List of public art in Glasgow
The city's George Square contains a number of significant public statues and monuments.
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.
Cathedral Square
Image
Title / subject
Location and coordinates
Date
Artist / designer
Type
Material
Dimensions
Designation
Wikidata
Notes
More images
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.[ 1]
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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.[ 2]
More images
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.[ 3]
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Rev Dr Norman Macleod
Cathedral Square, Glasgow
1881
John Mossman
Statue on pedestal
Bronze and granite
Category B
Q17811590
Cast by Cox & Son.[ 4]
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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.[ 5]
James Arthur
Cathedral Square, Glasgow
1893
George Anderson Lawson
Statue on pedestal
Bronze on granite
Category B
Q17811569
Arthur was a clothing manufacturer.[ 6]
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
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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[ 7]
Custom House Quay
Image
Title / subject
Location and coordinates
Date
Artist / designer
Type
Material
Dimensions
Designation
Wikidata
Notes
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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.[ 8] [ 9] [ 10]
Elder Park
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.
Glasgow Harbour
Gordon Street
Image
Title / subject
Location and coordinates
Date
Artist / designer
Type
Material
Dimensions
Designation
Wikidata
Notes
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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 .[ 30]
Ingram Street
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
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.[ 42]
Royal Exchange Square
Springburn Park
Victoria Park
Woodlands Road
Image
Title / subject
Location and coordinates
Date
Artist / designer
Type
Material
Dimensions
Designation
Wikidata
Notes
More images
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.[ 49]
Bibliography
McKenzie, R., Sculpture in Glasgow:an illustrated handbook Glasgow The Foulis Archive Press 1999 ISBN 0-9537149-0-X .
Williamson, E., Riches, A., and Higgs, M., The Buildings of Scotland: Glasgow Penguin Books London 1990 ISBN 0-300-09674-7 .
References
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Cathedral Square, Statue of William III (Category A Listed Building) (LB32660)" . Retrieved 5 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Cathedral Square, Statue of James Lumsden (Category B Listed Building) (LB32658)" . Retrieved 9 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Cathedral Square, Statue of David Livingstone (Category B Listed Building) (LB32655)" . Retrieved 5 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Cathedral Square, Statue to Reverend Norman Macleod (Category B Listed Building) (LB32661)" . Retrieved 5 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Cathedral Square, Statue of James White of Overtoun (Category B Listed Building) (LB32657)" . Retrieved 9 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Cathedral Square, Statue of James Arthur (Category B Listed Building) (LB32656)" . Retrieved 9 July 2020 .
^ "McCarter, Keith, b.1936" . Art UK . Retrieved 17 December 2022 .
^ "War Memorials Register: Glasgow - Spanish Civil War" . Imperial War Museum . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ a b Patricia R. Andrew (2014). Chism In Time Scottish War Art and Artists in the Twentieth Century . Birlinn Ltd. ISBN 978 1 78027 190 3 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Clyde Street, Statue of Delores Ibarruri, La Pasionaria (Category B Listed Building) (LB49920)" . Retrieved 9 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Elder Park, Statue of John Elder (Category B Listed Building) (LB33305)" . Retrieved 9 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Statue of Isabella Elder, Elder Park, Glasgow (Category A Listed Building) (LB33304)" . Retrieved 9 July 2020 .
^ "War Memorials Register: HM Submarine K13" . Imperial War Museum . Retrieved 9 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "George Square, Sir John Moore Statue (Category A Listed Building) (LB32698)" . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "George Square, James Watt Statue (Category A Listed Building) (LB32697)" . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "George Square, Walter Scott Memorial Column (Category A Listed Building) (LB32696)" . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "George Square, Queen Victoria Statue (Category A Listed Building) (LB32702)" . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "George Square, James Oswald Statue (Category B Listed Building) (LB32699)" . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "George Square, Statue of Robert Peel (Category B Listed Building) (LB32704)" . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "George Square, Prince Albert Statue (Category A Listed Building) (LB32701)" . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "George Square, Field Marshall Lord Clyde Statue (Category B Listed Building) (LB32694)" . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "George Square Thomas Graham Statue (Category B Listed Building) (LB32705)" . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "George Square, Robert Burns Statue (Category B Listed Building) (LB32703)" . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Rhona Taylor (22 January 2020). "Six Scottish Robert Burns statues" . Art UK . Retrieved 23 August 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "George Square, Thomas Campbell Statue (Category B Listed Building) (LB32693)" . Retrieved 5 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "George Square, William Ewart Gladstone Statue (Category B Listed Building) (LB32695)" . Retrieved 5 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "George Square, The Cenotaph (Category B Listed Building) (LB32692)" . Retrieved 5 July 2020 .
^ "War Memorials Register: Glasgow - Cenotaph" . Imperial War Museum . Retrieved 5 July 2020 .
^ "New sculpture for Glasgow Harbour" . BBC News . 21 May 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2020 .
^ "Citizen Firefighter" . Community Walk . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "158 Ingram Street, and 2 John Street, Hutcheson's Hospital (Category A Listed Building) (LB32744)" . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Kelvingrove Park, Stewart Memorial Fountain (Category A Listed Building) (LB32213)" . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ a b c d e f "Kelvingrove Park Heritage Trail" . Glasgow City Council. Retrieved 24 November 2020 .
^ Susan Beattie (1983). The New Sculpture . Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art / Yale University Press. ISBN 0300033591 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Kelvingrove Park, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (Category A Listed Building) (LB33071)" . Retrieved 12 October 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Kelvingrove Park, South African War Memorial (Category B Listed Building) (LB32212)" . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Kelvingrove Park Monument to Lord Kelvin (Category B Listed Building) (LB32881)" . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Kelvingrove Park, Roberts Memorial (Category A Listed Building) (LB32211)" . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ "War Memorials Register: Field Marshal Earl Roberts VC" . Imperial War Museum . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Kelvingrove Park at Dumbarton Road, Cameronians Monument (Category B Listed Building) (LB33072)" . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ "War Memorials Register: Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)" . Imperial War Museum . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ "Home at last! - Corporate Information - Strathclyde Partnership for Transport" . SPT . 1 February 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Queen Street Duke of Wellington Statue (Category A Listed Building) (LB32823)" . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Stephanie Todd (16 February 2005). "Council in road cone statue plea" . BBC News . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Springburn Park, Column (Category B Listed Building) (LB33296)" . Retrieved 12 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Springburn Park, Staue of James Reid (Category B Listed Building) (LB33297)" . Retrieved 12 July 2020 .
^ Historic Environment Scotland . "Victoria Park, Partick and Whiteinch War Memorial (Category B Listed Building) (LB51739)" . Retrieved 9 July 2020 .
^ "War Memorials Register: Whiteinch and Partick" . Imperial War Museum . Retrieved 9 July 2020 .
^ ABACUS, Scott Graham -. "TheGlasgowStory: 1950s to The Present Day: Personalities: Bud Neill" . www.theglasgowstory.com . Retrieved 6 July 2020 .
External links
Public art and memorials in the United Kingdom
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