Kathleen Eleonora "Kitty" Garman, later Kitty Epstein and Kitty Godley (27 August 1926 – 11 January 2011), was a British artist and muse. She was a model for her father

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produc ...

, her first husband

Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewis ...

(including '' Portrait of Kitty''), and Andrew Tift. In 2004 she had her own show at

The New Art Gallery Walsall The New Art Gallery Walsall is a modern and contemporary art gallery sited in the centre of the West Midlands town of Walsall, England. It was built with £21 million of public funding, including £15.75 million from the UK National Lottery an ...

Life

She was born in 1926, her father was

, the sculptor, and her mother was

Kathleen Garman Kathleen Esther Garman, Lady Epstein (15 May 1901 – August 1979) was the third of the seven Garman sisters, who were high-profile members of artistic circles in mid-20th century London, renowned for their beauty and scandalous behaviour. She ...

. Her father was married and he would visit her mother in Chelsea between 6 and 7 pm each day. Her mother lived a Bohemian life that was considered unsuitable for bringing up her children. Kitty went to stay with her grandmother Margaret in Herefordshire and her elder sister was also looked after. Her grandmother and her partner Toni Thomas became her bibliophile guardians and Margaret's daughters Lorna and Ruth were her role-models. Her aunt Lorna left her first husband to have an affair with

Laurie Lee Laurence Edward Alan "Laurie" Lee, MBE (26 June 1914 – 13 May 1997) was an English poet, novelist and screenwriter, who was brought up in the small village of Slad in Gloucestershire. His most notable work is the autobiographical trilogy ...

and then with Lucian Freud. Lorna dumped Lee and eventually Freud as well because of his unfaithfulness with other women. Kitty studied at the

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a public art school, school of fine arts, fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central ...

under the tuition of

Bernard Meninsky Bernard Meninsky (25 July 1891–12 February 1950) was a painter of figures and landscapes in oils, watercolour and gouache, a draughtsman and a teacher.. Biography Early life and education Meninsky was born in Konotop, Ukraine, where his fathe ...

and was taught book illustration by

John Farleigh John Farleigh (16 June 1900 – 30 March 1965), also known as Frederick William Charles Farleigh, was an English wood-engraver, noted for his illustrations of George Bernard Shaw's work '' The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for G ...

. Once she was introduced to Lucian Freud at the

Café Royal A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

her own artistic studies took a back seat. Freud had previously been the lover of Kitty's aunt, Lorna Wishart, who introduced Freud to her niece. Their five-year relationship was turbulent, and became increasingly unstable due to Freud's alleged infidelities and womanising, which took their toll on Kitty's health. They had two children, Annie Freud in 1948 and Annabel Freud in 1952. The same year Kitty left Freud and went to live with her parents after Freud started another affair with

Lady Caroline Blackwood Lady Caroline Blackwood (16 July 1931 – 14 February 1996) was an English writer, and the eldest child of the 4th Marquess of Dufferin and Ava and the brewery heiress Maureen Guinness. Active in the literary world through her journalism an ...

. Her elder brother Theodore Garman was a talented painter, who suffered from schizophrenia and died suddenly aged only 29 in 1954, and her younger sister Esther died by suicide in the same year. Her own parents eventually married in 1955, after the death of Epstein's first wife Margaret. In 1955 Kitty married the musician and economist

Wynne Godley Wynne Godley (26 September 192613 May 2010) was an economist famous for his pessimism about the British economy and his criticism of the British government. In 2007, he and Marc Lavoie wrote a book about the " Stock-Flow Consistent" model, an a ...

. Her second husband had studied at the

Paris Conservatoire The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

and he became principal oboist at the

BBC Welsh Orchestra The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) ( cy, Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Gymreig y BBC) is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional radio orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisatio ...

, but his career was ended by his own stage-fright. Her father used her husband's "impossibly handsome" head as the model for his statue of St Michael at the rebuilt

Coventry Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael, commonly known as Coventry Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry within the Church of England. The cathedral is located in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The curren ...

. Wynne Godley would become a leading economist noted for his unheeded warning of global recession. She and her husband had a child, Eve, in 1967. Kitty continued to draw and paint throughout her life and took an active interest in the Walsall gallery until her death. An exhibition of her work was held at the gallery in 2004. Godley suffered from dementia in her last years and died in 2011.

Portraits

Kitty has been the subject of many portraits, including Freud's '' Portrait of Kitty'' (1948–49) and the famous ''Girl with a White Dog'' (1950–51) as well as drawings and sculptures by her father. Much later she was depicted in a

BP Portrait Award The BP Portrait Award is an annual portraiture competition held at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England. It is the successor to the John Player Portrait Award. It is the most important portrait prize in the world, and is reputedly ...

winning triptych by the artist Andrew Tift which was in the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

, butDavid Ward
Tift triptych goes on show in artist's home town
''The Guardian'', 22 May 2007 the triptych is now at the New Art Gallery in Walsall.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garman, Kitty 1926 births 2010 deaths British artists British people of Polish-Jewish descent British women artists Muses Freud family