Kitty Garman

Kathleen Eleonora Garman (later Epstein and Godley; 27 August 1926 – 11 January 2011) was a British artist and muse. She was a model for her father Jacob Epstein, her first husband Lucian Freud (including Portrait of Kitty), and Andrew Tift. In 2004, she had her own show at The New Art Gallery Walsall.

Life Kitty Garman was born in 1926; her father was Jacob Epstein, the sculptor, and her mother was Kathleen Garman. The married Epstein would visit Kitty's mother in Chelsea between 6pm and 7pm 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.

Kitty studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts under the tuition of Bernard Meninsky and was taught book illustration by John Farleigh. Once she was introduced to Lucian Freud at the Café Royal 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.

In 1955, Kitty married the musician and economist Wynne Godley. Her second husband had studied at the Paris Conservatoire 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. An exhibition of her work was held at the gallery in 2004. She 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 winning triptych by the artist Andrew Tift which was in the National Portrait Gallery, London. The triptych is now at The New Art Gallery in Walsall.