Dimensions: 65 x 80 cm
Signed l.d.: 'H. Epstein'
Inscribed on the reverse: 'Mlle George [?]'
Origins
Bonhams, London, November 2021
private collection, Poland
Biography
Studied painting for a time in Munich. Around 1911 he moved permanently to Paris, where he attended one of the art studios in Montparnassie. He was friends with Utrill, Chaim Soutin and Amadeo Modigliani. He exhibited at the Independent Salons (1921-23, 1925, 1928), as well as at the Autumn Salon in 1921 and the Tuilerian Salon in 1927-31. At first he was primarily interested in Post-Impressionism - the syntheticism of Paul Gauguin and the Ecole de Pont-Aven. Later he entered the circle of Fauvist painters - André Derain, Maurice Vlaminck and Raoul Dufy, as well as Pablo Picasso and Susanne Valadon. In the paintings of 1915-20, the influences of Cézanne and Cubism are palpable, combined with inspiration from Fauvism and Expressionism. In the 1920s and 1930s, Epstein became increasingly dynamic in his forms, introduced sharp color and chiaroscuro contrasts, and sometimes used expressive contour. He painted mainly landscapes, portraits, still lifes, but also genre compositions with villagers, fishermen or women from the underworld. In 1929-31 Epstein visited Brittany - staying in Quiberon and Concarneau - where he painted paintings and watercolors with views of ports and fishermen, as well as "Breton" still lifes with expressively depicted fish, birds and seafood.
