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Hélène: M.11-1931

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Current Location: In storage

Titles

Hélène

Maker(s)

Sculptor: Epstein, Jacob

Entities

Categories

Description

Bronze. Hair is parted in the centre with a bun at back; a low cut dress, off the shoulders, and both arms to the elbow; the hands clasped in front of the left breast are detached. The head is bent forward and tilted slightly to the left.

no. 1 of an edition of 3, with later additional casts know

Legal notes

Given by A.E. Anderson

Measurements and weight

Height: 53.4 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1931) by Anderson, A.E.

Dating

20th Century
George V
Production date: AD 1919

Note

The model for this bust, Hélène, was of dual ethnic heritage and married to the musician W. Yellin. The half-smile, gentle expression and demure gesture of her hands clasped to her breast recall images of women made during the Italian Renaissance, and imbue the portrait with a calm spirituality and lyricism. Here, as in other post-War portraits, Epstein rejected the smooth geometric forms of earlier heads in favour of a roughly-modelled surface, which broke up the light. Although some critics deplored this 'mud-pie' effect, others hailed Epstein as 'the greatest modeller since Rodin'.

People, subjects and objects depicted

Project

  • Sculpture UK

Materials used in production

Bronze

Techniques used in production

Casting (process) : Bronze, cast and patinated

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: M.11-1931
Primary reference Number: 12312
External ID: CAM_CCF_M_11_1931

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Wednesday 23 July 2025

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Hélène" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/12312 Accessed: 2025-12-05 11:10:24

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/12312 |title=Hélène |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 11:10:24|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-12312

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa29/M_11_1931_1_mas.jpg"
        alt="Hélène"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Hélène</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>

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