List of public art in Glasgow
Public statues in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland, have been used to display the wealth and history of the city over centuries. The most prominent are those erected by the municipality or by public subscription, but others adorn the façades of the great commercial buildings.
Cathedral Square
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
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William II of Scotland (William of Orange) | Cathedral Square, Glasgow | 1735 | Unknown | Equestrian statue on pedestal | Bronze and stone | Category A | Q17567391 | Statue first erected at Glasgow Cross in 1735, at the expense of James Macrae, a Governor of Madras, and was moved to its present site in 1923.[1] | |
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James Lumsden | Cathedral Square, Glasgow | 1862 | John Mossman | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and pink granite | Lumsden was a stationer, local benefactor and Lord Provost of Glasgow from 1843 to 1846 | |||
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David Livingstone | Cathedral Square, Glasgow | 1879 | John Mossman | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category B | Q17811564 | Originally erected in George Square. Re-erected across from Provand's Lordship in 1959. Re-erected in current location in 1990.[2] | |
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Rev Dr Norman Macleod | Cathedral Square, Glasgow | 1881 | John Mossman | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category B | Q17811590 | Cast by Cox & Son.[3] | |
James White of Overtoun | Cathedral Square, Glasgow | 1890 | John Mossman Francis Leslie |
Statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | White was a solicitor, businessman and chemicals manufacturer. | ||||
James Arthur | 1893 | George Anderson Lawson | Statue on pedestal | Bronze on granite | Arthur was a clothing manufacturer. |
Other figures portrayed include St Paul, St Peter and the Four Evangelists on the facade of the Barony North (Glasgow Evangelical) Church to the east of the square – 1878-80 by McCulloch of London.
The nearby Glasgow Necropolis is a "garden" cemetery opened in 1833, in imitation of Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, has a number of statues associated with the funerary monuments of the rich and famous buried there. Most of these are private or religious statues, but the hilltop location is dominated by a large monument to John Knox erected in 1825. It consists of a 12 ft high statue of Knox, designed by Robert Forrest, atop a high Doric column by Thomas Hamilton.
Custom House Quay
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
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La Pasionaria, Dolores Ibárruri | Custom House Quay | 1979 | Arthur Dooley | Statue on pedestal | Iron and fibreglass | Commissioned by the International Brigade Association of Scotland |
George Square is Glasgow's central public square, in which stands the landmark City Chambers. The square was laid out in 1782, with houses appearing between 1784 and 1820. Many of these later became hotels, especially after the opening of Queen Street Station. Only one of the original houses remains - the Millennium Hotel beside the station. The square is now a magnificent public space dominated by the aforesaid City Chambers, the ex-Post Office, ex-Bank of Scotland and the Merchant's House.
Image | Title / Subject | Date | Artist | Type | Material | Notes |
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Monument to Sir John Moore | 16 August 1819 | John Flaxman | Statue on pedestal | Bronze on grey Aberdeen granite | First statue to be erected in George Square | |
Monument to James Watt | 1832 | Francis Leggatt Chantrey | Seated statue on pedestal | Bronze on white Devonshire granite | ||
Monument to Sir Walter Scott | 1837 | John Greenshields (statue) Alexander Handyside Ritchie (statue) David Rhind (column) |
Statue on column | Blonde sandstone | First ever statue to Sir Walter Scott | |
Monument to Queen Victoria | 1854 | Carlo Marochetti | Equestrian statue on pedestal | Bronze on red and grey granite | Originally erected in St Vincent Place. Re-erected in George Square in 1865. First equestrian statue of a woman in Britain | |
Monument to James Oswald | 1856 | Carlo Marochetti | Statue on pedestal | Bronze on pink and white granite | Originally erected at Charing Cross. Re-erected in George Square in 1875 | |
Monument to Sir Robert Peel | 28 June 1859 | John Mossman | Statue on pedestal | Bronze on granite | ||
Equestrian Monument to Prince Albert | 18 October 1866 | Carlo Marochetti | Equestrian statue on pedestal | Bronze on pink and grey granite | ||
Monument to Field Marshal Lord Clyde | 1867 | John Henry Foley | Statue on pedestal | Bronze on granite | ||
Monument to Thomas Graham | 1871 | William Brodie | Seated statue on pedestal | Bronze on granite | ||
Monument to Robert Burns | 25 January 1877 | George Edwin Ewing James Alexander Ewing |
Statue on pedestal | Bronze on grey granite | ||
Monument to Thomas Campbell | 29 December 1877 | John Mossman | Statue on pedestal | Bronze on grey granite | ||
Monument to William Ewart Gladstone | 11 October 1902 | Hamo Thornycroft | Statue on pedestal | Bronze on grey granite | Statue wears the robes of the Rector of the University of Glasgow. Originally erected in front of Glasgow City Chambers, it was relocated to the north side of George Square in 1923 to accommodate the Cenotaph | |
The Cenotaph | 31 May 1924 | Ernest Gillick (sculptor) John James Burnet (architect) |
Colossal truncated obelisk, stone sarcophagus and two recumbent lions |
Bronze and grey Kenmay granite |
Gordon Street
The Citizen Firefighter statue is a bronze sculpture made by sculptor Kenny Hunter and commissioned by the Strathclyde Fire Brigade. The statue depicts a firefighter and represents a tribute to all firefighters past and present who have served in the Strathclyde Fire & Rescue. Three months after it was unveiled (on 17 June 2001) the statue became a focal point for the people of Glasgow to leave flowers and tributes to the firefighters who died in and after the events of Tuesday September 11 in New York.[4]
Image | Title / Subject | Date | Artist | Type | Material | Notes |
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Citizen Firefighter | 17 June 2001 | Kenny Hunter | Statue | Bronze |
In Royal Exchange Square, outside the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art and forming an end to Ingram Street, is an equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington]]. Capping the statue with a traffic cone has become a traditional practice in the city, claimed to represent the humour of the local population and believed to date back to the first half of the 1970s if not before. The statue is a Category-A listed monument and due to minor damage and the potential for injury that the placing of cones involves, the practice has been discouraged by Glasgow City Council and Strathclyde Police in recent years.[5]
Image | Title / Subject | Date | Artist | Type | Material | Notes |
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Monument to the Duke of Wellington | 8 October 1844 | Carlo Marochetti | Equestrian statue on pedestal | Bronze on grey Peterhead granite |
Ingram Street
In Ingram Street is Hutchesons' Hospital, on which are the two oldest statues in Glasgow. They are 17th-century statues of the two brothers, taken from the original hospital building. George Hutcheson is pictured on the right. Further along Ingram Street is the Italian Centre displaying rather classical looking modern statues by Alexander Stoddart. Inside the centre a distinctively modern man is rather amusingly struck by the same object of interest as his dog.
Woodlands Road
Statue of the cartoon character Lobey Dosser as a tribute to his creator Bud Neill, erected by the citizens of Glasgow. The statue depicts Lobey Dosser, the Sheriff of Calton Creek, taking in his handcuffed arch-enemy Rank Bajin, on his horse El Fideldo (Elfie) which only has two legs. Claimed to be the only two-legged equestrian statue in the world.
Partick Interchange
Bud Neill's G.I. Bride character from the Lobey Dosser series is depicted with her baby Ned, forever trying to thumb a lift from Calton Creek in Arizona back to Partick. The statue was erected in Partick station in 2011.[6]
Bibliography
- McKenzie, R., Sculpture in Glasgow:an illustrated handbook Glasgow The Foulis Archive Press 1999 ISBN 0-9537149-0-X.
- Williamson, E., Riches, A., and Higgs, M., The Buildings of Scotland: Glasgow Penguin Books London 1990 ISBN 0-300-09674-7.
References
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Cathedral Square, Statue of William III (Category A Listed Building) (LB32660)". Retrieved 5 July 2020.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Cathedral Square, Statue of David Livingstone (Category B Listed Building) (LB32655)". Retrieved 5 July 2020.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Cathedral Square, Statue to Reverend Norman Macleod (Category B Listed Building) (LB32661)". Retrieved 5 July 2020.
- ^ http://www.communitywalk.com/location/citizen_firefighter/sculpture/2127121
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4264683.stm
- ^ "Home at last! - Corporate Information - Strathclyde Partnership for Transport". SPT. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2016.