This page brings into view some of the most high-profile statues to have been removed from public spaces in recent years, including the monument to Cecil Rhodes (archimperialist and advocate of apartheid) from the campus of the University of Cape Town. In 1928 the University moved to a new site, on land bequeathed by Rhodes. Marion Walgate's bronze statue was unveiled in 1934. It was removed in 2015.
In very different circumstances, and throughout history, public statues have also been toppled as part of the performance of military victory. Consider, for example, the staged removal of statues of Saddam Hussein by US soldiers following the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Also included on this page are recent monumental works by other contemporary artists, including Kara Walker, Hew Locke and Kehinde Wiley.
Marion Walgate, Cecil John Rhodes (1934) commissioned by University of Cape Town
Marion Walgate, Cecil Rhodes (1934) University of Cape Town (covered)
Rhodes Must Fall (2015) University of Cape Town
Marion Walgate, Cecil Rhodes (1934) University of Cape Town (removed 2015)
Removal of Confederate General Robert E Lee from Lee Circle, New Orleans (May 2017)
Covering Confederate General Robert E Lee in Charlottesville (August 2017
Early Days statue removed from the Pioneer Monument (1894), Civic Center Plaza, San Francisco, in 2018
An army engineer places a US flag over the head of a Saddam Hussein in Baghdad (April 2003) Photo by Peter Nicholls
Venezuelan demonstrators take down a Christopher Columbus statue in Caracas (October 2004) Photo by Jorge Silva
Rhodes building, Oriel College, Oxford
Cecil Rhodes, Oriel College, Oxford
Kara Walker, African't (1996)
Kara Walker, Paternity Test (2009)
Kara Walker, Fons Americanus (Tate Modern, 2019) title
Kara Walker, Fons Americanus (Tate Modern, 2019) with artist
Thomas Brock, Victoria Memorial, The Mall, London (1911)
Victoria Memorial, London (1911) Queen Victoria
Turbine Commission 2019.Tate Modern.
Kara Walker, Fons Americanus (Tate Modern, 2019) base
Hew Locke, Stuyvesant, Stuyvesant Square (2018) c-type photograph with mixed media
Hew Locke, Stuyvesant, Jersey City (2018) Patriots series
Hew Locke, Souvenir 5 (Albert Edward, Prince of Wales) (2019) mixed media on antique Parian ware bust
Hew Locke, Souvenir 1 (Victoria) (2019) mixed media on antique Parian ware bust
Kehinde Wiley, Rumors of War (2019) Times Square, New York
Kehinde Wiley, Rumors of War (2019) Times Square with flag
Kehinde Wiley, Rumors of War (2019) Times Square at night
Kehinde Wiley, Rumors of War (2019) VMFA
Frederick Moynihan, Major General James Ewell Brown (JEB) Stuart on Monument Avenue, Richmond, VA (erected 1907, removed 2020)
Statues on Monument Avenue, Richmond, Virginia
Monument Avenue and Lee Monument, Richmond, VA (1930s) postcard
Yinka Shonibare, Nelson's Ship in a Bottle (2010) in Trafalgar Square
