List of public art in Glasgow facts for kids
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.
Contents
Cathedral Square
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | ||
James Lumsden | Cathedral Square, Glasgow | 1862 | John Mossman | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and pink granite | Category B | Q17811583 | Lumsden was a stationer, local benefactor and Lord Provost of Glasgow from 1843 to 1846. | ||
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. | ||
Rev Dr Norman Macleod | Cathedral Square, Glasgow | 1881 | John Mossman | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category B | Q17811590 | Cast by Cox & Son. | ||
James White of Overtoun | Cathedral Square, Glasgow | 1890 | John Mossman, completed by Francis Leslie | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category B | Q17811577 | White was a solicitor, businessman and chemicals manufacturer. | ||
James Arthur | Cathedral Square, Glasgow | 1893 | George Anderson Lawson | Statue on pedestal | Bronze on granite | Category B | Q17811569 | 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.
Charing Cross
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abstract mural (untitled) | Bath Lane | 1972 (circa) | Keith McCarter | Relief mural | Concrete | 260 × 2340cm | Q115755300 | 19, 130cm wide pre-cast concrete blocks, made in conjunction with R. Seifert Company and Partnership |
Custom House Quay
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
La Pasionaria, Dolores Ibárruri | Custom House Quay | 1974-79 | Arthur Dooley | Statue on pedestal | Iron and fibreglass | Category B | Commissioned by the International Brigade Association of Scotland. |
Elder Park
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
John Elder | Elder Park | 1888 | Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category B | Q17811104 | |||
Isabella Elder | Elder Park | 1906 | Archibald McFarlane Shannan | Seated statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category A | Q17568709 | Isabella Elder Statue | cast by JW Singer & Sons, stonework by DH & J Newall of Dalbeattie.||
HMS K13 Submariners memorial | Elder Park | 1922 | Robert Gray | Obelisk | Granite |
George Square
George Square is Glasgow's central public square and 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 City Chambers, the former Post Office building, ex-Bank of Scotland and the Merchant's House.
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sir John Moore | George Square | 1819 | John Flaxman | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and Aberdeen granite | Category A | Q17567464 | The Statue of Sir John Moore | was the first statue to be erected in George Square.||
James Watt | George Square | 1832 | Francis Leggatt Chantrey | Seated statue on pedestal | Bronze and Devonshire granite | Category A | Q17567460 | Statue of James Watt (Glasgow) | ||
Sir Walter Scott Memorial Column | George Square | 1837 | John Greenshields (statue) Alexander Handyside Ritchie (statue) David Rhind (column) |
Statue on column and pedestal | Sandstone | Category A | Q43374173 | The Walter Scott Memorial Column | was the first ever statue to Sir Walter Scott.||
Queen Victoria | George Square | 1854 | Carlo Marochetti | Equestrian statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category A | Q17567473 | The Equestrian statue of Victoria (Glasgow) | was the first equestrian statue of a woman in Britain.||
James Oswald | George Square | 1855 | Carlo Marochetti | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category B | Q17792900 | |||
Sir Robert Peel | George Square | 1859 | John Mossman | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category B | Q17792945 | |||
Albert, Prince Consort | George Square | 1866 | Carlo Marochetti | Equestrian statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category A | Q17567468 | Equestrian statue of Albert, Prince Consort (Glasgow) | ||
Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde | George Square | 1867 | John Henry Foley | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category B | Q17792870 | |||
Thomas Graham | George Square | 1871 | William Brodie | Seated statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category B | Q17792967 | |||
Robert Burns | George Square | 1877 | George Edwin Ewing James Alexander Ewing James Alexander Ewing |
Statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category B | Q17792930 | Cast by Cox and Son. | ||
Thomas Campbell | George Square | 1877 | John Mossman | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category B | Q17792852 | |||
William Ewart Gladstone | George Square | 1902 | Hamo Thornycroft | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category B | Q17792886 | Originally erected in front of Glasgow City Chambers, it was relocated to the north side of George Square in 1923 to accommodate the Cenotaph. | ||
Glasgow War Memorial | George Square | 1924 | Ernest Gillick (sculptor) John James Burnet (architect) |
Cenotaph, surround, two statues of recumbent lions | Bronze and Portland stone | Category B | Q17792838 |
Glasgow Harbour
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Rise | Glasgow Harbour | 2008 | Andy Scott | Sculpture | Galvanised steel | 6m high |
Gordon Street
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Citizen Firefighter | Gordon Street | 2001 | Kenny Hunter | Statue | Bronze | Commissioned by the Strathclyde Fire Brigade, three months after it was unveiled (on 17 June 2001) the statue became a focal point for tributes to the firefighters who died in and after the September 11 attacks. |
Ingram Street
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
George Hutcheson | Former Hutchesons' Hospital, Ingram Street | 1649 | James Colquhoun | Statue in alcove | Stone | Category A |
Also on 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.
Kelvingrove Park
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stewart Memorial Fountain | Kelvingrove Park | 1872 | James Sellers (architect), John Mossman (sculptor). | Fountain | Sandstone, marble & granite | Category A | Q17576744 | |||
Saint Mungo as the Patron of Art and Music | Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum | 1901 | George Frampton | Sculpture group | Bronze | Category A | ||||
South African War Memorial | Kelvingrove Park | 1906 | William Birnie Rhind | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and stone | Category B | Q17811618 | |||
Lord Kelvin | Kelvingrove Park | 1913 | Archibald Macfarlane Shannan | Seated statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category B | Q17799924 | |||
Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts | Kelvingrove Park | 1916 | Henry Poole after an original by Harry Bates | Equestrian statue on pedestal | Bronze and stone | Category A | Q17576740 | Roberts Memorial | ||
Thomas Carlyle | Kelvingrove Park | 1916 | William Kellock Brown | Sculpture | Stone | |||||
Cameronians War Memorial | Kelvingrove Park | 1924 | Philip Lindsey Clark | Statue group on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category B | Q17806647 | |||
The Psalmist | Honeyman Memorial Garden, Kelvingrove Park | 1972 | Benno Schotz | Sculpture | Bronze |
Partick Interchange
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G.I. Bride | Partick station | 2011 | Ranald MacColl | Statue | Bronze resin | 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. |
Royal Exchange Square
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Duke of Wellington monument | Royal Exchange Square | 1844 | Carlo Marochetti | Equestrian statue on pedestal | Bronze and Peterhead granite | Category A | Q7981506 | Capping the statue with a traffic cone has become a traditional practice in the city but due to minor damage to the statue and the potential for injury, the practice has been discouraged by Glasgow City Council and Strathclyde Police. |
Springburn Park
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unicorn & column | Springburn Park | Late 19th century | Sculpture on column | Terracotta | Category B | Q17811040 | ||||
James Reid (1823–1894) | Springburn Park | 1903 | Goscombe John | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and granite | Category B | Q17811051 |
Victoria Park
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Partick & Whiteinch war memorial | Victoria Park | 1922 | Francis William Doyle Jones | Statue on obelisk | Bronze and stone | 8m tall | Category C | Q77782061 |
Woodlands Road
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Dimensions | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lobey Dosser | Woodlands Road | 1992 | Ranald MacColl (designer), Tony Morrow & Nick Gillion (sculptors) | Statue | Bronze | Statue of cartoon characters created by Bud Neill. 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. |