Deidre
LL 200
Information
Deidre entered Epstein’s home as cook and housekeeper in 1939 and soon became his model. She left in about 1942, married and went to Australia. Little else is known about her. Epstein made three different portraits of Deidre. Here, he shows just her head and the top of her shoulders. This bust has Epstein's characteristic flamboyance, rough surfaces and exaggerated features. The large, heavy-lidded eyes and wide cheekbones and mouth typify his work of the 1940s.
Like the Walker Art Gallery’s bust of Albert Einstein, this portrait was purchased from the dealer Charles Jackson of Manchester in 1948, but for the collection of the Lady Lever Art Gallery.