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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Jonathan Jones

Menacing machine: Jacob Epstein's Torso in Metal from the Rock Drill

Jacob Epstein's Torso in Metal from the Rock Drill
A science-fiction monster turns its long metal snout sideways as it scans the wreckage of some endless robot war. The 20th century is an age of steel and warfare in Epstein’s terrifying vision. This is one of the few British works that belong in the pantheon of the greatest modern art. It anticipates the dehumanising logic of trench combat that was about to massacre the youth of Europe in the first world war, and still resonates as an image of technology come to life
Illustration: Photographer: Jonathan Hordle/Rex Features
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