thenewartgallerywalsall.org.uk
The New Art Gallery Walsall
The Garman Ryan Collection and The Epstein Archive
Introduction to the Garman Ryan Collection The Garman Ryan Collection can be looked at as both an extraordinary collection of artworks and as a complex series of stories about some unusual and fascinating people whose lives, loves, sorrows and obsessions took them beyond the ordinary. The collection was formed by two remarkable women and generously given to the Borough of Walsall in 1973. Kathleen Garman, born in Wednesbury, met the great twentieth-century sculptor Jacob Epstein in 1921. She had three children by him and married him in 1955, after the death of his first wife. After Epstein’s own death in 1959, Kathleen created an art collection with her friend Sally Ryan, granddaughter of American tycoon Thomas Fortune Ryan and a talented sculptor in her own right. Together Kathleen and Sally formed a collection of works by some of the greatest European artists such as Dürer, Rembrandt, Constable, Van Gogh and Monet - as well as artworks by unknown artists from many cultures across the world. The collection also serves as a memorial to the Epsteins’ extraordinary circle of family and friends, including Augustus John, Matthew Smith, Modigliani and Gaudier-Brzeska. His complex family life is revealed not only through the Epstein Archive of letters and photographs, but also through the many personal artworks in the collection, including Lucian Freud’s portrait of his wife ‘Kitty’ who was Epstein and Kathleen’s daughter. Above all, the collection provides important insights into Jacob Epstein’s long and often controversial career. The thematic arrangement on which Kathleen insisted provides the opportunity to make unexpected links and comparisons across different centuries and cultures. Intimate, wideranging and adventurous, this is a collection that offers something for everyone to enjoy.
The Epstein-Garman Family Tree Married 1906
Margaret Dunlop (Peggy) b. 1873 - d. 1947
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Married 1955
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Jacob Epstein b. 1880 - d. 1959
Kathleen Garman b. 1901 - d. 1979
Married 1948 Divorced 1954
Informally adopted
Peggy Jean & Jackie Epstein
Theodore Garman
Esther Garman
b. 1924 - d. 1954
b. 1929 - d. 1954
Kitty Garman b. 1926
Anne Freud
Not married
b. 1880 - d. 1959
b. 1922
b. 1948
Not married
Meum Lindsell Stewart b. 1897 - d. 1957
Peggy Jean Epstein b. 1918
Lucian Freud
Annabel Freud
b. 1948
Jacob Epstein
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Jacob Epstein b. 1880 - d. 1959
Isabel Nicholas b. 1912 - d. 1992
Jackie Epstein b. 1934 - d. 2009
Below are listed 10 objects from the Epstein Archive, which you can find displayed next to various art works and objects on floors 1 & 2 in the Garman Ryan Collection. The photographs of works displayed below relate to each archive item.
Love letter from Jacob Epstein to Kathleen Garman, 1927 Kathleen Garman met the sculptor Jacob Epstein when she was just 20 years old, and they fell in love. Epstein was already married at the time and so Kathleen was not able to live with him until 1947. Epstein held his first exhibition in the United States in 1927 and wrote a series of love letters from New York, to Kathleen in London. In this letter, Epstein writes that he wishes to make another study of Kathleen when he returns from New York. Jacob Epstein (1880-1959) First Portrait of Kathleen, 1921, Bronze, GR.88
Letter to Kathleen Garman from Sally Ryan, 1966 This brief letter from Sally Ryan shows how the Garman Ryan Collection was formed – two friends creating a very personal collection of art works. Sally was able to purchase some of the more expensive works in the collection and these, like the Pierre Bonnard painting La Seine à Vernon, referred to in this letter, were given to Kathleen as gifts. Sally died of throat cancer in 1968, but Kathleen continued to collect before donating the Garman Ryan Collection to Walsall in 1973.
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) The River Seine at Vernon, (La Seine à Vernon), 1919, Oil on canvas, GR.7
Shipping manifest, 1971 As well as collecting art together with Kathleen, and exchanging it as gifts, many of the pieces in the Garman Ryan Collection came from Sally Ryan’s personal collection. The works detailed in this shipping list were left to Kathleen in Sally’s will after her death in 1968. Many of these works, including Van Gogh’s important early drawing Sorrow, were incorporated into the Garman Ryan Collection. There are, however, a number that were not included; these were either given to Kathleen’s friends and family or sold. Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) Sorrow, 1882, Pencil, pen and ink, GR.128
First Floor The Garman Ryan Collection Jacob Epstein, Frisky, the Artist’s Dog, 1953
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Eagle, c. 1912-1913
Theodore Garman, Summer Garden, South Hartling, 1947
Jacob Epstein, Study for Rock Drill, c. 1913
Claude Monet, The Sunken Road in the Cliff at Varengeville, 1882
Amedeo Modiglini, Caryatid, c. 1913-14
Haida People Queen Charlotte Islands, Eagle, c. 19th-20th century AD
Vincent van Gogh, Sorrow, 1882
Indian (North Central India) The Goddess Pravati and Attendants, c. 11th-12th century
Egyptian mask of Lucian Freud, Queen Nefertili, Portrait of Kitty, 18th Dynasty 1300-1350BC 1948-1949
Pierre Renoir, The Olive Trees at Cagnes-sus-Mers, c. 1903-1919
Edgar Degas, Portarit of Marguerite, the Artist’s Sister, c. 1856
Second Floor The Garman Ryan Collection Raoul Dufy, Harvest Scene with Steam Threshing Machine, c. 1943
Jacob Epstein, Theo, 1930
Pierre-Auguste Lucian Freud, King Renoir, La Danse à Cups, Souvenir of la Campagne, 1890 Glen Artney, 1967
Sir Joshua Reynolds, Lieutenant Haswell RN, c. 1746
Egyptian, Vase decorated with boat scene, c. 3000-3500BC
Francisco de Goya, Blockhead (Bobalicón) from the Disparates-Proverbios series, c. 1819-20
France (Rouen), A page from an Illuminated Manuscript (Book of Hours), c. 1480
Jacob Epstein, The King of a Rainy Country, c. 1933-39
William Blake,Christ in the Carpenters Shop or The Humility of the Saviour, c. 1803-1805
Letter from Jacob Epstein to Helen Moore, 1901 Jacob Epstein was born in 1880 in New York’s Lower East Side, the child of Jewish-Polish immigrants. In the late 1890s a wealthy New York philanthropist named Helen Moore became Epstein’s first patron, providing financial assistance so that he could develop his artistic practice. During his time in the city, Epstein began to hone his skills, making drawings of the Lower East Side and its inhabitants – two of which can be seen here. However, in a bid to improve his worsening eyesight, Epstein requested some physical labour outside of the polluted air of New York City. Moore helped to arrange for him to cut ice on a lake in rural New Jersey and also to work on a farm in Massachusetts. Epstein wrote a series of letters to Moore during this time, all of which are now held in the Epstein Archive.
Jacob Epstein (1880-1959) The Sweat Shop or Lunch in the Shop, c. 1901-02, Black chalk, GR.76
Rock Drill Sculpture 1913-15, Autobiography manuscript, c. 1935 One of Jacob Epstein’s most iconic works is his sculpture Rock Drill and the Garman Ryan Collection holds one of the preparatory studies for it. Epstein’s vision of Rock Drill changed enormously as the Vorticist dream of a technology-lead future was transformed by the horrors of the First World War. Epstein removed the sculpture’s right arm and dispensed of the drill completely, leaving only the torso. Rock Drill became a mutilated warning from history, rather than a utopian vision of the future. In these pages of notes for his autobiography, Epstein states of Rock Drill: “Here is the armed and menacing man of today and tomorrow. No humanity, only the machine like and terrible Frankenstein we have made ourselves into.”
Jacob Epstein (1880-1959) Study for Rock Drill, c. 1913, Charcoal, GR.72
Newspaper cutting of Kitty Garman leaving court after her divorce from Lucian Freud, 1953 Kitty Garman is the daughter of Kathleen Garman and Jacob Epstein. She married British artist Lucian Freud in 1948 and they have two daughters, Anne and Annabel. In 1954, Kitty and Freud divorced; an unusual and controversial thing to do at the time. Kitty married again in 1957 to the musician and economist Wynne Godley. In 2006, Walsall artist Andrew Tift created a number of portraits of Kitty and won the BP Portrait Prize in the same year.
Lucian Freud (1922- ) Portrait of Kitty, 1948-49, Oil on board, GR.96
Letter from Theo Garman to Kathleen, c. 1943 Theodore Garman was the son of Kathleen Garman and Jacob Epstein and was a prolific artist in his own right. Theo was a conscientious objector during the Second World War and as a result, he was sent to work on a farm in Harting, West Sussex, where his grandmother also lived. Theo wrote regularly to Kathleen throughout this period, telling her of his news and requesting the comforts of home. In this letter, Theo informs Kathleen of an encounter he had with a deserter when working on the fields. Theo suffered from severe mental health problems which were beginning to be recognised by his family at this time and he died of a heart attack aged just 29.
Theodore Garman (1924-1954) Summer Garden, South Harting, 1947, Oil on board, GR.108
Photograph of Esther Garman, c. 1944 Esther Garman was the youngest child of Kathleen Garman and Jacob Epstein. Epstein referred to her as ‘Esther the Beautiful’ and was quoted as saying that he could not have sculpted this 1944 portrait bust of Esther any better. Esther tragically took her own life in 1954 aged just 25. The deaths of her brother Theo and an Italian friend earlier that year took an enormous toll on her.
Jacob Epstein (1880-1959) First Portrait of Esther (with long hair), 1944, Bronze, GR.363
‘Mesopotamian’ Figure, c. 3000-2500 B.C. This sculpture was found in a box of ephemera in the Epstein Archive but there is little known about it. If genuine, the figure is thought be Mesopotamian, dating from around 2500 B.C., but this has not been verified. This figure may have formed part of Jacob Epstein’s famous collection of non-European sculpture, much of which was sold after his death in 1959. The very fact that the Mesopotamian figure was not sold or donated to Walsall with the rest of the collection could suggest that it is a forgery. ‘Mesopotamian’ Figure, c. 2500 B.C.
Frisky ‘Lost’, c. 1960 All the Garman-Epstein family can be found in portraits in the collection, even the family dog Frisky. Frisky accompanied Epstein to his studio every day, even climbing the scaffolding while he was working on the TUC war memorial in 1955. Frisky went missing on a number of occasions and Kathleen used this photograph of him as a ‘lost’ poster to attempt to find the Border Collie after one of his prolonged absences. As the writing on the reverse of the picture shows, Frisky was eventually found, 3 months after his disappearance.
Jacob Epstein (1880-1959) Frisky, the Artist’s Dog, 1953, Bronze, GR.86
The display of the collection at The New Art Gallery Walsall The collection has been divided into themes, as Kathleen requested. Traditionally, art collections have been displayed in date order, to show the development of art from one ‘movement’ to another. In contrast, this thematic display puts works of art from widely different periods, styles, places and cultures alongside one another, encouraging us to look for connections between them. First floor:
Second floor:
- The human figure - Landscape - Animals - Portraits - Trees
- Illustration and symbolism - Religion - Flowers and still life - Work and leisure - Children
The Garman Ryan Collection contains many diverse art works; some are very small and intimate. Many visitors make repeat visits to explore the collection more fully, finding favourite art works which they return to see.
How to find out more
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Visit the Archive Gallery on the first floor to learn more about the Epstein and Garman families and to see artist Bob and Roberta Smith’s reaction to the archive and the collection.
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Visit the Art Library on the mezzanine floor to discover more about the collections at The New Art Gallery Walsall and more broadly about the world of art.
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Cover Image: Performance from Freshly Squeezed: Musical Composition in the Epstein Archive, 10/06/2010. Photo courtesy of Ian Egner.
The New Art Gallery Walsall, Gallery Square, Walsall WS2 8LG 01922 654400 thenewartgallerywalsall.org.uk
This is a New Ways of Curating project
Fully illustrated catalogues of the Garman Ryan collection are available from the shop on the ground floor.