You can sit beside
Einstein - Washington DC, USA
Einstein - Vail, USA
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AUTHORS
UK
Agatha Christie - Torquay, England, UK
USA
Mark Twain - California, USA
Useful Websites
https://www.publicartinpublicplaces.info/PUBLIC-ART-BY-CITY/Cities-A-to-K
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See my earlier posts on statues of people on benches you can sit beside
Please share links to your favourite posts.
Famous buildings and statues for selfies are all around all over the world. You can photograph yourself apparently holding up the leaning tower of Pisa in Italy.
I have also seen a picture which creates the illusion of somebody climbing up outside of the tower, which looks tiny, without any ropes.
The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, can be shown with you learning against it with an outstretched arm, holding it by the top, leaping over it on a bicycle.
or the Statue of Liberty in New York in the USA.
Or sit or stand beside the statue or mural of a famous real person or fictional character. The giant statue of Einstein in the USA.
Or sit beside that statue of somebody famous on a bench. Spike Milligan in London. Agatha Christie on the south coast of England.
Or kneel at their feet. Or imitate a pose, such as Rodin's thinker in France.
Or join a group, such as Alice in Wonderland's tea party.
ENGLAND
1 UK London, Paddington Station - Tea Table
The Wild Table Of Love.
At the table of mythical animals are two seats where you can sit with a child or spouse of friend. Often you have to queue on busy times and sunny holidays.
I thought this was Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter's tea party when I saw the big ears of a hare or rabbit. Apparently many other people also mistake this for the Alice scene.
It looked like the picture from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
Paddington station is one of the three most visited stations in London, England. It was Brunel's landmark, his station for trains going our from west London, west to Wales, along Brunel's railway and bridge, across the ocean on his steamship to America.
Paddington stations's other photo opportunities are standing by the little statue of Paddington bear, and beside the statue of serious, seated Brunel.
Or upstairs under the huge statue of the lovers meeting.
Which are the other two busy London stations? Liverpool station on the east side of London is for going East. and from the east connecting to Heathrow in the west of London, visitor numbers boosted by the Elizabeth line. Liverpool station has the statue of the Kindertransport, refugee Jewish children arriving just in time before WW2 as the Nazi party advanced through countries of Europe and rounded up their parents.
Baker Street station has a giant statue of fictional detective Sherlock Holmes outside on the Euston Road. Inside the station on the platforms is an opportunity to sit on a bench under any one of several murals of scenes from his books. Or stand beside the mosaic tiles of Sherlock in his deerstalker hat with his pipe, clutching your hat, or a pipe.
Angela Lansbury on the white swan seat outside the Sofitel Hotel in London, near Piccadilly. Photo by Trevor Sharot.
2 London, Finchley
Comedian Spike Milligan.
Why is Spike Milligan honoured and why here? He was president of the local history and heritage society, so when he died, they fund raised a memorial to him.
3 Torquay,
Author Agatha Christie
The author's bench with her reading a book is in Torquay, the lovely seaside town in the south of England.
Another seaside memorial to Agatha in another place she visited is in the Canary Island of Tenerife.
Agatha Christie steps on Tenerife, in the Spanish Canary Islands. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
There were so many steps leading up the hillside to the bust of Agatha that I never made it to the top, as my husband was waiting in a car with no parking space, for me to return after my envisioned quick photo. I considered being photographed sitting on the steps.
Statues you can sit right beside—often called "bench statues" because they feature historical figures or characters integrated seamlessly into public seating—are popular interactive art installations.
If you are thinking of famous examples, particularly around London and the UK, these stand out:
Allies, in London's Mayfair, shows Winston Churchill and American President Franklin D Roosevelt together sitting on a bench in New Bond Street. Bronze statue. Room for you to be photographed between them.
You can also see F D Roosevelt in his wheelchair is in Washington DC, USA.
"Allies" (Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt) on New Bond Street:
Other Bench Sculptures: Cities worldwide feature similar interactive pieces (such as statues of authors,
Singers, composers, musicians, with guitars or instruments, or at pianos.
In London, Amy Winehouse standing statue in Camden.
Fictional characters on park benches) designed to break down the barrier between traditional high art and the public.
If you are looking for statues related to Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland, there are several notable locations across the UK linked to the author and the real-life inspiration for Alice:
Guildford, Surrey: Guildford has deep connections to Lewis Carroll, who owned a family home there and spent his later years writing.
Millmead (by the river): Features a bronze statue of Alice and her sister watching the White Rabbit pop out of the ground.
Castle Grounds: Features an Alice Through the Looking-Glass statue.
Llandudno, Wales: Alice Pleasance Liddell (the real-life inspiration for Alice) spent her childhood summer holidays here.
Warrington, Cheshire: Lewis Carroll (born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) grew up nearby in Daresbury. Golden Square in Warrington features a prominent window-themed monument containing bronze figures of Alice, the Mad Hatter, and other characters.
London (Paddington Station): While not explicitly an Alice statue, the popular Wild Table of Love sculpture outside Paddington Station (featured in your current blog post draft) is frequently mistaken for the Mad Hatter's tea party due to the whimsical animal figures.
Albert Einstein Memorial (Washington, D.C., USA): Created by sculptor Robert Berks and located at the National Academy of Sciences, this massive, 12-foot bronze statue depicts Einstein seated on a three-step granite bench with a paper displaying his equations (
University of South Alabama (Mobile, Alabama, USA): Features the "Einstein Bench," a bronze sculpture depicting Einstein sitting on an outdoor campus bench.
