List of public art in Kensington

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.

City of Westminster

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	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	Statue of Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala	Queen's Gate 51°30′05″N 0°10′49″W	1891	Joseph Edgar Boehm	N/A	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.[3] In 2004 the artist Eleonora Aguiari wrapped the statue in bright red tape as a comment on Britain's imperialist past.[4]
	Mosaic	Royal Albert Hall, South Porch 51°30′02″N 0°10′38″W	2003	Shelagh Wakely (made by Trevor Caley)	Building Design Partnership (South Porch)	Mosaic	N/A	Installed on the pediment of the Building Design Partnership's new South Porch of 2003,[5] the 60,000-piece mosaic is inspired by chaos theory[6] and by the existing, Victorian frieze on the Albert Hall's façade.[7]
	Balustrade	Royal Geographical Society, Exhibition Road 51°30′04″N 0°10′29″W	2004	Eleanor Long	Craig Downie	Glass balustrade	N/A	Images of contours, maps and landscapes are etched into the glass panels.[8][9]
	Velocity Wave[8]	Imperial College Sports Centre, Prince's Gardens 51°30′00″N 0°10′24″W	2004–2006	Pat Kaufman	Arup Associates	Glass balustrade	N/A	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.[10]

Royal Albert Hall frieze

Detail of the frieze

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.[11]

#	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

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*	[12]
More images	Statue of Ernest Shackleton	Exhibition Road façade 51.5015°N 0.17479°W	1927–1932	Charles Sargeant Jagger		Statue in niche	Grade II*	[13][14]
More images	Statue of David Livingstone	Kensington Gore façade 51.50161°N 0.17498°W	1953	T. B. Huxley-Jones		Statue in niche	Grade II*	[12]

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Image	Title / subject	Location and coordinates	Date	Artist / designer	Architect / other	Type	Designation	Notes
More images	Statue of Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland	Holland Park	1872	George Frederic Watts and Joseph Edgar Boehm	N/A	Statue	Grade II	Unveiled 1926.[15]
	Queen Victoria Monument	Warwick Gardens 51.496871°N 0.204195°W	1904	N/A	H. L. Florence	Commemorative column	Grade II	[16]
More images	Kensington War Memorial	Kensington Church Street, southern end	1922	F. W. Pomeroy	Major Hubert C. Corlette	War memorial	Grade II	Unveiled 1 July 1922 by Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll.[17]
	Genius	Kensington Central Library	1958	William McMillan	E. Vincent Harris	Architectural sculpture	Grade II*	[18]
	Bust of Geoffrey Chaucer	Kensington Central Library	1958	William McMillan	E. Vincent Harris	Architectural sculpture	Grade II*	[19]
	Bust of William Caxton	Kensington Central Library	1958	William McMillan	E. Vincent Harris	Architectural sculpture	Grade II*	[20]
	Statue of a lion with the Royal coat of arms	Outside Kensington Central Library, facing Phillimore Walk	1958	William McMillan	E. Vincent Harris	Architectural sculpture	Grade II*	[21]
	Statue of a unicorn with the Royal coat of arms	Outside Kensington Central Library, facing Phillimore Walk	1958	William McMillan	E. Vincent Harris	Architectural sculpture	Grade II*	[22]
More images	Head of Invention	Outside the Design Museum	1989	Eduardo Paolozzi	N/A	Sculpture	N/A

North Kensington and Notting Hill

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	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.[23]
	Mosaic of Saint Sava	Façade of St Sava's Serbian Orthodox Church, Notting Hill	c. 1952			Mosaic	N/A	[24]
More images	Statue of Saint Volodymyr	Holland Park Avenue 51.5074°N 0.2041°W	1988	Leo Mol	N/A	Statue	N/A	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.[25]
	The Climber	On roof of 43–45 Notting Hill Gate	2000	Peter Logan		Kinetic architectural sculpture	N/A	All the moving parts of the sculpture had to be removed in 2013 after a piece collapsed and fell onto the pavement on 22 June that year.[26][27]
	Carnival Elephant	Outside Waterstone's, Notting Hill Gate	2003	Nadim Karam		Sculpture	N/A	[27] Image
	Two Carnival Figures	On roof of Waterstone's, Notting Hill Gate	2003	Nadim Karam		Architectural sculptures	N/A	[27]

South Kensington

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 51.5013°N 0.1803°W	1891	Joseph Edgar Boehm	N/A	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.[3] In 2004 the artist Eleonora Aguiari wrapped the statue in bright red tape as a comment on Britain's imperialist past.[4]
	Bust of Alfred Beit	Royal School of Mines	1910	Paul Raphael Montford	Aston Webb	Bust	Grade II	[28]
	Bust of Julius Wernher	Royal School of Mines	1910	Paul Raphael Montford	Aston Webb	Bust	Grade II	[28]
More images	Statue of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell	Baden-Powell House, Queen's Gate	1961	Don Potter		Statue	N/A	Unveiled in 1961 by Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, who was President of the Scout Association.[29] A preparatory model is in the collection of the Scouts Heritage Service in Gilwell Park, Essex.[30]
More images	Yalta Memorial (Twelve Responses to Tragedy)	Yalta Memorial Garden, Cromwell Road	1986	Angela Conner			N/A	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	2011	N/A	Carmody Groarke Architects	Memorial	N/A	Unveiled 6 July 2011 by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.[31] 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.[32]
More images	Statue of Alfred Russel Wallace	Outside the Darwin Centre 2 building, near the wildlife garden, Natural History Museum	2013	Anthony Smith	N/A	Statue	N/A	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.[33]
	Statue of Béla Bartók	South Kensington tube station	2004	Imre Varga	N/A	Statue	N/A	The statue, a copy of one in Budapest, faces the house on Sydney Place where the composer stayed on several visits to London.[29]

Victoria and Albert Museum

Main entrance of the Victoria and Albert Museum, photographed in about 1960

Detail of two of Alfred Drury’s relief panels above the main portal. The full inscription is taken from Joshua Reynolds’s Discourses: “The excellence of every art must consist in the complete accomplishment of its purpose”.

Statue of William Morris by Arthur George Walker on the Exhibition Road façade

Subject	Notes	Type	Location	Date	Sculptor	Architect	Source
Queen Victoria	—	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Alfred Drury	Aston Webb	[34]
Albert, Prince Consort	—	Statue	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Alfred Drury	Aston Webb	[34]
Saint George	—	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Alfred Drury	Aston Webb	[34]
Saint Michael	—	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Alfred Drury	Aston Webb	[34]
9 allegorical figures	—	Relief panels	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Alfred Drury	Aston Webb	[34]
Inspiration and Knowledge	—	Statues in niches	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Alfred Drury	Aston Webb	[34]
Truth and Beauty	—	Reliefs in spandrels	Cromwell Road façade	1905	George Frampton	Aston Webb	[34]
Edward VII	—	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	William Goscombe John	Aston Webb	[34]
Alexandra of Denmark	—	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	William Goscombe John	Aston Webb	[34]
Grinling Gibbons	Sculptor	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	William Silver Frith	Aston Webb	[35]
John Bacon	Sculptor	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	William Silver Frith	Aston Webb	[36]
John Flaxman	Sculptor	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Bertram Pegram	Aston Webb	[37]
Francis Leggatt Chantrey	Sculptor	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Bertram Pegram	Aston Webb	[38]
John Henry Foley	Sculptor	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	James Gamble	Aston Webb	[34]
Alfred Stevens	Sculptor	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	James Gamble	Aston Webb	[39]
William Hogarth	Painter	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Reuben Sheppard	Aston Webb	[40]
Joshua Reynolds	Painter	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Reuben Sheppard	Aston Webb	[41]
Thomas Gainsborough	Painter	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Stanley Nicholson Babb	Aston Webb	[42]
George Romney	Painter	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Stanley Nicholson Babb	Aston Webb	[43]
Richard Cosway	Painter	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Ernest Gillick	Aston Webb	[44]
J. M. W. Turner	Painter	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Ernest Gillick	Aston Webb	[45]
John Constable	Painter	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Vincent Hill	Aston Webb	[46]
George Frederic Watts	Painter	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Richard Reginald Goulden	Aston Webb	[47]
Frederic, Lord Leighton	Painter	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Gilbert Bayes	Aston Webb	[48]
John Everett Millais	Painter	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	James Stevenson (“Myrander”)	Aston Webb	[34]
William of Wykeham	Architect	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	J. Wenlock Rollins	Aston Webb	[49]
John Thorpe	Architect	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	J. Wenlock Rollins	Aston Webb	[39]
Inigo Jones	Architect	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Oliver Wheatley	Aston Webb	[34]
Christopher Wren	Architect	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Oliver Wheatley	Aston Webb	[50]
William Chambers	Architect	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Gilbert Bayes	Aston Webb	[51]
Charles Barry	Architect	Statue in niche	Cromwell Road façade	1905	Gilbert Bayes	Aston Webb	[52]
Saint Dunstan	Craftsman	Statue in niche	Exhibition Road façade	1905	Frank Lynn Jenkins	Aston Webb	[34]
William Torell	Metalworker	Statue in niche	Exhibition Road façade	1905	Frank Lynn Jenkins	Aston Webb	[34]
William Caxton	Printer	Statue in niche	Exhibition Road façade	1905	Paul Raphael Montford	Aston Webb	[34]
George Heriot	Goldsmith	Statue in niche	Exhibition Road façade	1905	Paul Raphael Montford	Aston Webb	[34]
Huntingdon Shaw	Smith	Statue in niche	Exhibition Road façade	1905	Abraham Broadbent	Aston Webb	[34]
Thomas Tompion	Clockmaker	Statue in niche	Exhibition Road façade	1905	Abraham Broadbent	Aston Webb	[34]
Thomas Chippendale	Furniture maker	Statue in niche	Exhibition Road façade	1905	Albert Hodge	Aston Webb	[34]
Josiah Wedgwood	Potter	Statue in niche	Exhibition Road façade	1905	Albert Hodge	Aston Webb	[34]
Roger Payne	Bookbinder	Statue in niche	Exhibition Road façade	1905	Arthur George Walker	Aston Webb	[34]
William Morris	Textile designer	Statue in niche	Exhibition Road façade	1905	Arthur George Walker	Aston Webb	[34]

See also

• List of public art in Kensington Gardens

References

1. "Albertopolis: Memorial to the exhibition", architecture.com, Royal Institute of British Architects, archived from the original on 25 September 2013, retrieved 31 August 2014
2. Banerjee, Jacqueline (2009), "Joseph Durham's Monument to Prince Albert, in Guernsey", The Victorian Web, retrieved 30 August 2011
3. Historic England. "Statue of Lord Napier of Magdala in Centre of Roadway at North End Next to Kensington Road (1265357)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
4. Artist: Eleonora Aguiari, London Transport Museum, retrieved 14 February 2012
5. "Best Structural Use of Brick. Brick Awards 2004", Building.co.uk, retrieved 11 August 2014(registration required)
6. Bennett, Will (16 July 2003), "Albert Hall mosaic unveiled", The Telegraph, retrieved 11 August 2014
7. Pearson, Lynn; Dennis, Richard (2005), Tile Gazetteer – Westminster, Tiles & Architectural Ceramics Society, retrieved 17 August 2014
8. Westminster City Council 2009, pp. 68–69.
9. "Discovery channel", Building Design, 24 August 2004, retrieved 11 August 2014
10. Imperial College Sports Centre, Modus Operandi, retrieved 11 August 2014
11. Sheppard, F. H. W., ed. (1975), "Royal Albert Hall", Survey of London: volume 38: South Kensington Museums Area, Institute of Historical Research, retrieved 31 August 2014
12. Matthews 2018, p. 158.
13. Charles Sargeant Jagger. Sculptor (1885–1934) – Your Archives Accessed 16 May 2010
14. Matthews 2018, p. 157.
15. "Lord Holland, Statue, Holland Park", National Recording Project, Public Monuments & Sculpture Association, archived from the original on 3 August 2011, retrieved 12 May 2018
16. Historic England. "Queen Victoria Monument (1227138)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
17. "Kensington", War Memorials Archive, Imperial War Museums, retrieved 31 January 2014
18. Genius, Art UK, retrieved 7 July 2020
19. Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400), Art UK, retrieved 7 July 2020
20. William Caxton (c. 1422 – c. 1491), Art UK, retrieved 7 July 2020
21. Lion, Art UK, retrieved 7 July 2020
22. Unicorn, Art UK, retrieved 7 July 2020
23. The National Bank Limited, Royal Bank of Scotland (Heritage Archives), retrieved 10 December 2016
24. Petrovic, Mihail (7 September 2015). "The Beginnings of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the UK – Chapter Four and Conclusion". Britić (magazine). Retrieved 27 January 2019.
25. Blackwood 1989, p. 326.
26. "Sculpture topples off tower in Notting Hill Gate", Get West London, 26 June 2013, retrieved 4 May 2016
27. Notting Hill Improvements Group Official website. Consulted 4 May 2016.
28. Ben Weinreb, ed. (2008), The London Encyclopaedia (Third ed.), pp. 866–876, ISBN 978-1-4050-4924-5
29. Matthews 2018, p. 156.
30. Lord Robert Baden-Powell, Art UK, retrieved 22 February 2019
31. Indian Ocean Tsunami Memorial opens at Museum, National History Museum, 6 July 2011, retrieved 17 July 2013
32. "Tsunami memorial", London Remembers, retrieved 17 June 2013
33. "A Bronze Statue of Wallace: A lasting legacy of 2013", The Alfred Russel Wallace Website, retrieved 9 March 2014
34. Speel, Bob, The Victoria And Albert Museum exterior sculptures, retrieved 25 April 2013
35. "Statue [of Grinling Gibbons]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 25 April 2013
36. "Statue [of John Bacon]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 25 April 2013
37. "Statue [of John Flaxman]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 25 April 2013
38. "Statue [of Francis Chantrey]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 25 April 2013
39. "Statue [of Alfred Stevens]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 26 April 2013
40. "Statue [of William Hogarth]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 25 April 2013
41. "Statue [of Joshua Reynolds]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 13 April 2013
42. "Statue [of Thomas Gainsborough]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 25 April 2013
43. "Statue [of George Romney]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 26 April 2013
44. "Statue [of Richard Cosway]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 13 April 2013
45. "Statue [of J. M. W. Turner]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 25 April 2013
46. "Statue [of John Constable]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 13 April 2013
47. "Statue [of G. F. Watts]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 25 April 2013
48. "Statue [of Lord Leighton]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 25 April 2013
49. "[Statue of William of Wykeham]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 13 April 2013
50. "Statue [of Christopher Wren]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 13 April 2013
51. "Statue [of William Chambers]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 25 April 2013
52. "Statue [of Charles Barry]", Art and Architecture, Courtauld Institute of Art, retrieved 25 April 2013

Bibliography

• Blackwood, John (1989), London's Immortals: The Complete Outdoor Commemorative Statues, London and Oxford: Savoy Press, ISBN 978-0951429600

• Matthews, Peter (2018), London's Statues and Monuments, Oxford: Shire Publications, ISBN 978-1-78442-256-1

• Westminster City Council (20 April 2009), Conservation Area Audit & Management Proposals: Knightsbridge, Knightsbridge Green, Albert Gate (PDF), retrieved 11 August 2014