List of public art in Strand, London

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

Strand has linked Westminster with the City of London since the time of the Anglo-Saxons.[1] Aldwych is a crescent at its eastern end created during urban improvements in the early 20th century. Among the examples of architectural sculpture in this area, Jacob Epstein's reliefs of the Ages of Man for Zimbabwe House (originally the British Medical Association building) are of particular note. These were the sculptor's first major works in Britain and the subject of heated controversy due to the figures' nudity in a public setting.[2]

On the campus of the London School of Economics, much of the public art was bequeathed to the university in 2005 by Louis Odette, a Canadian alumnus who also founded the Windsor Sculpture Park in Windsor, Ontario. He bequeathed a total of 13 works, mainly by Canadian sculptors, to the institution. Not all of those works are within the remit of this list, as some are situated indoors or in the adjacent borough of Camden.[3]

Map of public art in Strand

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates 		Date Artist / designer Architect / other Type Designation Notes
Bust of Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex Devereux Court 1676 c. 1676 Attributed to Caius Gabriel Cibber Bust Grade II [4]

More images 		Statue of George III Somerset House, Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court

51°30′41″N 0°07′03″W / 51.5113°N 0.1174°W / 51.5113; -0.1174 (Statue of George III) 		1790 c. 1790 John Bacon William Chambers Sculptural groups Grade I The King, in the upper group, leans on a rudder and is flanked by a British lion and the prow of a classical barge; the Thames is represented below him as a river god. The maritime theme refers both to the function of the building, as offices for the Royal Navy (among other institutions), and to the King himself as steering the ship of state.[5]
Lions sejant The Law Society, Chancery Lane 1852 (original model) Alfred Stevens Charles Holden Iron railing finials Grade II* Copies of the figures originally designed for the (now removed) dwarf-posts outside the British Museum, incorporated by Holden into his Law Society extension of 1902–1904. The same design also appears on the railings surrounding Stevens's magnum opus, the Duke of Wellington's tomb in St Paul's Cathedral (completed in 1912).[6][7]
Kaled (also known as Lara's Page or Kaled on the Morning of Lara's Battle) 193 Fleet Street 1872–1873 Giuseppe Grandi Archer & Green Statue in niche Grade II [8]

More images 		Architectural sculpture 193 Fleet Street 1883 Houghton of Great Portland Street Archer & Green Architectural sculpture Grade II [8]
Truth, Justice, Liberty and Mercy The Law Society 1902–1904 Charles Pibworth Charles Holden Architectural sculpture Grade II* [9]

More images 		Statue of Peter II, Count of Savoy Savoy Hotel, Strand 1904 (erected) Frank Lynn Jenkins Thomas Edward Collcutt Statue Grade II [10]

More images 		Memorial to William Ewart Gladstone Strand, in front of St Clement Danes

51°30′47″N 0°06′53″W / 51.5130°N 0.1146°W / 51.5130; -0.1146 (Memorial to William Ewart Gladstone) 		1905 William Hamo Thornycroft John Lee Memorial with statue and other sculpture Grade II Unveiled 4 November 1905. Allegorical figures around the base represent Courage, Education, Aspiration and Brotherhood. Also represented are the arms of Gladstone's constituencies, Midlothian, Oxford University, the Duchy of Lancaster and Newark.[11]
Architectural sculpture on Milford Lane Milford Lane, near the junction with Strand

51°30′46″N 0°06′49″W / 51.5128°N 0.1137°W / 51.5128; -0.1137 (Architectural sculpture on Milford Lane) 		c. 1900–1925 Henry Poole — Repurposed architectural sculpture — Commissioned for the offices of the United Kingdom Provident Institution, demolished in the 1970s.[12]
Architectural sculpture on Milford Lane Milford Lane, opposite Little Essex Street

51°30′45″N 0°06′48″W / 51.5124°N 0.1134°W / 51.5124; -0.1134 (Architectural sculpture on Milford Lane) 		c. 1900–1925 Henry Poole — Repurposed architectural sculpture — Commissioned for the offices of the United Kingdom Provident Institution, demolished in the 1970s.[12]
Architectural sculpture on Milford Lane Milford Lane, at junction with Tweezer's Alley

51°30′44″N 0°06′47″W / 51.5121°N 0.1131°W / 51.5121; -0.1131 (Architectural sculpture on Milford Lane) 		c. 1900–1925 Henry Poole — Repurposed architectural sculpture — Commissioned for the offices of the United Kingdom Provident Institution, demolished in the 1970s.[12]

More images 		The Ages of Man 429 Strand (Zimbabwe House) 1907–1908 Jacob Epstein Charles Holden Reliefs Grade II*

More images 		Statue of Samuel Johnson Strand, behind St Clement Danes

51°30′48″N 0°06′49″W / 51.5132°N 0.1136°W / 51.5132; -0.1136 (Statue of Samuel Johnson) 		1910 Percy Hetherington Fitzgerald — Statue Grade II Unveiled 4 August 1910. Fitzgerald was an amateur sculptor and something of a self-appointed authority on Dr Johnson, who was a parishioner of St Clement's. A portrait medallion of James Boswell is set into the pedestal, which is a post-war replacement for the original.[13]

More images 		The Prosperity of Australia Left of the main entrance of Australia House, Aldwych/Strand 1915–1918 Harold Parker Alexander Marshall Mackenzie Architectural sculpture Grade II [14]

More images 		The Awakening of Australia Right of the main entrance of Australia House, Aldwych/Strand 1915–1918 Harold Parker Alexander Marshall Mackenzie Architectural sculpture Grade II [14]

More images 		Phoebus Driving the Horses of the Sun Australia House, Aldwych/Strand 1919; erected 1923 Bertram Mackennal Alexander Marshall Mackenzie Architectural sculpture Grade II [14] [15]

More images 		Civil Service Rifles War Memorial Somerset House, River Terrace

51°30′37″N 0°07′03″W / 51.51032°N 0.11756°W / 51.51032; -0.11756 (Civil Service Rifles War Memorial) 		1923 — Edwin Lutyens Memorial Grade II* Unveiled 27 January 1924 in the centre of the courtyard of Somerset House; relocated in 2002. The fictive flags are a feature that Lutyens originally intended to employ on the Cenotaph in Whitehall.[16] Originally these were of copper but they have been replaced by flags carved from stone and painted.[17]
Memorial to Andrew Young Strand, rear of central block of Bush House

51°30′45″N 0°07′01″W / 51.5125°N 0.1169°W / 51.5125; -0.1169 (Memorial to Andrew Young) 		1924 Eric Bradbury Harvey Wiley Corbett (Bush House) Plaque with portrait relief — Inscribed IN MEMORY OF/ ANDREW YOUNG F.S.I/ FIRST VALUER TO THE LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL/ 1884–1914/ HE LABOURED TO BEAUTIFY/ THE LONDON HE LOVED. Young oversaw the building of Aldwych and Kingsway in 1899–1905.[18][19]
Anglo-American Friendship Bush House, Aldwych

51°30′47″N 0°07′03″W / 51.5131°N 0.1175°W / 51.5131; -0.1175 (Anglo-American Friendship) 		1924–1925 Malvina Hoffman Harvey Wiley Corbett (Bush House) Architectural sculpture Grade II [20]
Two elephants and a relief of the Lion Capital of Ashoka India House, Aldwych 1930s Architectural sculpture Grade II [21]
Twelve decorations representing the states of India India House, Aldwych 1930s Architectural sculpture Grade II [21]
Thought Clare Market, Old Building (London School of Economics) 1932–1933 Edgar Silver Frith A. S. G. Butler Bas-reliefs — [22][23][24]
Mosaic Clare Market, St Clement's Building (London School of Economics)

51°30′52″N 0°07′01″W / 51.5144°N 0.1170°W / 51.5144; -0.1170 (Mosaic) 		1961 Harry Warren Wilson White-Cooper & Turner Mosaic — The mosaic represents the River Thames and subjects taught at the LSE.[25][26][23]
Winged Form Gray's Inn Fields 1968 Geoffrey Wickham Architectural sculpture [27]

More images 		Statue of Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding Strand, in front of St Clement Danes

51°30′47″N 0°06′51″W / 51.5130°N 0.1143°W / 51.5130; -0.1143 (Statue of Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding) 		1988 Faith Winter C. A. Hart Statue — Unveiled 30 October 1988 by the Queen Mother.[28] The first of a pair of statues of notable Royal Air Force personnel to be erected outside St Clement Danes, the Central Church of the RAF.[29] The pose has been described as "deliberately unheroic".[28]
The Marchers King's College, London 1975 Fred Kormis Relief [30]

More images 		Bust of Jawaharlal Nehru India Place

51°30′44″N 0°07′07″W / 51.5123°N 0.1185°W / 51.5123; -0.1185 (Memorial to Jawaharlal Nehru) 		1991 Latika Katt Peter Leach Associates Bust — Unveiled 14 November 1991 in India House.[31]

More images 		Statue of Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet Strand, in front of St Clement Danes

51°30′47″N 0°06′52″W / 51.5131°N 0.1144°W / 51.5131; -0.1144 (Statue of Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet) 		1992 Faith Winter T. Hart and Michael Goss Statue — Unveiled 31 May 1992 by the Queen Mother. The decision to commemorate "Bomber" Harris ignited a major controversy and was criticised by the mayors of Cologne and Dresden. The unveiling was met by a public protest.[32]
Reliefs 111 Strand 2001–2002 Langlands & Bell Squire & Partners Architectural sculpture — A simplified version of the surrounding street plan, in panels of Portland stone.[33]

More images 		Baby Tembo John Watkins Plaza (London School of Economics)

51°30′51″N 0°07′00″W / 51.5143°N 0.1167°W / 51.5143; -0.1167 (Baby Tembo) 		2002 Derrick Stephan Hudson — Sculpture — Part of the Odette bequest.[34] This work and Yolanda vanderGaast's Penguin were formerly sited on Clare Market as the LSE crèche was at that time located at the top of the street, and it was thought that these sculptures might appeal to children.[3]
Three Fates Clement's Inn, opposite Pethick-Lawrence House (London School of Economics)

51°30′49″N 0°06′54″W / 51.5137°N 0.1149°W / 51.5137; -0.1149 (Three Fates) 		2003 Morton Katz — Sculpture — Part of the Odette bequest.[3]
Equus John Watkins Plaza, outside the British Library of Political and Economic Science

51°30′52″N 0°06′58″W / 51.5145°N 0.1160°W / 51.5145; -0.1160 (Equus) 		2003 Edwina Sandys — Sculpture — Part of the Odette bequest. A bronze copy of a smaller marble original of 1977, produced during the artist's "Stone Age" period.[35]
Bluerain Lionel Robbins Building (London School of Economics), Portugal Street 2009 Michael Brown — [36]

More images 		Penguin John Watkins Plaza (London School of Economics)

51°30′52″N 0°07′00″W / 51.5144°N 0.1168°W / 51.5144; -0.1168 (Penguin) 		2009 Yolanda vanderGaast — Sculpture — Part of the Odette bequest. VanderGaast's original Penguin of 2002[3] stood in Clare Market from 2005. In 2009 it was stolen; the thieves left only the flippers behind.[37] A replacement statue was installed that year; in 2015 it moved to its current site.[38]
Final Sale Houghton Street, Old Building (London School of Economics) 2015 Recycle Group (Andrey Blokhin and Georgy Kuznetsov) — Relief — [24][39]

More images 		The World Turned Upside Down Sheffield Street, outside the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre (London School of Economics) 2019 Mark Wallinger — Sculpture — Unveiled 26 March 2019.[40]
The Ark Lincoln Square, Carey Street

51°30′53″N 0°06′50″W / 51.5148°N 0.1139°W / 51.5148; -0.1139 		2019 Pablo Reinoso — Sculpture — [41]


References

  1. ^ Strand Conservation Area General Information Leaflet (PDF). Westminster City Council Department of Planning and City Development. May 2004. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  2. ^ Bradley & Pevsner 2003, p. 365.
  3. ^ a b c d Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 120–122.
  4. ^ Ward-Jackson 2011, p. 40.
  5. ^ Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 252–254.
  6. ^ Ward-Jackson 2003, pp. 80–81.
  7. ^ Historic England. "The Law Society (1292263)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  8. ^ a b Ward-Jackson 2003, p. 123.
  9. ^ Ward-Jackson 2003, p. 80.
  10. ^ Fairmont – Everyone's an original Archived 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 22 August 2010
  11. ^ Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 258–259.
  12. ^ a b c Mansfield, Ian (20 January 2021). "London Public Art: Three large stone heads on Milford Lane". IanVisits. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  13. ^ Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 263–164.
  14. ^ a b c Hibbert et al. 2008, p. 32.
  15. ^ Hutchison, Noel S. (1986). "Mackennal, Sir Edgar Bertram (1863–1931)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  16. ^ Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 254–255.
  17. ^ Historic England. "The Civil Service Rifles War Memorial (1237096)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  18. ^ Ward-Jackson 2011, p. 265.
  19. ^ Bradley & Pevsner 2003, p. 332.
  20. ^ Cline, Sandy. "The Sculptures of Malvina Hoffman". Soapstone Sculpture. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  21. ^ a b Mee, Arthur. The King's England London: The Classic Guide (2014 ed.). Amberley. pp. 117–118.
  22. ^ Partridge, Chris (30 July 2016). "London School of Economics Old Building, Clare Market WC2". Ornamental Passions. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  23. ^ a b Bradley & Pevsner 2003, p. 304.
  24. ^ a b Art on campus. London School of Economics. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  25. ^ Hamey, Baldwin (26 June 2013). "Clare Market: from flesh and fish to art". London Details. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  26. ^ Pearson, Lynn. "Postwar murals database". Academia.edu. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  27. ^ Ward-Jackson 2011, p. 156.
  28. ^ a b Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 265–257.
  29. ^ Welcome to St Clement Danes. Royal Air Force. Archived from the original on 13 February 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  30. ^ Ward-Jackson 2011, p. 111.
  31. ^ Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 104–105.
  32. ^ Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 267–279.
  33. ^ 111 Strand. Modus Operandi Art Consultants. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  34. ^ Donnelly, Sue (29 December 2017). Baby Tembo by Derrick Hudson. London School of Economics. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  35. ^ Seebohm 2011, p. 168.
  36. ^ Ward-Jackson 2011, p. 122.
  37. ^ New penguin on the block. London School of Economics. 3 November 2009. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  38. ^ Donnelly, Sue (6 December 2016). The LSE Penguin by Yolanda Vandergaast. London School of Economics. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  39. ^ Banks, Caroline (16 April 2015). Final Sale – public art at the Old Building London School of Economics. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  40. ^ "The World Turned Upside Down" – LSE unveils new sculpture by Mark Wallinger. London School of Economics. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  41. ^ "Pablo Reinoso unveils monumental sculpture in Holborn, London". Waddington Custot. May 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2024.

Bibliography

  • 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.
  • Hibbert, Christopher; Weinreb, Ben; Keay, Julia; Keay, John (2008). The London Encyclopaedia. London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-1405049245.
  • Seebohm, Caroline (2011). Edwina Sandys: Art. New York: Glitterati Incorporated. ISBN 978-0982379998.
  • Ward-Jackson, Philip (2003). Public Sculpture of the City of London. Public Sculpture of Britain. Vol. 7. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 0-85323-977-0.
  • ——— (2011). Public Sculpture of Historic Westminster: Volume 1. Public Sculpture of Britain. Vol. 14. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-84631-691-3.