Art Funded by you

See Esther, Walsall's Mona Lisa

Bob and Roberta Smith, 2010

This series of wall paintings was created during the artist's third residency period at New Art Gallery Walsall and in many ways represents the summation of his two-year residency period. Smith has been involved in an extended project at Walsall working in partnership with an archivist to explore the undocumented Joseph Epstein Archive which has resulted in an online archive and 40 artworks. Smith expressed an interest in ‘creating’ a myth around a single piece of work in the collection and selected Jacob Epstein's portrait Esther, saying that people should come to Walsall to see Esther in the same way that people go to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa. Comprising four panels, this piece deals specifically with Jacob Epstein’s first portrait sculpture of his daughter, Esther, then aged 15. It is not clear whether Esther, whose life was cut tragically short, would have known that Epstein was her father at this stage, and Smith saw the sculpture as portraying a teenager resisting the inquisitive gaze of her father. The boards tell the story of Esther’s life, of the strains that were put on her in the months leading up to her suicide, and of Smith’s first encounter with Epstein’s sculpture.

More information

Title of artwork, date

See Esther, Walsall's Mona Lisa, 2010

Date supported

2012

Medium and material

Wood, gloss paint and enamel paint

Dimensions

Four panels, 200 x 200 x 10 cm each

Grant

8000

Total cost

40000

Content note: This object record is part of our archive and has not been updated since it was first published. It may contain inaccurate information or outdated language. Please get in touch if you think this record should be amended.

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