Painter and draughtsman, son of the artist Jacob Epstein and his most famous model, Kathleen Garman. His sister Kitty Garman was also an artist. A gifted child, he aspired to an academic career after Oxford University. In preparation for this he did a correspondence course after leaving school while, as a conscientious objector in World War II, working as a cowhand in Sussex, and intensively painting, the result being a severe breakdown. Continued to paint, living in London, and had two exhibitions, at Redfern Gallery, in 1950–2. His work was much admired by Wyndham Lewis, Kenneth Clark and Matthew Smith, who called Garman a “genius”. An unworldly man, Garman was familiar with the art treasures of Europe and was, like his father, a fervent collector, concentrating on medieval religious pieces.

Text source: 'Artists in Britain Since 1945' by David Buckman (Art Dictionaries Ltd, part of Sansom & Company)


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