Epstein Archive

The earliest of the archives dates back to the 1880s when a teenage Jacob Epstein wrote to the philanthropist Helen Moore asking if she would fund him so that he may pursue his dream of becoming an artist. She duly agreed to fund him and also arranged for him to work on a farm. The correspondence would continue, with him telling Moore of his interest in sculpture, something that he would become best known for.^[3]

The archives also reflect the turbulent and tragic aspects of his family and affairs; one tragic figure is that of his illegitimate son Theodore Garman who had started to make a name for himself as a prominent artist. A newspaper clipping in the archive taken from the Daily Mail, dated 23 January 1954, tells of the death of Theodore, who had died from a heart attack during a commotion whilst an ambulance team were trying to escort him to hospital as a result of him having a severe psychiatric episode. Even at the time of Theodore's death, Epstein is mentioned in the article as a fellow artist who had an interest in Theodore's work and not as his father, so even at this time Theodore's parentage is not publicly known. There is a picture of Theodore and Epstein looking at one of Theodore's paintings.^[4] The archives also hold the birth certificate of Epstein's illegitimate son Theodore, with just a pen stroke through the section 'Father'.

• The Collections at the New Art Gallery Walsall