Sir Jacob Epstein

Leicester Galleries, London, where acquired by Wilfrid A. Evill in 1935 for £120.0.0, by whom bequeathed to Honor Frost in 1963

London, Royal Albert Hall, 3rd Allied Artists' Association Exhibition, 1910, cat. no.1199 (as The Dreamer, nude study) (original plaster version);
London, Fine Art Society, 1911 (another cast);
London, The Leicester Galleries, Fifty Years of Bronzes and Drawings by Sir Jacob Epstein, 10th June- 7th July 1960, cat. no.7 (as The Dreamer);
London, The Home of Wilfrid A. Evill, Contemporary Art Society, Pictures, Drawings, Water Colours and Sculpture, April - May 1961, (part I- section 3) cat. no.20 (as Dawn);
Edinburgh, Waverley Market, Epstein Memorial Exhibition, August - September, 1961;
Brighton, Brighton Art Gallery, The Wilfrid Evill Memorial Exhibition, June - August 1965, cat. no.31a;
Leeds, Leeds City Art Galleries, Jacob Epstein: Sculpture and Drawings, 16th April - 21st June 1987, cat. no.18, p.117 illustrated (another cast), p.120, with tour to Whitechapel Art Gallery, London.

Arnold Haskell, The Sculptor Speaks, Jacob Epstein to Arnold Haskell, Heinemann, London, 1931, p.167;
Robert Black, The Art of Jacob Epstein, World Publishing Company, New York and Cleveland, 1942, cat. no.16, p.228;
Jacob Epstein, Let There Be Sculpture, Michael Joseph, London, 1940, p.56;
Jacob Epstein, Epstein: An Autobiography, Hulton, London, 1955, p.42;
Richard Buckle, Jacob Epstein Sculptor, Faber and Faber, London, 1963, p.424, illustrated pls.83, 86, pp.58-59 (another cast); 
Evelyn Silber, The Sculpture of Epstein, Phaidon, Oxford, 1986, cat. no.36, p.129, illustrated (another cast).

The work has been cast in two parts. Dirt has gathered in some of the crevices but the sculpture is in good overall condition. Please telephone the department on 020 7293 5381 if you have any questions regarding the present work
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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Nan Condron, the Gypsy model, was one of Epstein's most important early subjects. She was a professional artist's model and had posed for William Orpen and William Rothenstein before devoting herself to Epstein - her only demand being a weekly visit to the music hall. She was a physical presence, tall and lean with unusual bone structure, possessing both a vulnerability and an inner strength. She was, as Silber writes, 'the prototypical "Epstein model."'

Of the drawings Epstein made of Nan, two studies relate closely to the present work (one whereabouts unknown, the other with The Syndics of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge). Nan, The Dreamer is therefore a carefully worked out anatomical study and possesses a natural, lyrical quality in the sequence of folded limbs, the animated extended right foot and the curled right fingers.