London: Mandela statue provokes another battle of Trafalgar

The Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | September 28, 2005 | Nigel Reynolds

[Stoat]

Mandela statue provokes another battle of Trafalgar

By Nigel Reynolds, Arts Correspondent
(Filed: 28/09/2005)

Less than a fortnight after a statue of a pregnant naked woman with no arms went up in Trafalgar Square, the battle to commemorate another Nelson - Nelson Mandela - close by went into overdrive yesterday as two of the country's top sculptors clashed at a public inquiry.

Glynn Williams, professor of sculpture at the Royal College of Art, denounced the £400,000 statue of Mr Mandela by Ian Walters as "run-of-the mill mediocre modelling" that did not measure up as a good work of art.

	Ian Walters at work on his 9ft-tall bronze of Nelson Mandela

Adding salt to the wound, Prof Williams said: "A sculptor of more originality and inventiveness should have been chosen."

The two men, who previously went head to head in a public competition to produce a statue of Harold Wilson in Huddersfield, which Mr Walters won, are appearing at a three-day public inquiry that opened yesterday into the exact siting of the statue of the former president of South Africa in the square.

Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, wants the 9ft-tall bronze to be placed on the square's north terrace, outside the main entrance to the National Gallery. Westminster council refused permission. Although it has said that the square is a suitable venue for a bronze Mandela, it says that the north terrace is too prominent a position and that the statue should be placed outside the main piazza in front of South Africa House.

The council, which is backed by English Heritage and the National Gallery, is angry that Mr Livingstone will not accept the compromise and that he has set aside £100,000 from his budget for legal fees to fight an expensive planning appeal.

Prof Williams, an expert witness for Westminster who is working on a statue of Lloyd George for Parliament Square, denounced Mr Walters's statue, which sits in his studio 85 per cent complete. He said the Mandela bronze was "an adequate portrait but nothing more".

"In all portraiture the element that is most often overlooked is the quality of the art rather than the likeness of the subject," said Prof Williams.

"An important public memorial needs a stronger sculptural sense rather than a mere mimetic rendering. The work must be timeless if we are to take it seriously. It must be an important piece of art in its own right."

Prof Williams described Mr Walters's effort as "a mere husk, an empty shell" because it had "no life coming from the inner expression of the subject". He expressed anger that a charitable fund chaired by the film director Lord Attenborough, which raised the money for the statue, did not hold an open competition.

Mr Walters, who is the sculptor of another statue of Mr Mandela erected outside the Royal Festival Hall in 1985, said he had no personal animus against Prof Williams but dismissed his views because he had seen only a 2ft-high maquette of the statue.

He said: "I dispute them [his views] because they accept only one kind of art, an art which denies expressive reality.

"He calls my statue fussy and too full of detail but I want one that people will associate with Mandela. I do not want one that is an invention for the sake of art."

Lord Attenborough, a close friend of Mr Mandela, said it was "dismissive and insulting" to site the statue by South Africa House because it would be on a crowded pavement where visitors could not stand back and view it.

Paul Drury, an English Heritage consultant, told the inquiry: "There can be no dispute that the subject of the statue is a world leader of immense stature.

"But placing an informal, small-scale statue of him among formal statues primarily commemorating naval and military leaders... would be a major and awkward change in the narrative of the square."

[Stoat]

So, was the only discussion pertaining to this centering around the statue's artistic styling?  Was there no debate over the appropriateness of the subject matter?

Do the people of Great Britain really want a huge and expensive statue in one of their most famous and historically significant places deifying a Marxist who, when placed in a position of power, ran his country into the ground and left a legacy of one of the most spectacular escalations of crime ever seen on the planet?

Just curious.....

[Don W]

Funny, I was going to flame you over the subject matter of the post, but you quite elegantly took the wind from my sails with your eloquent and succinct sub-comment.

Well done, and Godspeed!

BTW, Nelson Mandela belongs in jail to this day. So does Winnie "necklaces" Mandela.

Marxist scum is Marxist scum. No matter what the means of political posturing.

[Tailgunner Joe]

[Humidston]

I think it's appropriate that his statue be placed in Trafalgar. The pigeons will crap all over it.

[Stoat]

Thanks so much for actually READING the thread, quite a rare thing it seems :-)

I am sincerely curious about any debate, or lack thereof regarding the subject matter in this case. I hadn't seen any articles about this previously, although I must confess that I try to spread my newsreading focus over the whole world and so I may well have missed it.

I suppose that such a blight upon once-noble Trafalgar Square and such an insult against Lord Nelson is to be expected from a city that elects the likes of Red Ken Livingstone, but I'm just wondering if there was any particular debate about Mandela as the subject or whether it was pretty much a matter of 'royal' fiat from the Mayor's office.

My hope is that some of our British Friends who are familiar with this matter might chime in, although all posts are of course entirely welcome :-)

[RWCon]

" Nelson Mandela belongs in jail to this day."

No! He should have been hanged years ago.

[NormsRevenge]

Glad I saw Lord Nelson and Trafalgar before the Marxist interloper Nelson made his way there.

[Don W]

We both know that there are many thinking Brits. The problem is that they are drowned out by the rabble.

Eventually, we WILL win, but at tragic and huge cost caused BY the rabble, who will continually try to blame US for their folly.

Kosovo was the beginning of the end for these dimwits. Katrina has accelerated their demise. RIta should prove their foolishness.

Then again, I do suffer from excessive positivism, tempered with a pleasant outlook on life. It's what keeps me from killing everything and everyone around me............

LOL

[FreedomCalls]

Just curious. Is there a statue of Sir Cecil Rhodes anywhere in Britain? Shouldn't there be? How about Winston Churchill?

[Finalapproach29er]

Why Britain?

[Stoat]

It's what keeps me from killing everything and everyone around me............

Your statement reminds me of a time when I was watching an interview with Miss Manners, the famous expert on all matters relating to etiquette

Amazon.com Books Search Results Judith Martin

She was asked something to the effect of "How do you define Etiquette?"  and her answer was "Etiquette is the name that we give to that very thin grey line that keeps us all from killing each other."

This was quite funny because her demeanor, elocution and manner of dress wouldn't have suggested to the casual viewer that she had such a wry wit   :-)

[Malesherbes]

There are plenty of old Leninist/Stalinist statues in junk yards all over eastern Europe. Britain should consider saving money by importing them and raising them in Trafalgar Square - just as appropriate as one of Mandela.

[Bogolyubski]

You beat me to it! Megatonnes of Lenin and Stalin statues are available for cheap! Done in the finest "Soviet realism" style, too. Apprived by Comrade Stalin himself! Other appropriate revolutionary heroes are available as well that would surely please Imam Blairistani's comrade "Red Ken" - including such notables as Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, "Iron" Felix Dzerzhinsky, even Lavrenti Beria!

Operators are on call 24/7! Call before midnight tonight for a special deal!

[Stoat]

Just curious. Is there a statue of Sir Cecil Rhodes anywhere in Britain?

A cursory Google Image Search turned up this one in South Africa, but nothing in Great Britain

Kimberley - Museums and Historic Places

 

Shouldn't there be?

Absolutely, in my view.

How about Winston Churchill?

There appear to be at least a couple in Great Britain, and his stellar legacy is also honored by The Churchill Centre

Sir Winston Churchill - The Churchill Centre

 

I agree however with the obvious intent of your question.....Mandela's connection to Great Britain is only an ideological one shared by Britain's far Left.  There are other people far more deserving of a statue, particularly in such an important and historic place as Trafalgar Square.

 

[Stoat]

Why Britain?

Britain's hard Left share an ideological connection with this Marxist thug.  Other than that, no reason that I'm aware of.  Mandela didn't save Great Britain from the French fleet or anything truly meaningful like that......

[Stoat]

There are plenty of old Leninist/Stalinist statues in junk yards all over eastern Europe. Britain should consider saving money by importing them and raising them in Trafalgar Square - just as appropriate as one of Mandela.

You're absolutely correct of course, and unfortunately I am in Seattle which, unfortunately, has one of the Lenin statues in the Fremont district, a traditional haven for hippies, Marxists and the hard Left.

Statue of Vladimir Lenin, Seattle, Washington

 

[taxesareforever]

No! He should have been hanged years ago.

Maybe the statute isn't finished yet. The rope to be added?

[leadhead]

The thing looks like a recycled Mao statue.

The artistic fault is that it's not transparent and red.

[Stoat]

 

The thing looks like a recycled Mao statue.

How completely appropriate, considering the subject of the statue.

The artistic fault is that it's not transparent and red.

Having some of the friendly British engineers design a pumping system by which the hands would drip red blood continuously from the hands would be a nice touch as well.

This might be a bit frightening for visiting schoolchildren, but probably not a whole lot more so than the statue of the naked pregnant woman that they already have installed there.

Lord Nelson would not have approved, and his memory and accomplishments are being insulted by this,

[tet68]

Probably won't be long till someone hangs a petrol filled
tire around it's neck. Now THAT will be art!!!