I saw very ordinary Netflix documentary of Albert Einstein ("Einstein and the Bomb") in February 2024. An important scene (that I liked) there is of Sir Jacob Epstein making his portrait bust in 1933.
I was going through Epstein's book "Let There Be Sculpture", 1940 where he has written about his making of bust of Rabindranath Tagore in 1926.
Epstein writes: "...“I am he that sitteth among the poorest, the loneliest, and the lost.”
This quotation from Gitanjali was strangely contradicted by my sitter, whose handsome, commanding presence inspired in his followers awe and a craven obedience. On entering my house I brought to him for presentation a little Indian boy, Enver, who was living with me. He was the son of Sunita. Tagore looked at him and asked, “A Hindu?” I said, “No, a Moslem,” whereat Rabindranath lifted his eyes to the ceiling and passed on...The manners of Tagore were aloof, dignified, and cold; and if he needed anything only one word of command to his disciples escaped him.
It has been remarked that my bust of him rests upon the beard, an unconscious piece of symbolism."
