Press ReleaseFor immediate use

Monday 9 March 2009

Jacob EpsteinIllustrations to the Old Testament

28 February – 31 May 2009

The New Art Gallery Walsall

The New Art Gallery Walsall will be exhibiting a selection of dramatic and striking

watercolours and drawings engaging with Epstein’s unusual visionary interpretation

of the Old Testament from the 28 February – 31 May 2009.

The artist and sculptor became completely absorbed in the ‘whole new world

passing before him’ and exhibited fifty four illustrations at the Redfern galleries in

London in 1932. Cyril Connolly, Architectural Review said at the time ‘No one should miss this exhibition of beauty, of alien splendour – this story told by these fierce watercolours of the chequered dynasty of Jesse....’.

Despite the works selling well the exhibition created a furore in a society which saw

them in the light of the racial prejudices of the period. For Jacob Epstein, the son of

an Orthodox Jewish family, the Torah and the five Books of Moses had been

braided into his childhood and daily life through Hebrew classes and at the

synagogue. Although he had long dismissed organised religion from his life, his

work had always related to the great basic concerns of humanity such as birth,

death, fertility, sexuality, procreation and their relationship to the more spiritual and

transcendental aspects of religion. The Old Testament with its grand sweeping

themes, ethical issues and characters fascinated him but in the growing political

arena of the 1930’s most people fastened upon the racial elements of his work

Jo Digger, Collections Curator said “Most of the art works in this exhibition have

not been displayed since Epstein first exhibited them in his 'Illustrations to the Old

Testament' exhibition of 1932. They are still as fresh and vibrant today as they

were when he made and exhibited them, despite some of them being caught in a

bombing raid during WWII. These works were bought from Epstein by a private

collector whose family has just given them to Walsall as a long term loan. The

original exhibition created a profound impression on people in a way which I

believe these works still manage to do today”.

Jacob Epstein was always regarded as something of an outsider to the mainstream

art world; his work continuously shocked and even disgusted many people. Born in

the Jewish Ghetto of Lower East Side, New York in 1880 to Polish immigrant

parents, he moved to England and became a naturalised UK citizen in 1910. He

continued to be seen by many as an ‘alien’ to British art and culture for most of his

life, subject to countless attacks regarding his religious and cultural background.

Notes to editor

Photocall at 11am Tuesday 10 March with a Gallery Assistant

Interviews For interviews with Collections Curator, Jo Digger and further information, contact

Hollie Latham, Marketing and Development Manager on 01922 654402, email

lathamh@walsall.gov.uk

The New Art Gallery Walsall is run and maintained by Walsall Council and also

receives significant financial support from Arts Council England. The gallery is

open Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm, Sunday 11am to 4pm. Admission is free.

For more information visit the gallery website thenewartgallerywalsall.org.uk

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