List_of_public_art_in_Trafalgar_Square_and_the_vicinity

List of public art in Trafalgar Square and the vicinity

List of public art in Trafalgar Square and the vicinity

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This is a list of public art in and around Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London.

The equestrian statue of Charles I, with Nelson's Column and the National Gallery in the background.

Charing Cross, at the junction of Strand and Whitehall, was the site of the first public monument in what is now the City of Westminster,[1] the cross commissioned by Edward I late in the 13th century in memory of his queen, Eleanor of Castile. Destroyed by order of the Long Parliament in 1647,[2] the Eleanor cross was replaced after the Restoration by the equestrian statue of Charles I by Hubert Le Sueur, the oldest public sculpture now standing in the borough.[3] In 1865 a facsimile of the cross was erected in the forecourt of Charing Cross railway station. Charing Cross was declared the official centre of London in 1831[4] and a plaque marking this status was installed near Le Sueur's statue in 1955.[5]

Immediately to the north of Charing Cross lies Trafalgar Square, one of London's most famous public spaces.[6] Conceived as part of John Nash's urban improvements, the square was initially developed from the 1820s onwards.[7] Its centrepiece, Nelson's Column, was constructed in 1839–1842. Charles Barry's 1840 redesign of the square provided plinths for equestrian monuments to George IV and William IV, but sufficient funds were never raised for the latter statue.[8] Most of the memorials since added have had a military or naval flavour, an exception being the statue of the physician Edward Jenner, erected in 1858 but moved to Kensington Gardens only four years later. Another work which originally stood on the square is Hamo Thornycroft's statue of General Gordon; this was removed during World War II and reinstalled on the Victoria Embankment in 1953.

Since 1999 the formerly empty fourth plinth on Trafalgar Square has become London's most prominent showcase for temporary new sculpture.[9]

Map of public art in Trafalgar Square and the vicinity

Charing Cross

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Charing Cross station

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Cockspur Street

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St Martin's Place

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The architectural sculpture of the National Portrait Gallery, on St Martin's Place and Irving Street, is the work of the sculptor Frederick C. Thomas.[18] The three busts over the original main entrance are of the principal supporters of the foundation of the gallery,[19] and the remaining busts are of other biographical writers, historians and portraitists.[18] The architect Ewan Christian's original design for the gallery included a frieze of figures from British history on the top storey, but this was abandoned to save money.[20]

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Trafalgar Square

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The architectural sculpture of the National Gallery was originally intended for John Nash's Marble Arch. Construction of the latter was begun in 1827 but ceased after the death of George IV in 1830.[46]

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St Martin-in-the-Fields

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South Africa House

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See also


References

  1. Mace 2005, p. 23.
  2. White 2011, p. 101.
  3. "Charing Cross". Oxford Index. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  4. Trafalgar Square. Greater London Authority. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  5. Mace 2005, p. 111.
  6. "Public art in London". Museum of London blog. Museum of London. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  7. Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 288–291.
  8. "Drawing". British Museum Collection Database. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  9. Historic England. "Queen Eleanor Memorial Cross (1236708)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  10. "Sculptural Decoration on Norway House by Louis Frederick Roslyn (1878–1934)". The Victorian Web. 9 August 2011. Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  11. Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 245–258.
  12. Duffy, Ellie (12 May 2023). "Gallery redrawn: National Portrait Gallery renovation in London, UK by Jamie Fobert Architects". The Architectural Review. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  13. Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 293–295.
  14. Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 278–279.
  15. Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 280–281.
  16. Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 281–282.
  17. Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 283–284.
  18. Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 284–287.
  19. Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 300–303.
  20. "Jellicoe & Beatty". London Remembers. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  21. Drinking Fountain. Art UK. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  22. "Bust of Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope by Franta Belsky". Your Archives. The National Archives. Archived from the original on 24 February 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  23. Pearson, Lynn. "Postwar murals database". Academia.edu. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  24. "Tile mural in Trafalgar Square, London". The Joy of Shards. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  25. Conlin 2006, p. 375.
  26. Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 291–293.
  27. The National Gallery, London. Art UK. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  28. Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 299–300.
  29. "John Law Baker fountain". London Remembers. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  30. "St Martin-in-the-Fields Churchyard". London Gardens Online. London Parks & Gardens Trust. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  31. "Boys of St Martin's School". War Memorials Online. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  32. Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 248–249.
  33. St Martin-in-the-Fields Poem. Modus Operandi. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  34. "Two die in gap year accidents". BBC News. 28 October 2004. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  35. Ben Weinreb, ed. (2008). The London Encyclopaedia (Third ed.). pp. 866–876. ISBN 978-1-4050-4924-5.
  36. WHEELER, SIR CHARLES Archived 6 October 2011 at archive.today Accessed 23 August 2010

Bibliography

  • Blackwood, John (1989). London's Immortals: The Complete Outdoor Commemorative Statues. London and Oxford: Savoy Press. ISBN 978-0951429600.
  • Bradley, Simon; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2003). London 6: Westminster. The Buildings of England. London and New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09595-1.
  • Conlin, Jonathan (2006). The Nation's Mantelpiece: A History of the National Gallery. London: Pallas Athene. ISBN 978-1-84368-018-5.
  • Crookham, Alan (2009). The National Gallery. An Illustrated History. London: National Gallery Company. ISBN 9-781-85709-463-3.
  • Hulme, Graham; Buchanan, Brian; Powell, Kenneth (2000). The National Portrait Gallery: An Architectural History. London: National Portrait Gallery Publications. ISBN 9781855142930.
  • Mace, Rodney (2005). Trafalgar Square: Emblem of Empire. London: Lawrence and Wishart. ISBN 1-905007-11-6.
  • Ovenden, Mark (2013). London Underground by Design. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-1846144172.
  • Ward-Jackson, Philip (2011). Public Sculpture of Historic Westminster: Volume 1. Public Sculpture of Britain. Vol. 14. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-84631-691-3.
  • Webb, Brian; Skipwith, Peyton (2009). David Gentleman: Design. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club. ISBN 978-1851495955.

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