This is a list of public art in Kensington, a district in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London.
Map of public art in Kensington
City of Westminster
edit
The exterior of the Royal Albert Hall (built in 1867–1871 to the designs of Francis Fowke and Henry Young Darracott Scott) is embellished with a mosaic frieze composed of sixteen separate designs by multiple artists. This was assembled from 800 slabs prepared by attendees of the South Kensington Museum's mosaic class; the terracotta was manufactured by Minton, Hollins and Company. The designs are listed below in anti-clockwise order from the north.[19]
Image
Title / subject
Location and
coordinates
Date
Artist / designer
Architect / other
Type
Designation
Notes
More images
Memorial to the Great Exhibition
Kensington Gore
51°30′01″N 0°10′38″W / 51.5004°N 0.1773°W
1863
Joseph Durham
Sydney Smirke
Statue with other sculpture
Grade II
Erected in June 1863 in the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society in South Kensington. Moved to its present site in the early 1890s.[1] Another cast of the statue of Prince Albert is in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey.[2]
More images
Shields
Royal Albert Hall
c. 1866
Godfrey Sykes
Francis Fowke
Reliefs
Grade I
63 terracotta shields with 27 different charges,[3] installed after Sykes's early death in 1866.[4]
Lions
Imperial College Road, at the foot of the Queen's Tower
51°29′55″N 0°10′37″W / 51.4985°N 0.1769°W
1887
?
Thomas Edward Collcutt
Sculpture
[5]
More images
Statue of Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala
Queen's Gate
51°30′05″N 0°10′49″W / 51.5013°N 0.1803°W
1891
Joseph Edgar Boehm
—
Equestrian statue
Grade II
Originally stood in Waterloo Place; moved to its current site in 1921. A replica of the statue to Napier in Kolkata. The boundary line with Kensington and Chelsea bisects the length of this statue.[6] In 2004 the artist Eleonora Aguiari wrapped the statue in bright red tape as a comment on Britain's imperialist past.[7]
Memorial to the Hungarian Uprising of 1956
Façade of Ognisko Polskie, 55 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road elevation
51°29′57″N 0°10′27″W / 51.4991°N 0.1741°W
1960
Ferenc Kovács
Plaque with relief sculpture
[8]
Scientific Diagrams and Equations
Blackett Laboratory, Prince Consort Road
51°29′59″N 0°10′45″W / 51.4997°N 0.1792°W
1960
John Rattenbury Skeaping
Architectural sculpture
[9]
Mosaic
Royal Albert Hall, South Porch
51°30′02″N 0°10′38″W / 51.500481°N 0.177305°W
2003
Shelagh Wakely (made by Trevor Caley)
Building Design Partnership (South Porch)
Mosaic
—
Installed on the pediment of the Building Design Partnership's new South Porch of 2003,[10] the 60,000-piece mosaic is inspired by chaos theory[11] and by the existing, Victorian frieze on the Albert Hall's façade.[12]
Balustrade
Royal Geographical Society, Exhibition Road
51°30′04″N 0°10′29″W / 51.501086°N 0.174730°W
2004
Eleanor Long
Craig Downie
Glass balustrade
—
Images of contours, maps and landscapes are etched into the glass panels.[13][14]
Velocity Wave[13]
Imperial College Sports Centre, Prince's Gardens
51°30′00″N 0°10′24″W / 51.499968°N 0.173379°W
2004–2006
Pat Kaufman
Arup Associates
Glass balustrade
—
The artist consulted scientists at Imperial College researching into the velocity wave patterns of different sporting activities. These patterns were etched into the glass panes at the entrance ramps and stairs to the sports centre, and infilled with resin and gold leaf. The balustrade is lit at night by white LED lights.[15]
Statue of Elizabeth II
Royal Albert Hall, South Porch
2022
Poppy Field
Statue in niche
Unveiled 11 November 2023 by Charles III and Queen Camilla. Elizabeth II is shown as she would have appeared in the mid-1960s, wearing the Vladimir Tiara and Delhi Durbar Necklace.[16][17]
Statue of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Royal Albert Hall, South Porch
2022
Poppy Field
Statue in niche
Unveiled 11 November 2023, a pendant to the statue of Elizabeth II. Prince Philip is shown in white tie, wearing several of his orders and military medals, gazing towards the Queen.[16][18]
Royal Albert Hall frieze
edit
#
Subject
Artist
Designation
1
Various Countries of the World Bringing in Their Offerings to the Exhibition of 1851
Edward Poynter
Grade I
2
Music
Frederick Richard Pickersgill
3
Sculpture
Frederick Richard Pickersgill
4
Painting
Frederick Richard Pickersgill
5
Princes, Art Patrons and Artists
Edward Armitage
6
Workers in Stone
William Frederick Yeames
7
Workers in Wood and Brick
William Frederick Yeames
8
Architecture
William Frederick Yeames
9
The Infancy of the Arts and Sciences
Frederick Richard Pickersgill
10
Agriculture
Henry Stacy Marks
11
Horticulture and Land Surveying
Henry Stacy Marks
12
Astronomy and Navigation
Henry Stacy Marks
13
A Group of Philosophers, Sages and Students
Edward Armitage
14
Engineering
John Callcott Horsley
15
The Mechanical Powers
Henry Hugh Armstead
16
Pottery and Glassmaking
Frederick Richard Pickersgill
Royal Geographical Society
edit
Image
Title / subject
Location and
coordinates
Date
Artist / designer
Architect / other
Type
Designation
Notes
Bust of Clements Markham
Courtyard
1921
F. W. Pomeroy
Bust
Grade II*
[20]
More images
Statue of Ernest Shackleton
Exhibition Road façade
51°30′05″N 0°10′29″W / 51.5015°N 0.17479°W
1927–1932
Charles Sargeant Jagger
Statue in niche
Grade II*
[21][22]
More images
Statue of David Livingstone
Kensington Gore façade
51°30′06″N 0°10′30″W / 51.50161°N 0.17498°W
1953
T. B. Huxley-Jones
Statue in niche
Grade II*
[20]
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Architect / other | Type | Designation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
More images |
Queen Victoria Monument | Warwick Gardens 51°29′49″N 0°12′15″W / 51.4969°N 0.2042°W |
1904 | — | H. L. Florence | Commemorative column | Grade II | [23] |
More images |
Kensington War Memorial | Kensington Church Street, southern end 51°30′08″N 0°11′28″W / 51.5022°N 0.1911°W |
1922 | F. W. Pomeroy | Major Hubert C. Corlette | War memorial | Grade II | Unveiled 1 July 1922 by Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll.[24] |
Genius | Kensington Central Library 51°30′05″N 0°11′40″W / 51.5015°N 0.1944°W |
1958 | William McMillan | E. Vincent Harris | Architectural sculpture | Grade II* | [25] | |
Bust of Geoffrey Chaucer | Kensington Central Library | 1958 | William McMillan | E. Vincent Harris | Architectural sculpture | Grade II* | [26] | |
Bust of William Caxton | Kensington Central Library | 1958 | William McMillan | E. Vincent Harris | Architectural sculpture | Grade II* | [27] | |
Statue of a lion with the Royal coat of arms | Outside Kensington Central Library, facing Phillimore Walk 51°30′05″N 0°11′40″W / 51.5013°N 0.1945°W |
1958 | William McMillan | E. Vincent Harris | Architectural sculpture | Grade II* | [28] | |
Statue of a unicorn with the Royal coat of arms | Outside Kensington Central Library, facing Phillimore Walk 51°30′05″N 0°11′39″W / 51.5014°N 0.1941°W |
1958 | William McMillan | E. Vincent Harris | Architectural sculpture | Grade II* | [29] | |
More images |
Head of Invention | Outside the Design Museum 51°29′58″N 0°11′58″W / 51.4995°N 0.1995°W |
1989 | Eduardo Paolozzi | — | Sculpture | — | |
Head of the Stairs | Hornton Street 51°30′06″N 0°11′42″W / 51.5017°N 0.1950°W |
2000 | Ivor Abrahams | — | Sculpture | — | [30] |
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Architect / other | Type | Designation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
More images |
The Ancient Melancholy Man | Holland Park | 16th century | ? | — | Statue | — | [31] |
More images |
Statue of Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland | Holland Park 51°30′15″N 0°12′12″W / 51.5042°N 0.2034°W |
1872 | George Frederic Watts and Joseph Edgar Boehm | — | Statue | Grade II | Unveiled 1926.[32] |
More images |
Boy with Bear Cubs | Holland Park | 1902 | John Macallan Swan | — | Statue on pedestal | — | [33] |
More images |
Sun Worshipper | The Café, Holland Park | 1910 | Jacob Epstein | — | Limestone relief panel | — | [34] |
More images |
Annunciation | Holland Park | 2000 | Andrew Burton | — | Sculpture | — | [35] |
Caesura VI | Holland Park | 2000 | Charles Hadcock | — | Sculpture | — | [36] | |
More images |
Tortoises with Triangle and Time | Holland Park | 2000 | Wendy Taylor | — | Sundial with sculpture in bronze | — | [37] |
More images |
Tonda | Holland Park | 2014 | Jonathan Loxley | — | Abstract sculpture in honey onyx | — | [38] |
More images |
Walking Man | Holland Park | 2014 | Sean Henry | — | Statue | — | [39] |
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Architect / other | Type | Designation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coat of arms of the National Bank Limited (Azure a harp Or within an orle of bezants) | Pembridge Gardens, on side of Royal Bank of Scotland, Notting Hill Gate 51°30′33″N 0°11′47″W / 51.5092°N 0.1965°W |
1950s | ? | Architectural sculpture (relief) | The National Bank was based in Ireland, and had a branch here. Its British operations were eventually acquired by the Royal Bank of Scotland in 1985.[40] | |||
Mosaic of Saint Sava | Façade of St Sava's Serbian Orthodox Church, Notting Hill 51°31′01″N 0°12′32″W / 51.5169°N 0.2088°W |
1952 | c.Mosaic | — | [41] | |||
More images |
Statue of Saint Volodymyr | Holland Park Avenue 51°30′27″N 0°12′15″W / 51.5074°N 0.2041°W |
1988 | Leo Mol | — | Statue | — | Unveiled 29 May 1988. Commemorates the 1,000th anniversary of the Christianisation of Kievan Rus'. Later in 1988, another statue of the saint by the same sculptor was erected in Rome.[42] |
Carnival Elephant | Outside Waterstone's, Notting Hill Gate 51°30′32″N 0°11′45″W / 51.5090°N 0.1957°W |
2003 | Nadim Karam | Sculpture | — | [43] | ||
Two Carnival Figures | On roof of Waterstone's, Notting Hill Gate 51°30′32″N 0°11′44″W / 51.5090°N 0.1956°W |
2003 | Nadim Karam | Architectural sculptures | — | [43] |
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates |
Date | Artist / designer | Architect / other | Type | Designation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
More images |
Statue of Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala | Queen's Gate 51°30′05″N 0°10′49″W / 51.5013°N 0.1803°W |
1891 | Joseph Edgar Boehm | — | Equestrian statue | Grade II | Originally stood in Waterloo Place; moved to its current site in 1921. A replica of the statue to Napier in Kolkata. The boundary line with the City of Westminster bisects the length of this statue.[6] In 2004 the artist Eleonora Aguiari wrapped the statue in bright red tape as a comment on Britain's imperialist past.[7] |
Bust of Alfred Beit | Royal School of Mines 51°30′00″N 0°10′33″W / 51.4999°N 0.1758°W |
1910 | Paul Raphael Montford | Aston Webb | Bust | Grade II | [44] | |
Bust of Julius Wernher | Royal School of Mines 51°30′00″N 0°10′33″W / 51.4999°N 0.1757°W |
1910 | Paul Raphael Montford | Aston Webb | Bust | Grade II | [44] | |
War memorial | Outside St Augustine's Church, Queen's Gate 1°29′36″N 0°10′42″W / 1.4932°N 0.1783°W |
After 1918 | ? | Calvary | [45] | |||
More images |
Statue of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell | Baden-Powell House, Queen's Gate 51°29′44″N 0°10′45″W / 51.4956°N 0.1793°W |
1961 | Don Potter | Statue | — | Unveiled in 1961 by Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, who was President of the Scout Association.[46] A preparatory model is in the collection of the Scouts Heritage Service in Gilwell Park, Essex.[47] | |
More images |
Yalta Memorial (Twelve Responses to Tragedy) | Yalta Memorial Garden, Cromwell Road 51°29′45″N 0°10′21″W / 51.4957°N 0.1724°W |
1986 | Angela Conner | — | Replaced original version of 1981, destroyed by vandals in 1982. | ||
Memorial to victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami | Darwin Centre courtyard, Natural History Museum 51°29′47″N 0°10′42″W / 51.4963°N 0.1784°W |
2011 | — | Carmody Groarke Architects | Memorial | — | Unveiled 6 July 2011 by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.[48] 4.1m³ of granite with one corner cut away, the largest single block of stone to be transported in Great Britain since the building of Stonehenge. Michael Holland, the memorial's principal organiser, lost his mother, wife and daughter to the tsunami.[49] | |
More images |
Statue of Alfred Russel Wallace | Natural History Museum. Originally outside the Darwin Centre 2 building, near the wildlife garden, later moved indoors [50] | 2013 | Anthony Smith | — | Statue | — | Unveiled 7 November 2013, the centenary of Wallace’s death, by David Attenborough. The statue depicts Wallace at the moment of his discovery of the golden birdwing butterfly in the Bacan Islands of Indonesia.[51] |
More images |
Statue of Béla Bartók | South Kensington tube station 51°29′37″N 0°10′26″W / 51.4937°N 0.17381°W |
2004 | Imre Varga | — | Statue | — | The statue, a copy of one in Budapest, faces the house on Sydney Place where the composer stayed on several visits to London.[46] |
Subject | Notes | Type | Location | Date | Sculptor | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Queen Victoria | —
|
Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Alfred Drury | [52] |
Prince Albert | —
|
Statue | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Alfred Drury | [52] |
Saint George | —
|
Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Alfred Drury | [52] |
Saint Michael | —
|
Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Alfred Drury | [52] |
9 allegorical figures | —
|
Relief panels | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Alfred Drury | [52] |
Inspiration and Knowledge | —
|
Statues in niches | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Alfred Drury | [52] |
Truth and Beauty | —
|
Reliefs in spandrels | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | George Frampton | [52] |
Edward VII | —
|
Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | William Goscombe John | [52] |
Alexandra of Denmark | —
|
Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | William Goscombe John | [52] |
Grinling Gibbons | Sculptor | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | William Silver Frith | [53] |
John Bacon | Sculptor | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | William Silver Frith | [54] |
John Flaxman | Sculptor | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Bertram Pegram | [55] |
Francis Leggatt Chantrey | Sculptor | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Bertram Pegram | [56] |
John Henry Foley | Sculptor | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | James Gamble | [52] |
Alfred Stevens | Sculptor | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | James Gamble | [57] |
William Hogarth | Painter | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Reuben Sheppard | [58] |
Joshua Reynolds | Painter | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Reuben Sheppard | [59] |
Thomas Gainsborough | Painter | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Stanley Nicholson Babb | [60] |
George Romney | Painter | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Stanley Nicholson Babb | [61] |
Richard Cosway | Painter | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Ernest Gillick | [62] |
J. M. W. Turner | Painter | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Ernest Gillick | [63] |
John Constable | Painter | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Vincent Hill | [64] |
George Frederic Watts | Painter | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Richard Reginald Goulden | [65] |
Frederic, Lord Leighton | Painter | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Gilbert Bayes | [66] |
John Everett Millais | Painter | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | James Stevenson ("Myrander") | [52] |
William of Wykeham | Architect | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | J. Wenlock Rollins | [67] |
John Thorpe | Architect | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | J. Wenlock Rollins | [57] |
Inigo Jones | Architect | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Oliver Wheatley | [52] |
Christopher Wren | Architect | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Oliver Wheatley | [68] |
William Chambers | Architect | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Gilbert Bayes | [69] |
Charles Barry | Architect | Statue in niche | Cromwell Road façade | 1905 | Gilbert Bayes | [70] |
Saint Dunstan | Craftsman | Statue in niche | Exhibition Road façade | 1905 | Frank Lynn Jenkins | [52] |
William Torell | Metalworker | Statue in niche | Exhibition Road façade | 1905 | Frank Lynn Jenkins | [52] |
William Caxton | Printer | Statue in niche | Exhibition Road façade | 1905 | Paul Raphael Montford | [52] |
George Heriot | Goldsmith | Statue in niche | Exhibition Road façade | 1905 | Paul Raphael Montford | [52] |
Huntingdon Shaw | Smith | Statue in niche | Exhibition Road façade | 1905 | Abraham Broadbent | [52] |
Thomas Tompion | Clockmaker | Statue in niche | Exhibition Road façade | 1905 | Abraham Broadbent | [52] |
Thomas Chippendale | Furniture maker | Statue in niche | Exhibition Road façade | 1905 | Albert Hodge | [52] |
Josiah Wedgwood | Potter | Statue in niche | Exhibition Road façade | 1905 | Albert Hodge | [52] |
Roger Payne | Bookbinder | Statue in niche | Exhibition Road façade | 1905 | Arthur George Walker | [52] |
William Morris | Textile designer | Statue in niche | Exhibition Road façade | 1905 | Arthur George Walker | [52] |