List of public art in Victoria, London

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This is a list of public art in Victoria, a district in the City of Westminster, London.

Victoria is roughly described as the area around Victoria station. It includes the conservation areas of Broadway and Christchurch Gardens, Grosvenor Gardens and the environs of Westminster Cathedral. Particularly noteworthy examples of architectural sculpture can be found at 55 Broadway, where in 1928–1929 sculptors including Eric Gill and Henry Moore were engaged on representations of the Four Winds; two further figures, Night and Day, were carved by Jacob Epstein.[1] A great deal of public art by recent graduates of art schools in London was incorporated into Cardinal Place, a development of 2005.[2]

More information Image, Title / subject ...
Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates
DateArtist / designerArchitect / otherTypeDesignation Notes
Blue Coat Scholar Blewcoat School, Caxton Street 1709 Statue in niche Grade I
Hercules Taming the Horses of Diomedes Buckingham Palace Riding School, Buckingham Palace Road 1859William TheedJames Pennethorne Relief Grade I [3]
Architectural sculpture Grosvenor Hotel, 101 Buckingham Palace Road c.1860–1862Daymond & SonJ. T. Knowles Sr and Jr Architectural sculpture Grade II* Among the figures portrayed in the roundels are Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Alexander von Humboldt and the prime ministers Palmerston, Derby and Russell. The allegorical sculpture includes two figures in niches which may represent Horticulture and Agriculture.[4]

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Statue of Sir Sydney Waterlow, 1st Baronet Westminster City School, Palace Street

51.4978°N 0.1393°W / 51.4978; -0.1393 (Statue of Sir Sydney Waterlow, 1st Baronet)
1901Frank Mowbray TaubmanN/a Statue N/a Unveiled 27 June 1901. A replica of the statue in Waterlow Park, Highgate.[5]
Statues of Queen Victoria and Edward VII Caxton Hall 1902Lee and Smith Statues in niches Grade II [6][7]
Coats of arms of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Victoria station (former LB&SCR building; screen wall onto Buckingham Palace Road) 1905Gilbert SealeW. E. Reilly Architectural sculpture Grade II The arms combine those of London, Brighton, the Cinque Ports and Ports­mouth.[8]
Mercury and (?) Minerva Victoria station (former LB&SCR building; Terminus Place façade) 1905 c.1905Gilbert SealeC. D. Collins Architectural sculpture Grade II Added after criticisms of the initial design for the façade, these figures were none­the­less con­demned by The Builder as "gimcrack ornament ... like the decorations of a public house".[9]
Mermaid caryatids and cartouches Victoria station (former SE&CR building, Terminus Place) 1909Henry Charles FehrAlfred W. Blomfield Architectural sculpture Grade II [10]
Christ in Majesty with the Virgin and Saints Joseph, Peter and Edward Westminster Cathedral

51.4962°N 0.1398°W / 51.4962; -0.1398 (Christ in Majesty with the Virgin and Saints Joseph, Peter and Edward)
1916Robert Anning BellJohn Francis Bentley Tympanum mosaic Grade I
(building)
Based on a sketch by Bentley dated to 1895–1896 and later worked up in colour by his assistant John Marshall,[11] Bell's mosaic was criticised for its background of white tiles instead of the traditional gold.[12]

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Rifle Brigade War Memorial Grosvenor Gardens

51.4980°N 0.1470°W / 51.4980; -0.1470 (Rifle Brigade War Memorial)
1924–1925John TweedN/a Memorial with sculpture Grade II* Unveiled 25 July 1925. The rifleman in contemporary uniform in the centre is flanked by an officer (on the left) and a private in early 19th-century uniform.[13]

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Reliefs Apollo Victoria Theatre (formerly the New Victoria Cinema) 1929Newbury Abbot TrentWilliam Edward Trent and Ernest Wamsley Lewis Architectural sculpture Grade II* Two panels either side of the main entrance show cinemagoers watching romance and thriller films, respectively. A simplified figure of Charlie Chaplin is at right angles to the panel on the right.[14]

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Statue of Ferdinand Foch Grosvenor Gardens

51.4964°N 0.1453°W / 51.4964; -0.1453 (Statue of Ferdinand Foch)
1930Georges MalissardP. Lebret Equestrian statue Grade II* Unveiled 5 June 1930.[15] A replica of a statue erected outside Marshal Foch's head­quarters in Cassel.[16] The choice of an existing work by a French sculpt­or caused some dis­satis­faction. The site was chosen so that the statue would be seen by French visitors arriving in London at Victoria station.[17]

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Speed Wings over the World National Audit Office building (formerly the Imperial Airways Terminal), Buckingham Palace Road 1937–1939 c.1937–1939Eric Broadbent with John William DrakeAlbert Lakeman with W. H. Williams Architectural sculpture Grade II Two winged male figures in Art Deco style, reaching out to encircle a globe, with the Imperial Air­ways insignia below in bas-relief.[18]
Saint Francis 47 Francis Street 1961Arthur FleischmannHenry Astley Darbishire Architectural sculpture Grade II Unveiled 13 April 1961, when the Catholic Central Library moved into the building. The figure has a halo of sparrows.[19]

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Cameo of Queen Victoria Victoria station, Victoria line platforms 1968Edward Bawden after Benjamin PearceN/a Tile motif N/a Bawden produced an original linocut of the Queen's profile for this scheme but it was rejected;[20] the final design is based on a silhouette by Pearce.[21]

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Suffragette Memorial Christchurch Gardens

51.4982°N 0.1348°W / 51.4982; -0.1348 (Suffragette Memorial)
1970Lorne McKean and Edwin RussellPaul Edward Paget Sculpture N/a Unveiled 14 July 1970. A bronze scroll in the shape of the letter S balancing on a conical pedestal. Part of the inscription notes that NEARBY CAXTON HALL WAS/ HISTORICALLY ASSOCIATED/ WITH WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE/ MEETINGS & DEPUTATIONS/ TO PARLIAMENT.[22]
Split Form No. 9 10 Dean Farrar Street 1983–1984Michael MarriottMichael Lyell Associates Architectural sculpture [23]

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Statue of Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis Outside the Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk

51.500°N 0.1358°W / 51.500; -0.1358 (Statue of Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis)
1985James ButlerN/a Statue N/a Unveiled 9 May 1985 by the Queen Mother. Alexander had a particular affection for the old Guards Chapel (almost completely destroyed by bombing in 1944), having spent much time there as a subaltern.[24]
Planned Growth Rowan House, Greycoat Street 1986–1987Peter ThursbyRenton Howard Wood Levine Relief N/a The Royal Society of British Sculptors awarded its silver medal for this sculpture in 1987.[25]

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The Flowering of the English Baroque
Henry Purcell
Christchurch Gardens

51.4980°N 0.1342°W / 51.4980; -0.1342 (The Flowering of the English Baroque)
1995Glynn WilliamsN/a Sculpture N/a Unveiled 22 November 1995, the tercentenary of Purcell's death, by Princess Margaret. The sculptor described the design as "a rising explosion of activity, a tree to the musical evolution of the 17th century". This was the first major sculptural commission by Westminster City Council.[26]

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Big Painting Sculpture Cardinal Place

51.4977°N 0.1418°W / 51.4977; -0.1418 (Big Painting Sculpture)
1996–1998Patrick HeronJulian Feary Sculpture N/a Commissioned when the complex was still known as Stag Place. Based on several gouache studies by Heron of brightly coloured floating shapes connected by linear patterns. Neon tubes light up the work at night.[27]

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Lioness and Lesser Kudu Grosvenor Gardens

51.4979°N 0.1473°W / 51.4979; -0.1473 (Lioness and Lesser Kudu)
1998Jonathan KenworthyN/a Sculptural group N/a Installed on this site in 2000; another cast already stood in the grounds of Eaton Hall, the Duke of West­minster's estate in Cheshire.[28]

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Cypher Outside the Asticus Building, 21 Palmer Street

51.4990°N 0.1352°W / 51.4990; -0.1352 (Cypher)
2003Tim MorganN/a Sculpture N/a The sculpture, commissioned by the Cass Sculpture Foundation, consists of thousands of glass rods bound together within a circular steel belt.[29]
Stacked Glass Sculpture Cardinal Place

51.4975°N 0.1411°W / 51.4975; -0.1411 (Stacked Glass Sculpture)
2005Tony BurkeJane Wernick Associates (engineer) Sculpture N/a The work comprises one twisting wall of stacked green glass and another curving; these are set on a cylindrical plinth.[30]
Route Cardinal Place

51.4970°N 0.1406°W / 51.4970; -0.1406 (Route)
2005Joy GerrardN/a Panels set in pavement N/a Nine discs of varying sizes set in the pavement of the Cardinal Place development at various points in a pedestrian's route; they are inlaid with smaller coloured discs.[31]
LP4 Cardinal Place

51.4978°N 0.1415°W / 51.4978; -0.1415 (LP4)
2005Nathaniel RackoweN/a Kinetic sculpture N/a Two slabs of oblong welded steel panels (with a gap at the top of the grid forming a "machicolation") hold in place a thin cathode light tube; the whole structure is set into a rotating turn­table flush with the pave­ment.[32]

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Statue of Anna Pavlova Victoria Palace Theatre 2006Harry FranchettiFrank Matcham Architectural sculpture Grade II*

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Statue of Queen Victoria Victoria Square

51.4977°N 0.1449°W / 51.4977; -0.1449 (Statue of Queen Victoria)
2008Catherine Anne LaugelN/a Statue N/a Victoria is portrayed as a young woman of 20, the age she would have been when construction on the square began.[33]
Back-lit fused glass boxes InterContinental London Westminster hotel, Broadway

51.4994°N 0.1330°W / 51.4994; -0.1330 (Back-lit fused glass boxes)
2012Andrew Moor AssociatesDexter Moren Associates Back-lit fused glass boxes N/a [34]

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Memorial to Victims of Violence Christchurch Gardens

51.4982°N 0.1340°W / 51.4982; -0.1340 (Memorial to Victims of Violence)
2013 (unveiled)Jim MartinsN/a Commemorative stone with plaque N/a Unveiled 5 June 2013.[35][36]
Wind Sculpture Howick Place

51.4968°N 0.1371°W / 51.4968; -0.1371 (Wind Sculpture)
2014Yinka ShonibareN/a Sculpture N/a Unveiled 7 April 2014. The work simulates a piece of batik fabric (a signature material for Shonibare) billowing in the wind.[37]

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Flanders Fields 1914–2014 Outside the Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk 2014N/aPiet Blanckaert Memorial N/a The memorial garden, a gift from Belgium, was opened on 6 November 2014 by Elizabeth II; the Belgian king Philippe was also present.[38] A low circular wall, within which is planted soil from the war cemeteries of Flanders, is inscribed with the poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae.[39]
Underline Victoria tube station 2015Giles Round, Design Work LeisureN/a Ceramic mural N/a [40]

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Power over Others is Weakness Disguised as Strength Orchard Place 2023Nick HornbyN/a Sculpture N/a Unveiled 22 June 2023.[41] Incorporates visual quotations from the equestrian statue of Richard I outside Parliament and a curling line which interrupts the text of Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy.[42]
Endangered Species Triptych Saga House, Allington Street Barry BaldwinSidell Gibson and Associates Architectural sculpture [43]
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55 Broadway

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Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates
DateArtist / designerArchitect / otherTypeDesignation Notes
Day and Night 55 Broadway 1929Jacob EpsteinCharles Holden
North Wind 55 Broadway 1928Alfred Horace GerrardCharles Holden
North Wind 55 Broadway 1928Eric GillCharles Holden
East Wind 55 Broadway 1928Eric GillCharles Holden
East Wind 55 Broadway 1928Allan G. WyonCharles Holden
South Wind 55 Broadway 1928Eric GillCharles Holden
South Wind 55 Broadway 1928Eric AumonierCharles Holden
West Wind 55 Broadway 1928Samuel RabinovitchCharles Holden
West Wind 55 Broadway 1928Henry MooreCharles Holden

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Angels of History St James's Park tube station 2024Hannah Quinlan, Rosie Hastings Mosaic [44]
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