Sir Jacob Epstein, 
British 1880-1959 - 
Marchesa Casati, c.1918; 
bronze on marble base, conceived in...

Sir Jacob Epstein, 
British 1880-1959 - 

Marchesa Casati, c.1918; 

bronze on marble base, conceived in c.1918, H29 x W29 x D24 cm (H37 x W29 x D24 cm including base) (ARR) 

Provenance: 
The Estate of Jill and Michael Barrington 

Literature: 
Richard Buckle, 'Jacob Epstein Sculptor', Faber and Faber, London, 1963, p.96, pl.147 (another cast illus.); 
Evelyn Silber, 'The Sculpture of Epstein', Phaidon, Oxford, 1986, no.95 (another cast illus.) 

Note: 
from an edition of 8. With thanks to Dr. Evelyn Silber, author of 'The Sculpture of Epstein', for her assistance in the cataloguing of this work. 

The present work is accompanied by a photo-certificate signed by Kathleen Epstein (née Garman), dated 1964 and numbered 308400. 

Marchesa Casati (1881-1957) was a legendary patrons of the arts in the early 20th century and was depicted in works by innumerable artists, including Kees Van Dongen, Augustus John and Romaine Brooks. This work by Epstein, was one of most celebrated portraits of his early career, described by his biographer Stephen Gardiner as 'one of his finest pieces'. Epstein described her as a 'Medusa...with Basilisk eyes' and said that they worked through the night to finish the sculpture. With her frontal pose and snake-like hair, Epstein created an entirely modern portrait, the monster of myth transformed into the epitome of the 'femme fatale' of the inter-war period. 

Another cast of the work is now in the collection of Beecroft Art Gallery, Southend-on-Sea and one in the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Ohio, USA.