The Epiphany (1973)
A few months ago we were transcribing entries from Richard's sales diary into the catalogue records and came across the contact details of a collector who had bought a work in the 1970s. We had been trying to track down the painting for some time. Just on the off chance we looked the collector's name up via directory enquiries and discovered someone with a similar name still lived at the same address and had the same telephone number. We rang and spoke to a very kind lady who turned out to be a relative of the original purchaser.
One call led to another and we eventually talked with a relative who did in fact own a Eurich, but not the one we were expecting. When the collector sent us a quick snap of their painting we could hardly believe our eyes. It was another work we had been longing to find - The Epiphany (1973)!
A few years ago when author Andrew Lambirth was shortlisting works to include in his critical monograph about Richard, he picked The Epiphany (1973). We knew the picture from a black and white photo in one of Richard's albums and from the cover of a catalogue published by Tooth's. Sadly, neither image was suitable for reproduction in the book and so it had to be dropped from the list.
We are so pleased to have found the painting even though it was too late to include in the book. What's more the collector generously offered to have it professionally photographed.
Here it is. We think the new photo captures the meditative moment that so intrigues us. Our thanks and appreciation go out to the collector for sharing this image with us.
We have yet to track down the original work we were investigating!
