Jacob Epstein of Epstein's early commissions is "Oscar Wilde's tomb" in Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, "which was condemned as indecent and at one point was covered in tarpaulin by the French police." Between 1913 and 1915, Epstein was associated with the short-lived Vorticism movement and produced one of his best known sculptures "The Rock Drill". In 1915, John Quinn, wealthy American collector and patron to the modernists, bought some Epstein sculptures to add to his private collection. In 1916, Epstein was commissioned by Viscount Tredegar to produce a bronze head of Newport poet W. H. Davies. The bronze, regarded by many as
Dorothy Hepworth from Hepworth's wealthy father to purchase a house there, but Hepworth's father lost his fortune in the stock market crash of 1929. Hepworth's father died in 1930, and afterward, Hepworth and Preece experienced much difficulty trying to pay for the mortgage of their home. Preece and Hepworth were closeted, as was typical in those days, and they sometimes claimed to be sisters. Hepworth and Preece maintained their relationship after Preece's 1937 marriage to the painter Stanley Spencer, who was obsessed with her. Preece took Hepworth on her honeymoon, while Spencer stayed home to work on a painting. Preece and Hepworth