This term we have welcomed the arrival of a Bust of Albert Einstein by the famous British sculptor Jacob Epstein (1890-1959). The bust was gifted to the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish studies by Patricia Leonie Isaacs, Leonie Patricia Phillips and Phil Phillips.
Epstein and Einstein met in 1933 in Norfolk, where Einstein fled from Berlin. It is said that Einstein smoked during the sitting, so much so that Epstein had to ask him to stop so that Epstein could see Einstein’s face clearly. In 1933 Einstein moved to Princeton, before the bust was completed.
The Bust is a bronze cast and there are several copies of the bust in existence, including the Tate Modern: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/epstein-albert-einstein-n04754
The Fitzwilliam museum, Cambridge: http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/pharos/collection_pages/20th_pages/M.7-1933/TXT_SE-M.7-1933.html
There are also copies of the Bust in the science Museum, galleries in Birmingham and Liverpool and Australia and USA.
It is a great privilege to have this wonderful piece of art at the Centre and it will be greatly treasured.