Embracing the Exotic

Jacob Epstein and Dora Gordine were members of the group of talented Anglo-Jewish artists - the Whitechapel Boys and their associates - who were all born, raised or worked in London's East End during the first three decades of the twentieth century. They had a significant impact on twentieth-century British art and their contribution to British Modernism was especially valuable. This fascinating comparison of two contrasting British-based emigre sculptors examines how both figures responded to and were inspired by non-Western cultures in much of their work to create an extraordinarily rich and sophisticated visual vocabulary, which resonates as much in today's multicultural society as it did some seventy years ago. An illuminating introduction by Sir Anthony Caro and contributions from scholars including the writer and critic Richard Cork, Dr. Jonathan Black, current AHRB Research Fellow at Kingston University (home of the Gordine archive), Brenda Martin, Curator, Dorich House, and Victor Arwas, writer, gallerist and collector uncover new insights into hitherto little-researched aspects of Epstein's career, and rediscover the long-neglected talents of Gordine. Published in collaboration with the Ben Uri Gallery, the publication coincides with an exhibition of the sculpture, ethnographic pieces and works on paper of the artists at the Ben Uri Gallery, the London Jewish Museum of Art.Epstein, Jacob is the author of 'Embracing the Exotic ', published 2007 under ISBN 9781901092639 and ISBN 1901092631.