Returning the Churchill Bust: President Obama's actions were entirely appropriate.

The headline-hungry press would have you think otherwise but the return of Jacob Epstein's sculpture of Winston Churchill to the British Ambassador was perfectly appropriate.

The piece had been lent to the previous president for the term of his office - and that period is (thankfully) over.

Barack Obama's timing was ideal since his replacement of the Churchill bust with a likeness of Abraham Lincoln coincided nicely with Presidents' Day and the opening weeks of a new administration.

The Churchill bust itself is interesting because - for those of us who remember Epstein's impact on the art world - it demonstrates a lively departure from the formal sculpture of previous decades. Early in his career, Epstein's experimental sculpture work was often met with derision for its lively, non-traditional form. But gradually, the public came to appreciate and embrace his vigorous creations.

BRINGING SCULPTURE BACK TO LIFE.

Together with artists such as Eric Gill and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Jacob Epstein sought to revitalise traditional sculpture, seeking to reinvigorate the medium with new form and texture.

They promoted the practice of ‘direct carving’, developing their ideas directly in stone, instead of copying a clay model. They sought to reflect the nature of the material in hand, creating forms responsive to their medium's shape and grain. In time, Epstein moved on to work in his own style, finding life in the wet clay and capturing the fleeting moments that define each human form.

A NEW INTERPRETATION OF SCULPTURAL FORM.

The modelling of realistic portraits in clay (for instance his Self-Portrait of 1920) became an important part of his work, running parallel with his non-naturalistic stone carving. But since his interpretation of humanity was far from the conventional forms of sculpture, it earned him enemies.

Critics accused him of creating figures which were deliberately ugly, deformed and obscene. They said that he demeaned the themes of motherhood, commemoration and religious suffering which characterised his impressive body of work.

Epstein retorted that everything is beautiful, and that moreover his purpose was to express emotions beyond beauty.

After the Second World War, when he was no longer Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill lived opposite Epstein. In 1946, Churchill visited Epstein's studio in three sittings for a bronze bust. Three further sittings took place at Chartwell, Churchill's home in Kent.

A GENIAL HOST.

Epstein described Churchill as "extremely genial and a most hospitable host." He also observed that Churchill's library "seemed to consist of books on Napoleon and his ancestor the first Duke of Marlborough."

It was from these sittings that the bust of Churchill was developed, eventually becoming part of the British Government's art collection.

Setting aside all the media silliness, it is interesting to note that Epstein (1880-1959), was himself born in America, the son of Polish Jewish immigrants who ran a successful business on the lower East side of New York. He moved to Paris, then considered the world capital of art, to study at the city’s famous art schools. But in 1905, a trip to the British Museum in London, with its treasure trove of art from all parts of the globe, persuaded him to settle in Britain.

BECOMING BRITISH.

The country became his home. In 1911, he acquired British citizenship. His two wives and five children were British, and in 1954 he was knighted, the ultimate honour reserved for British subjects.

After his death, the sculptor Henry Moore paid tribute to Epstein’s courage as a pioneering artist who bore the brunt of critical derision but who, by facing controversy, made it far easier for other sculptors, such as himself, to follow in his wake.