A generation ago, public statuary in the UK was neglected. The Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (PMSA) was founded in 1991 to remedy this, and one of its most enduring achievements has been the scholarly series, Great Britain public sculptureof which this forms volume 22. For various reasons, the PMSA closed its doors in 2020 but the series continued, under the aegis of the Public Statues and Sculpture Association (PSSA), which was born from the ashes of the PMSA .
Thank God he did. The year 2020 saw the Colston summer, when the statues – like never before – became the target of protests. That year, the PSSA held an online seminar, “Toppling Statues” (later published as a book), which addressed issues of outrage and monumentality. How can you balance outrage at what a statue is meant to embody with an appreciation of its aesthetic and historical merits? Never has there been a clearer need for an unbiased, reliable, scholarly and careful study of monuments than now. The afterword to this book is a thoughtful essay by the founders of the PSSA, advocating a “remember and explain” approach.
This is Terry Cavanagh’s fourth volume in the series, and it’s the largest to date (and beautifully produced). From famous statues to hidden pieces, this survey covers the ground surely and with a sharp eye. With Chelsea, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens and Albertopolis within the bounds of the book, the level of sculptural interest is consistently high. In Kensington Gardens, unveiled in 1907, GF Watts’ Pphysical energy– which the artist was proud to offer as a tribute to Cecil Rhodes – is one of the stars. Another is that of Jacob Epstein Rima (1925), near Hyde Park, a bold tribute in relief to the naturalist and writer WH Hudson, who was deeply controversial in his time. Lesser items like Ivor Innes’ encrusted pixie Elfin Oak of 1911 also receive a full treatment.
Exceptional range
Kensington and Chelsea is a royal borough, and there is an exceptional array of royal monuments. The Albert Memorial leads the pack; not far away is the intriguing 1908 bronze statue of William III by Heinrich Baucke, donated by the Kaiser in 1907. Nearby is Ian Rank-Broadley’s Group 2021, Diana, Princess of Wales, outside Kensington Palace – the most prominent example of the popular modern genre of the realistic bronze figure. The most current is that of Leo Mol Saint Volodymyr (1988) on Holland Park Avenue, now a focal point for Ukrainian identity, erected on the thousandth anniversary of Ukraine’s adoption of Christianity.
Each is more interesting for what is embodied, rather than as a work of art. There’s a touch of the Action Man plastic doll on Hugo Daini simon bolivar (1974) in Belgrave Square. Carmody Groarke’s 52 steel headstones to the victims of the 2005 7/7 attacks in Hyde Park are the prime example of a modernist memorial to be included here.
Religious monuments and cemetery graves (in Kensal Green and Brompton cemeteries, which make up much of the borough’s green space) are getting the coverage they deserve for once. Chelsea Old Church has a rich crop of memorials, including the unexpected essay in Roman Baroque by Lady Jane Cheyne (d. 1669) from the Bernini workshop, which survived the church’s destruction in 1941. And the Holy Trinity Sloane street is full of remarkable sculptures. : a tribute to the Arts and Crafts ideal of the unity of all the arts.
Kensal Green gets the proper treatment and brings regret that outdoor memorials have become a declining forum for displaying the work of leading sculptors. The terracotta canopy tomb from Godfrey Sykes to the painter William Mulready (died 1866) won a silver medal at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1867 for its makers, MM. Pulham of Broxbourne, and survives in remarkably neat condition. Cavanagh’s coverage is always scholarly, comprehensive and fascinating.
Architectural sculpture gets equal treatment for once: Harrods department store sports a pediment of Doulton crockery, featuring Britannia as the source of abundance, on a Latin inscription meaning ‘Everything for everyone, everywhere’. That’s not a bad motto for public sculpture.
• Roger Bowdler is a partner at Montagu Evans, advising owners on historic buildings. He was director of the list at Historic England and wrote on funerary art
• Terry Cavanagh, Kensington and Chelsea Public Sculpture with Westminster Southwest, Public Statues and Sculpture Association, 520pp, color and b/w illustrations, £85 (hb) £35 (bp), published Jan 3
