Jacob Epstein Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 19 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produced controversial works which challenged ideas on what was appropriate subject matter for public artworks. He also made paintings and drawings, and often exhibited his work. Epstein's parents, Max and Mary Epstein, were Polish Jewish refugees, living on New York's Lower East Side. His family was middle-class, and he was the third of five children. His interest in
Jacob Epstein (banker) the favor of the Russian government, as is evidenced by his appointment as banker of the treasury commission of the Kingdom of Poland in 1838. Epstein was the founder and president of the Jewish hospital at Warsaw, on which he spent large sums and which he raised to a high standard of efficiency. Tsar Nicholas I, who visited the institution, conferred on Epstein the title of "hereditary honorary citizen." The high respect in which Epstein was held by the Christian population of Warsaw is best indicated by his election to membership in the commission of charities, which consisted mostly of