53., Lewis Wyndham and g March 1914 Daily 3 Oth in Mirror, the paintings, published 243

Fig 55-.Epstein as featured in the New York Times, published on 21s' June 1914

Fig 56: Epstei n with Consummatum Est (1936)

be the he Epstein himself that positioned In where should specified noteon the back of the photograph indicates image

245

the be he filmed being camera at glancing seen can where Fig 57: Stills from Epstein 243

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Fig 5)8:Epslein by Norman Parkinson (1956) FilgI1liO Epcd 11,1 It nnbyE0Hc, ptp lk1c11 . ý: The Wofid

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thOctober 1912 27 Magazine, World The from published on -ig60- Fake Photograph of Epstein his image from original was cut inset: which photograph

247

I '-

Fig 61: Day and Night (1929)

Shed (1928/9) in Night the Photographed Epstein with Fig 62:

be Epstein to hand image left the semi-transparent appears where Note the double exposure on

248

aft

Fig 63: The Tomb of Oscar Wilde (1912) with superimposed Fig Leaf, as used in the TV Documentary, Private Parts in Public Places (1973)

kLA

for intended high the 64: the Diagram LR a statue a 9 Rogers. effect on viewer when showing location is viewed from below the figure appears distorted when viewed at eye level, but appears correctly proportioned when seen from below 249

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Fig 65- Edmund Sullivan (1929). Published in Punch, 4th September 1929.

'.aption-'Small child (hearing adverse criticism on Mr Epstein's work). "But, Mummie, you must remember the poor man only had a chisel to do it with. "'

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LATEST, stone carvIng, EPSTEIN'S - Epstsln'3 11 Day, " revealed yesterday on the now Underground This irtatue, Uke its combulJdl. n at WestminsLar. is bound to building, " Night, the on jarne p"on, be a cb&llengo W EPItALD'i critics.

Fig 66: Two Newspaper Photographs of Day (1929) As in Sullivan's cartoon, detail of the boy's genitals are not visible 250

Fig 67: Film Still from Private Parts in Public Places (1973)

(c1939) fainting Adam the Newsreel sight of Fig 68: at still showing woman

251

Fig 69: Flenite Relief (1913) (Front and Rear Views)

Fig 70: James Havard Thomas. Lycidas (1905) 1914-16) (1913 Versions Second First c. Venus, and Fig 7 1: and

252

(1912) Cemetery, Paris Lachaise in P6re Wilde, by tarpaulin Oscar Tomb The 72-. a covered of g

Fig 73: Narcissus (1909-10) 253

\4-I

;t left: from top Clockwise 74-77: Figs de taureau the Detail (1911). Wilde couilles of The Tomb of Oscar Wilde Oscar Tomb The Epstein of Hopp6. with Drawing (c. 1911)

Sins list ten fondling a of along with kissing other, each and includingthumbnail sketches of female figures Alternative Drawing (c. 1911)

254

Fig 78: Adam (1939) Detail Inset image to indicate scale

255

________

Fig 79: Adam (1939) on show at the Leicester Galleries

Note the eye line and expressions of the viewers, especially the clergyman

it's the model! " :ig 80: Joseph Lee. London Laughs: Modem Sculpture. "You're right, Rowsley ... Published in the Evening News, 1939 The sculpture can also just be seen in the top right of the drawing

Daily Mirror, York April New 1940, in (left) the featured Underwear, 81:Adam with Polka Dot as in Public Places Parts Private documentary, 1973 television the in (right) and 256

Fig 82: Brancusi. Princess X (1919)

257

258

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11 - 71

Fig 86: Matemity (Detail of Buttocks and Vulva)

259

Fig 87: Two Views of Matemity (Detail)

260

Figs 88 and 90: The Two Rejected Strand Figures The figure on the right is known as Nature

(1907-8) New-Bom Matter Figures Strand 89Fig and -

down from the figure has been the waist covered original nude in each case

261

Fig 91: Hygieia in Original and Final Versions (1908)

Remains Strand Photographs Figures the the two Recent of of 92of Fig

262

Fig 93: Matemity (1908) Plaster cast version and finished work in situ

through Matemity indicating that Places, Public in Parts viewed was 1994- Film still from Private binoculars

263

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Fig 98: Two views olf Lazarus (1947-8) (detail)

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Fig 99: Liverpool Resurgent (Detail) (1955-6) 265

Fig 100: Cement Fondu Panels on the Fagade of Lewis's Store (1955-6)

(1933) (Detail) Gods Primeval Fig 101:

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Figs 103 and 104: The Sun God, in original (1910) and revised (1933) versions

Fig 105: Primeval Gods (1933)

268

Fig 106: Examples of Non-Western Art from Epstein's Collection

Fig 107- Geoffrey Ireland. Photograph of Epstein's Bedroom (c. 1959) One of the works from Fig 106 highlighted

269

Fig 108: Eric Gill. Cocky Kid (1910)

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Fig 109: Extract from Whitechapel Gallery Contacts Book (1914)

From the page containing Eric Gill's details. The highlighted text reads Cocky Kid, lent by Epstein 270

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Fig 116: Rock Drill (1913) 272

Fig 117: Jacob and the Angel (detail) (1940-41)

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Fig 119: St Michael and the Devil (1956-8)

Fig 120: St Michael and the Devil (Detail)

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Fig 12 1: The Hudson Memorial (Rima) (1923-5)

'ig122: WK Haselden: Talks about statues in the parks. Published in the Daily Mirror, 18thJune 1925 Note that the first frame reads: I propose to talk of Epstein for twenty four hours" 275

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Fig 124: The Hudson Memorial (Detail)

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Figs 126a-c: Joseph Lee: Left to Right: Laughs. Bird Sanctuary, London Hyde Park. "Yes. He's followed me all the way from Scotland. a, Published in the Evening News, 25th September 1934 b,LondonLaughs. Shooting at Bird Sanctuary. "Hang around, Caversham. Some of 'em wiii Have comeout of that dashed Bird Sanctuary sometime. " Published in the Evening News, 12thAugust 1946 c. London Laughs. Turkey Sanctuary. "/ see that, quote, experts are mystified by the sudden ppearanceof certain rare and exotic birds in London parks, unquote. Funny, isn't it? " Published in the Evening News, 311December 1951

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Examples of the Nude Studies of Betty Peters (1943-45)

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October 911 1913 Age, New The Published Ezra Pound. Titt. Tom in Fig 138282

Fig 139: Francis Derwent Wood. Two views of Atalanta (c. 1907)

Fig 140: Consummatum Est (1937)

283

,"Genesi8"-and

Exodus.

Fig 141: Grimes. ''Genesis"- and Exodus. Published in The Star, 511February 1931

Figs 142-144: Left to right Zeda (Pasha) (1927) Second Portrait of Louise (Berenice) (1937) Second Portrait of Isabel (1932)

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in Published Kramer. Jacob Sallon. an unidentified newspaper Fig 146285

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(Detail). Budget Published in Topical Low's in featured Lewis as 150: David Low. Wyndham 30th 1938 April Standard, Evening the Insetis a photograph

Low's the indicating Eliot, TS accuracy of caricature his 1938 Lewis of portrait with of

286

Fig 151: Bert Thomas. The World's Worst Picture. Published in the London Opinion, 7th November 1925. Inset is CRW Nevinson's original painting, La Mitrailleuse (1915), on which it is based

Reynolds. Frank Fig 152:

War Pictures.

Published in Punch, 3151November 1917 287

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288

Fig 154: David Low. Left to right: Final Test of Greatness (Detail). Published in The Manchester Guardian, 26thJuly 1957 The Right to Hee-Haw (Detail). Published in The Manchester Guardian, 16th March 1954 N

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Fig 155: David Levine. Henry Moore. (1966)

289

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Figs 156 - 159: Clockwise from top leftDavid Low. Hilaire Befloc, published in the New Statesman, 17th April 1926 David Low. GK Chesterton, published in the New Statesman, 2 9th May 1926 Tom Titt. GK Chesterton, published in The New Age, 19thJune 1913 Tom Titt. Hilaire Belloc, published in The New Age, 22nd May 1913

in: featured Castlerosse Lord Low. as Fig 160: David th 1932 May 17 Standard, Evening and in the Sight, published An Unforgettable th 1938 8 January Standard, Evening in the Budget, published Topical Low's 290

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Figs 161-164: David Low. Clockwise from Top Left: October 1928 1 Standard, st Evening The in Published (Detail). Should Cartoons be Beautiful th May 1935 4 Standard, Evening The in Low's Topical Budget (Detail). Published 1935 April 20th Standard, Evening The in Published Low's Topical Budget (Detail). 31 December Standard, sl Evening The in Published PrizeCostumes for this Year's Ball (Detail). 1927

291

Figs 165-168: David Low. Clockwise from Top Left: The Right to Hee-Haw (Detail). Published in The Manchester Guardian, 16th March 1954

TheOpportunity for Adequate Revenge Presents Itself to Mr Epstein (Detail). Published in The Evening Standard, 22nd October 1929

Low's TopIcal Budget (Detail). Published in The Evening Standard, 9th March 1935 Final Test of Greatness (Detail). Published in The Manchester Guardian, 261hjUly 1957

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293

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Fig174: David Low. The Modem "Rake's Progress" - The Rake Gives a Cocktail Party. Published in Pall Mall Magazine, March 1934 Genesisis at the back of the room in the centre of the drawing, and the painting on the left wall is variously described as a Picasso or a Ben Nicholson. The characters in the drawing include several identifiable celebrities

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Fig 176: WK Haselden. Left to right: How to Paint a Futurist Picture. Published in the Daily Mirror, 15thMarch 1912 FuturistPortrait Painting: Is Any Model Needed? Published in the Daily Mirror, 8thApril 1913

ig 177: WK Haselden.

Are the Post-Impressionists Right AfterAll?. 4 th October 1912

Published in the Daily Mirror,

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th in Punch, 15 Published Alien. Being Not Importance Character. an of British 181 The 19 - Pont. April 1936 97

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tj . Fig 183: First Portrait of Mrs Epstein (1912) 298

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Fair, 1897 Published in Vanity Zangwill. Israel Sicket. Walter Fig 187: Vanity Fair, 1869 Published in Disraeli. Pellegrini. Benjamin Carlo Fig 188Fig 189: HM Bateman. Untitled, (1905)

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301

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Figs'194and 195: Adrian Allinson. IVIrEpstein Doubts the Authenticity of a South Sea Idoi. Two versions (1914)

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Places Public in Parts Private from Fig 204: Unidentified cartoon Figs 205: Elemental (1932) 304

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Places. Public in Parts Private from Unidentified cartoon

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" Genesis! you to your aunty 305

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Fig 208: Anthony Wysard: Albert Henry Stanley, Baron Ashfield, published in 1938 Fig209: Strube: First thing in the moming (Detail), published in the Daily Express, 1929 (specific date nOt recorded) The original drawing also has a note in the margin with the name 'Strubenstein'

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July 1929 20th Guardian, Manchester The in Fig 210: Epstein working on Night. Published

306

Figs 211 and 212: NEB (Ronald Niebour). Published in Daily Mail, 11th February 1942. Thecaption reads, "After allowing for post-war re-construction we find that you can still have all the stone you need Mr Epstein" The drawing appears to owe something to Low's version in Fig 206

Unidentified.Epstein Caricature. Taken from an undated press cutting held in the Henry Moore Institute Archivs3 Itis a rare example of a caricature featuring Epstein not in profile. It is a good example of the caricaturists' technique of grossly exaggerating the size of the head

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Figs 213-215: Clockwise from Top: David Low. Detail of Fig 247 (1922) [Garman] Kathleen Portrait Second of First Portrait of Mt-s Epstein (1912)

307

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(1933) Einstein Portrait of Epstein's is

308

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Fig 220: Primeval Gods (Detail) Indicating the thickness of the stone

Fig221: David Low. Colonel Blimp, as featured in Low's Topical Budget (Detail). Published in The Evening Standard, 12thOctober 1935

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311

Figs 223-227: David Low. Clockwise from Top Left The Modem Rake's Progress (Detail)(1 934) Low's Topical Budget (Detail). Published in The Evening Standard, 25th May 1935 TheAnti-Crusade Crusade (Detail). Published in The Evening Standard, 24th February 1931 Low's Topical Budget (Detail). Published in The Evening Standard, 5th September 1936 Thedifference is that he offers his in a closed box (Detail). Published in The Evening Standard, 7th February 1931 Note that details of the figure's nipples have been omitted in the first two examples

312

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in The Evening Standard, 12th

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Fig 229-231: David Low. Left to Right Low's Toplcal Budget (Detail). Published in The Evening Standard, 25th May 1935 "And they call this a sanctuanl' (Detail). Published in The Star, 23rd November 1925 Adventuresof Santa Claus. No. I- at Mr Epstein's (Detail). Published in The Evening Standard, 14' December 1929 Note that details of the figure's nipples have been omitted in all cases, 313

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Figs232 and 233: Stanley P Scase. A Proposed Design for a Memorial to a Famous Architect. Published in The Builder, 19th June 1925

Reynoic -is. Another Tribute. Published in Punch, 24" June 1925 Frank

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1925 ls' July Punch, in Published Rima. Punch Raven-Hill. 235: Figs 234 and as June 1925 3rd Punch, in Published Thanks. Much Not For Relief this Bernard Partridge.

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Note that the top left figure is a near copy of that in Fig 203, and the top centre is clearly the same as in Fig 237

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:ig237: Mark Wayner (aka Weiner). George Lansbuty. 'A Suggestion to Epstein for a Bas Relief' (c. 1943) Inset is a photograph of AH Gerard's North Wind (c1928), on which Wayner's parody is based

315

Appendices

Appendix A

The first major biography

of Epstein was subtitled Artist Against the

Establishment (1993) and the only extensive filmed documentary about him is Rebel Angel (1987). subtitled

Both descriptions immediately emphasise, or

draw attention to the sculptor's struggle to overcome prejudice in a hostile environment.

In fact, many introductions to, or descriptions of, Jacob Epstein

and his work, begin by describing how he suffered at the hands of either the press, the art establishment or the public at large, or simply by giving details of negative perceptions and impressions of the man.

It is worth recording

here, to illustrate this point more explicitly: several examples When, in February 1920, the Christ was exhibited at the Leicester Galleries, the attacks began in the press. Of these one by Father Vaughan, an exhibitionistic Jesuit, must be quoted as it contains i. Fascist ignorant, the most racialistic e. observations probably ever in by Richard this of art country. an educated person on a work made 763 Buckle (1963) It is almost impossible [ ] to comprehend the passionate hostility which ... Epstein's works provoked in the period between the wars. Bemard Denvir (198 7764

One hears many criticisms of Epstein which are merely contemptible, 765 Charles Holden ill-temper, spite. racial prejudice and vulgar reflecting has head raged: An artist around whose unwilling so much controversy from frequently least has of that motives as at sprung controversy jealousy and wilful perversity as from stubborn ignorance and mere 766 (1932) Powell LB prejudice. There were many The 1917 exhibition produced a copious press. the of vulgar much of course, and, articles appreciative serious and his life. Epstein throughout trivial scoffing which pursued and abuse Oliver Brown (1968)767 763

100 P cit, Buckle, Op

Bernard. 'Feeling and Form August 1987, 32 678, p issue No. 8, 765See Gardiner, op cit, p 78 766Powell, OP c"t, P xvII 767Brown, OP Cit, p 52 764 Denvir,

Epstein at the Whitechapel. ' The Artist. Vol. 102,

316

The mindless ecclesiastical invective levelled at the innovative younger Epstein is uncomfortable for the churches. The Rev. Tom )768 Devonshire Jones (1987 Much of the hatred that Epstein's work engendered in the twenties, but in the thirties, grows directly out of the British middle class particularly )769 Chn'stopher Cook (1987 and upper class anti-Semitism. The exhibition was "a triumphant vindication of [Epstein's] courage in the face of unjustifiable hostility and stupid prejudice. " Philip James 770 Controversies involving Epstein have flared most vehemently )771 outside the domain of gallery or museum. Caroline Elam (1987 There's no doubt that Epstein, as I have said, took a lot of the brickbats (1973)772 that would have been directed at other sculptors. Henry Moore Notoriety does not necessarily imply importance. Much of the publicity that pursued Epstein was gratuitously sensational and did his reputation more harm than good. Evelyn Silber (1986)773

Some artists are born notorious, some achieve notoriety and some have Jacob Epstein, belongs them. thrust the to the upon sculptor, notoriety 774 third category. RHW(193 0) The conservative press, claiming to represent the voice of ordinary in [ ]a launched venom and campaign of vilification unequalled people, ... Terry brutal language. in delivered and a provocative spite and often 775 Friedman (1988)

Throughout the twenties and early thirties the work of Epstein stood for )776 (1977 Glaves-Smith JR in that modern art. was outrageous all

768Devonshire Jones, Tom. 'Epstein's gift of strength and life to religious art.' The Times, Child Madonna Moore's Henry th towards and the The 25 July 1987, p 10. press response of dealing indicates that Northampton, in with for sculpture (1944), commissioned a church 187 See Berthoud, to p op cit, religious themes was especially vulnerable attack. 769In a BBC radio discussion in 1987, Christopher Cook voiced his agreement with cofive transcript the See this of of page Reynolds, opinion. Gillian expressed also and panellist, Whitechapel in (Copy the July 1987. 1 1th 3 Radio BBC ' broadcast on 'Critics' Forum, on Gallery archive) 770 Cited in Rose, op cit, p 250 771Elam, Caroline. 'Editorial. Sculpture now.' Burlington Magazine. Vol. CXXIX, No. 1017, 783 1987, p December in Public Parts Private Epstein: Jacob documentary in the television 772Quoted in an interview Places, OPcit 773 10 cit, p op (1986), Silber 774 RHW, Op cit, no page number 775 Park), (Hyde op cit, p9 Friedman 776 100 cit, p op Glaves-Smith, 317

PAGE

MISSING

ORIGINAL

Appendix

Names and Addresses found on photographs of Epstein's work in the Henry

Moore Institute Peter Strickland, Strickland Studios, 5 Dukes Lane, Kensington, W8 Ida Kar, 1 Lichfield Street, London, WC2 Black Star, Cliffords Inn, London Lotte Meitner-Graf, 23 Old Bond Street, London, W1

Kemsley Picture Service, Kemsley House, London, WC1 Picture Features Ltd, 43-44 Shoe Lane, London, EC4 Paul Laib, 3 Thistle Grove, Drayton Gardens, South Kensington Hans Wild, 17a Edith Grove, Chelsea, SW10 David Sim, 59 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, Wl Morgan-Wells, 2 St Andrew's Hill, London, C4 Malcolm Arbuthnot, 43-44 New Bond Street, London Stuart, 47 & 49 Brompton Road, London, SW Jack Garnham (no other details present)

319

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Whitý/-20-rth,Ben. The Sculpture of Leon Underwood. London: Lund Humphries, 2000 Wilcox, Denys J. The London Group 1913-39. The Artists and their Works. Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1995 Wilenski, Reginald Howard. The Modem Movement in Art. London: Faber and Gwyer, 1927 Wilenski, Reginald Howard. The Meaning of Modem Sculpture. London. Faber and Faber, 1932 Williams, Emlyn. Emlyn. An early autobiography, 1927-1935. London: The Bodley Head, 1973 Wintle, Justin [Ed]. Makers of Modem Culture. London and Henley: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1981 Wittkower, Rudolf. Sculpture. Processes and Principles. London: Allen Lane, 1977 Wolff, Janet. AngloModem: Painting and Modernity in Britain and the United States. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2003 Wood, Jon, David Hulks and Andrew Potts [Eds]. Modem Sculpture Reader. Leeds: Henry Moore Institute, 2007 Woodeson, John. Mark Gertler.- Biography of a Painter, 1891-1939. London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1972 Worsley, Victoria. Guide to the Henry Moore Institute Archive. Leeds: The Henry Moore Institute, 2005 Mke, Terry and Harry Cocks. Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester. Public Sculpture of Britain, Volume 8. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2004 Wyndham Lewis, Percy [Ed], Blast (Volumes I& 2), London: John Lane, 1914 and 1915) [NB: Reproduced by Black Sparrow Press, 1993] Wyndham Lewis, Percy. The Artist. From Blast to Burlington House, Haskell House Publishers, 1971 Wyndham Lewis, Percy. Blasting and Bombardiering: An Autobiography 1914-1926. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1937 Wyndham Lewis, Percy. Rude Assignment: A Narrative of my Career Up-todate. London: Hutchinson, 1950 Yorke, Malcolm. Eric Gill. Man of Flesh and Spirit. London: Constable, 1981 Zell, Michael. Reframing Rembrandt. Jews and the Christian Image in Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: Se venteenth- Century Amsterdam. University of California Press, 2002 Zorach, William. Zorach Explains Sculpture. New York: Tudor Publishing Company, 1960

Journal Articles/Other

Publications

Oct 1974, ' Apollo, Life. Marcia. his Study A Gertler: 'Mark pp of Allentuck, 334-6 Burlington 'David 1913-14', Hold", Bomberg's Ronald. "In the Alley, April 1968, 216 p Ma.qazine, Jewish 'A Futurist: Jewish Chat Bomberg', Mr David the with Anon. May, 8 1914, 53 p Chronicle,

331

Antliff, Mark. 'Cubism, Futurism, Anarchism: The 'Aestheticism' of the Action d'art Group, 1906-1920. ' Oxford Art Journal, 21.2,1998, pp 99-120 Asher, R and SS Sargent. 'Shifts in Attitude Caused by Cartoon Caricatures. ' The Journal of General Psychology, 1941,24, pp 451-455 Bain, Alison. 'Constructing an artistic identity. ' Work, employment and society. Vol. 19, No. 1, March 2005, pp 25-46 Barker, Elizabeth. 'New Light on Epstein's Early Career', Burlington Magazine, Vol. 130, Dec 1988, pp 903-909 Baylen, JD. 'The Press and Public Opinion, WT Stead and the "New Journalism"', Journalism Studies Review, No.4, July 1979 Brennan, Susan E. 'Caricature Generator: The Dynamic Exaggeration of Faces by Computer. ' Leonardo, Vol 40, No 4,2007, pp 392-400 (originally in 1985) published Cork, Richard. 'The Cave of the Golden Calf, Artforum, December 1982, pp 56-82 Cork, Richard. 'Wyndham Lewis and the Drogheda Dining Room', Burlington Magazine, October 1984, pp 610-19 Denvir, Bernard. 'Feeling and Form. Epstein at the Whitechapel. ' The Artist. Vol. 102, No. 8, Issue 678, August 1987, pp 32-34 Devonshire Jones, Tom. 'Epstein's The Times, 25 th July 1987

' life to gift of strength and religious art.

Ede, H. S. (1885-1990) Manuscript for his book -Life of Gaud ier-Brzeska", 1929, including drawings and prints by Gaudier-Brzeska - held at the Henry Moore Institute 'Wyndham Lewis's Timon of Athens Portfolio: The Edwards, Paul. Emergence of Vorticist Abstraction', Apollo, Vol. CXLVIII, No. 439, October 1998, pp 34-40 Vol. Magazine. ' Burlington Sculpture 'Editorial. Caroline. Elam, now. CXXIX, No. 1017, December 1987, p 783 The Fry Roger important 'A and Caroline. Elam, work: more and more 142-52 2003, March Vol. 145, Magazine. Burlington p Magazine', Burlington Epstein, Jacob (1880-1959) Correspondence, sketchbooks, photographs held at the Henry Moore Institute Special 2, No. Vol 4, Modernism/Modernity, in Gods' Foster, Hal. 'Prosthetic Lewis Issue, April 1997, pp 5-38 th 1972 August 12 Times, in Irish Counter-Blast', Freye Grattan. 'Blast and , 11,1912 No Nation, The in Hall', Albert the Ery, Roger. 'The Allied Artists at . 13,1913 No. Nation, The in Artists Allied Fry, Roger. 'The November 1018, No. 200, Vol. Studio, in Epstein' Gardiner, Stephen. 'Jacob 1987, pp 14-17 ' 1922. Virgin, the Head Moor of e's Garlake, Margaret. 'Two-Faced: Henry 269-272 15.2,2006, Vol Journal, pp Sculpture in Hall', Park Holland Ltd., Association Artists' 'Allied Henri. Gaud ier-Brzeska, 228 15"' June 1914, p The Egoist, 104, No. 1932, September Studio. The ' Art. his 'The Man Mark. and Gertler, p 158 The ' drawings. Meum: 'Jacob Epstein's Raquel. unpublished model Gilboa, 837-839 Magazine. CXLVIII, December Vol 2006, pp Burlington Studio, No. 130,1945 The 'The Camden Group, in Town Charles. Ginnerl 1,

332

Graham, Jenny. 'A note on the early reputation of Roger Fry' in Burlington Magazine, Vol. 143, No. 1181, August 2001, pp 493-9 Graver, David. 'Vorticist Performance and Aesthetic Turbulence in Enemy of the Stars, in PMLA, Vol. CVII, No. 3, May 1992 Greqson, JR. 'Who would you like to be? Jacob Kramer and Epstein. ' Unidentified newspaper cutting dated 7th November 1931 (from David Manson's collection) Hansen, Miriam. 'TE Hulme, Mercenary of Modernism, or Fragments of Avant-Garde Sensibility in Pre-World War Britain', in English Literary History, No. 47,1980 Holmes, C. 'The Myth of Fairness: Racial Violence in Britain 1911-1919', History Today, October 1985, Vol 35, pp 41-45

Hulme, TE. 'Mr Epstein and the Critics, in The New Age, 25 th December 1913, pp 251-253 Hulme, TE. 'Modern Art, IV: Mr David Bomberg's Show, in The New Age, 9th July 1914, pp 230-32 Hulme, TE. 'Modern Art, III: The London Group', in The NewAge, 26 th March 1914, p 661

Hulme, TE. 'Contemporary Drawings, 2', The NewAge, 2ndApril 1914, 688 p Irwin, David. 'Book Review. Jacob Epstein Sculptor by Richard Buckle. ' Burlington, No. 738, Vol. CVI, September 1964, pp 431-432 K., L., 'Jewish Art at Whitechapel: Twentieth Century Exhibition', in The Jewish Chronicle, 15th May 1914, p 10 Kaines Smith, SC. 'Living Yorkshire Yorkshire Post, 29th May 1926

Artists.

No. 4-

Jacob

Kramer'

Kris, Ernst. 'The Psychology of Caricature. ' The International Journal of Psychoanalysis. Vol 17,1936, pp 285-303 Lipman, Vivian D. 'The Anglo-Jewish Background', in Immigrant Generations: Jewish Artists in Britain 1900-1945. Exh Cat. New York: Jewish Museum, 1982 MacCarthy, Desmond [unsigned]. 'The Post-impressionists', Introduction to Exh Cat. London: Grafton Galleries, Manet and the Post- Impressionists 1910-11 MacCarthy, Desmond. 'The Art-Quake of 1910', in The Listener, Vol 1, February 1945, pp 123-9 MacLeod, Dianne Sachko. 'The Dialectics of Modernism in English Art', in The British Journal of Aesthetics, No. 35,1995 th June 1914, pp 160-2 Age, 18 The New Art', English CRW. 'Vital Nevinson, Nevinson, Margaret. 1910, p 112

'Futurism

Women', and

The Vote, No. 31, December

th Pound, Ezra. 'The New Sculpture y The Egoist, 16 February 1914, pp 67-8

, th Egoist, 15 August 1914, p The Pound, Ezra. 'Edward Wadsworth, Vorticist', 306 Pound, Ezra. 'Vorticism', Fortnightly Review, 1stSeptember 1914, pp 461-71 'Preliminary The Egoist, Arts', College Ezra. Announcement the of Pound, of 1914, 413-14 pp Novernber 2nd th 'Affirmations Ezra. 11: Vorticism', 14 January 1915, The New Age, pp pound, 277-8 'Affirmations Ezra. Ill. Jacob Epstein', New 21st The Age, January pound, 311-12 1915, pp

333

Pound, Ezra. 1915, p 349

'Affirmations

IV: As for Imagisme',

th January New Age, 28 The

Pound, Ezra (as BH Dias). 'Art Notes', The New Age, 27th March 1919, p 342 Reed, Christopher. 'San Marino and London: Roger Fry: the art of Bloomsbury'in Burlington Magazine, Vol. 142, No. 1165, April 2000, p 262-5 Rodker, John. 'The New Movement in Art', in Dial Monthly, May 1914, pp 184-8 Russell, John. 'Art Review; Provocative Show Rethinks British Art of the 2 oth Century. ' The New York Times. 1't February 1987 Rutter, Frank. 'Spencer F Gore I in The Sunday Times, 5th April 1914 , Shone, Richard. 'The Friday Club', Burlington Magazine, May 1975, pp 27984 Shone, Richard. 'London, Barbican Art Gallery. Modern Art in Britain 19101914', Burlington Magazine, Vol. 139, May 1997, pp 347-349 Simeral Johnson, Isabel. 'Cartoons. ' The Public Opinon Quarterly, Vol 1, No 3, July 1939, pp 21-44 Skipwith, Peyton. 'Exhibition Review. London, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Jacob Epstein. ' Burlington Magazine. Vol 129, No 1013, August 1987, pp 553-555 Smith, Shawn Michelle. 'Book Review. Barbaric Intercourse: Caricature and the Culture of Conduct, 1841 -1936, by Martha Banta. ' American Literature. Vol 76, No 2, June 2004, pp 396-7 Spalding, Frances. 'Mark Gertler: The Early Years', in Mark Gertler., The Early and the Late Years. Exh Cat. London: Ben Uri Art Gallery, 1982 in ' Generations, Migrant The Artists: 'Anglo-Jewish Charles. Spencer, Cat. New Exh 1900-1945. in Britain Artists Jewish Generations: Immigrant York: Jewish Museum, 1982 Text, Third " 6pater. desires to Artist 'the Epstein. Stevn, Juliet. 'Jacob who Vol 19, Issue 6, November 2005 Paintings Gertler. Mark in Assimilation', and Edges Steyn, Juliet. 'Mythical of 1992 Centre, Arts Camden London: Cat. Drawings. Exh ' Caricature. Sociology the Low 'David of and Streicher, Lawrence H. 1-23 Oct 1965, No. 1, 8, Vol. History, pp Comparative Studies in Society and Painting, Lewis, Kermesse: and Culture Popular 'The of Tickner, Lisa. Lewis Special 2, No. 4, Vol Performance, 1912-13 Y,in Modernism/Modernity, Issue, April 1997, pp 67-120 OxfordArt in Pound, Ezra Head Hieratic of the Then: Tickner, Lisa. 'Now and 55-61 2,1993, No 16, Vol pp Journal, th 26 Times, Sunday The ' dead. the from Vaizey, Marina. 'Raising sculpture April 1987, p 55 Journal. Art ' Caricature. Issue The of Statement: 'Editor's Judith. Wechsler, 317-8 1983, Winter 4, No pp Vol 43, Tomb for the Epstein Jacob by Sketch Discovered Newly 'A Simon. Wilson, November 872, No. 117, Vol. Magazine, Wilde, ' Burlington in the of Oscar 726-729 19757 pp Burlington 7 Epstein. Jacob by 'Rom, Simon. carving an early Wilson, 352-355 890, No. Vol CXIX, 1977, May pp 7e, Ma-q,.Izi, His Explains t Tyrois The Brush: Percy. Lewis, Swift 'Dean a with harn Vy,,. -, 1th Express, Daily 1 April 1921 -he 7 Art' , in

334

Unpublished

Material

Beeston, David. 'Anti-Semitic Journalism and Authorship in Britain: 1914-21', PhD Thesis, Loughborough University of Technology, 1988 Benson, Timothy. 'Low and Lord Beaverbrook: The Case of a Cartoonist's Autonomy. ' PhD Thesis, University of Kent at Canterbury, 1998 Gross, Peter. 'Representations of Jews and Jewishness in English Painting 1887-1914. ' PhD Thesis, University of Leeds, 2004 Jackson, Simon AM. 'Jacob Epstein at Blackpool. A Test Case in Creators' Moral Rights. ' MA Thesis, University of Melbourne, 1992 Penninqton, Michael, 'Epstein, the years of abstraction, 1909-1920', M Litt Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1989' Porter, Beth. 'Aliens, Artists or Englishmen. Jewish Immigrant Artists in England at the Beginning of the 20th Century: a Study in Identity. ' MA Thesis, University of Reading, 1995 Rengers, Merijn. 'Economic Lives of Artists. Studies into Careers and the Labour Market in the Cultural Sector. ' PhD Dissertation, Utrecht University, 2002

Film & Television Weekend London Aquarius, Places. in Public Parts Private Epstein: Jacob th Sunday broadcast 1973 October 11 (Recorded, on and Television, 1973. th 17) October 1973, 13 th Mirror. Daily The See 5.20pm. p 13 October 1973 at 1987. Council, Arts & the Television Central Angel. Jacob Epstein: Rebel 1 9th Mirror. Daily The See 10.30pm. 1987 at (Broadcast on 19th September September 1987, p 15)

Websites www. tate. org. uk henry-moore-fdn. uk co. www. www. artatwalsall. org. uk uk ac. paul-mellon-centre. www. iwm. org. uk www. uk ac. thebritishmuseum. www. iln. www. org. uk uk org. www. newspapersoc. com www. anthonymiudovici. org. uk epstein. www. (Antony shtml bbc. co. uk/arts/powerofart/inspired/bernini/bernini. hftp: llwww. Schama for Simon interview series) Gormley uk/books/2002/Jýul/14/biography-highereducation www. guardian-co. pdf uk/articles/economic-trends/ET604CPI1750. statistics-9ov. www. 171886 917/01/01/BPO101 com/Search/Shotlist/? Ref=/Bpathe/l WwW-itnsource. 48. htrn&links=JACOB%2cEPSTEIN bbc. cO.uk/arts/powerofart/inspired/bernini/bernini. shtml www. 335

WWW.sha dyold lady. com/location. php? loc=923 , wWw.calvin. edu/academic/cas/gpa/diebow. htm www. google. co. uk findarticles. com www. www. cartoons. ac. uk

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A Caricature of a Sculptor Jacob Epstein and the British press: a critical analysis of old history a