Simon Gudgeon (b. 1958), Search for Enlightenment, heads in bronze, plinths faced with limestone panels, South Carriage Drive, London SW7 (photo: Terry Cavanagh).
Find out moreThe PSSA encourages engagement with the many thousands of sculptures in the public domain across the UK, which represent an important part of our shared cultural heritage. It champions the historical, artistic and social context of public statues and sculpture, and also promotes education about sculpture, publishing articles, academic papers and specialist books. For more details see About Us.
Please help the PSSA achieve its objectives by becoming a member.
We are delighted to announce the publication of Public Sculpture of Kensington and Chelsea with Westminster South-West by Terry Cavanagh.
In this volume, which is the 22nd in the acclaimed Public Sculpture of Britain series, Terry Cavanagh, the author of three previous volumes, provides a comprehensive, scholarly and highly readable account of over 250 public sculptures in Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster South-West.
Many great sculptures stand within the area’s parks: Kensington Gardens, with the magnificent Albert Memorial, the much-loved Peter Pan and Henry Moore’s Arch; and Hyde Park, with Jacob Epstein’s vibrant Rima. Statues in streets, squares and gardens reflect scientific progress, exploration and artistic achievement: Jenner, Shackleton, Livingstone, Carlyle, Mozart, Bartók and Whistler are just some of those commemorated. For those who look up, sculptures of faces, figures and animals greet them: Art Deco dominates once-great department stores (Barkers and Derry & Toms); allegorical figures enrich Victoria Station; the Natural History Museum exterior boasts a prehistoric menagerie; and there is a pantheon of celebrated artists on the Victoria & Albert Museum façade. Two of London’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ cemeteries, Brompton and Kensal Green, are in the area and teem with monuments, while sculptural decorations help make Holy Trinity, Sloane Square, the ‘cathedral of the Arts and Crafts Movement’.
Public Sculpture of Kensington and Chelsea with Westminster South-West is a richly illustrated and indispensable resource. The book is available from the PSSA bookshop, hardback £85.00 and softback £35.00.
Designer, Richard Wilson (b. 1953), Shack Stack, cast aluminium with an internal steel frame, Grosvenor Waterside, London, SW1 (photo: courtesy of Richard Wilson).
Nominations and entries for the PSSA Marsh Awards for Excellence in Public Sculpture and for Excellence in Public Fountains have now closed.
Nominations and entries for Excellence in the Conservation of a Public Sculpture or Fountain remain open until noon Saturday 29 April. The eligibility citeria, information about the judging process and the application form to submit nominations can be found here.
See the winners of the 2022 Awards and watch the 2022 Awards Ceremony here.
Over 100 public statues of women can be found in the UK. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, 8 March 2021, the PSSA launched a database of non-royal sculptures representing women of achievement from past and present.
The first statue commemorating a named black woman in the UK; the first female UK Prime Minister; the first woman to take her seat in the House of Commons; the first woman to become mayor of a London borough; the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia; the first British woman to win all four major tennis tournaments; the first woman apart from members of the royal family to be commemorated in a statue. They can all be found here.
Discover the statues of women in your local area or tell the PSSA about those which are missing from the database. The 143 statues now on the database is the start, it is not definitive, please help us to keep this interesting resource alive and current.
Martin Jennings FRSS, Mary Seacole, St Thomas’ Hospital, London.
Photo: Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0