WORK OF EPSTEIN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19904, 25 September 1926, Page 10

WORK OF EPSTEIN.

MR RAMSAY MACDONALD’S BUST. (Fbom Cub Own Cobbespondent.) LONDON, July 30. Admirers of Jacob Epstein, including Lord Henry Bentinck and Lord Howard de Walden, have begun a movement to acquire his “Study of a Woman” for the nation. Mr Epstein is at present engaged on a bust of Mr Ramsay MacDonald. The “Study,” which presents a woman in an attitude of prayer, created a sensation in artistic circles on its exhibition at the Leicester Galleries, where it is still on view. _ It is proposed to purchase it by subscription for 2000 guineas, and to present it to the Tate Gallery through, the Contemporary Art Society. No decision has yet been arrived at by the board of the gallery as to whether they will accept the piece. LABOUR LEADER “A SUPERB SUBJECT.” • “It is too early yet to express an opinion on the work,” said Mr MacDonald, in an interview regarding the bust of himself. “I have only sat once, so far. I am extremely interested in the deevlopment of the work, I have tremendous admiration for Epstein as a sculptor, and the news that a subscription has been started to buy a work or his for the nation gives me profound satisfaction. Epstein is a great, an untrammelled genius; his talent is not to be controlled by the limits of convention.” “Mr MacDonald has a supremely interesting head,” said Mr Epstein. “In fact, I consider him a superb subject for the sculptor. Incidentally, he is an excellent sitter, tranquil and controlled.” In the event of the board’s approval, the “Study” will become the fourth work by Epstein in the Tate Gallery, the other three being “Head of a Girl” and “Kramer,” presented by the Contemporary Art Society, and “Nan,” a bust presented by the Royal Academy under the Chantrey Bequest.