Text: Nicola WhitePhotography: Ruth ClarkDesign: cactushq.com

Public

Art Trail

The Merchant City

For further information on all of these works and the artists mentioned,please go to our website, www.glasgowmerchantcity.net

The Merchant City Initiative would like to acknowledge the assistance ofthe individual artists in supplying background information and alsoRay McKenzie’s invaluable book Public Sculpture of Glasgow. Additionalphotography by L. Crawford and S Guéneau, (Simon Corder person) needto check with Liz, and the Royal Commission on Ancient and HistoricalBuildings of Scotland.

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This leaflet guidesyou on a walking trailaround some of themost interestingartworks thatembellish the historicheart of Glasgow, theMerchant City.

Glasgow is particularly rich inarchitectural sculpture and civicadornment, mainly because theVictorians, who built so much ofthe city, were partial to upliftingdecoration – city emblems, men ofachievement, maidens and cherubsembodying various virtues. But thetradition of creating art for thepublic realm stretches back furtherthan that and has also continuedforward through the 20th Centuryand into the 21st. The MerchantCity area, as the traditional civicand commercial centre, has thedensest concentration of public artin Glasgow.

This walking tour will includetraditional sculpture, decorative art,and contemporary installations,ranging from the 17th century tovery recent. We will see how theseworks reflect the life, the mythologyand the aspirations of the city.Certain themes recur throughoutthe trail – many works extol thevirtues of hard work and thrift orrefer to the trades of Glasgow and

the legacy of Empire. Also, the figureof St. Mungo will be appearing invarious guises. This patron saint ofGlasgow has been a favouritesubject of artists through thedecades, with his accompanyingemblems of tree, bird, bell and fish,not least on the civic shields thatappear over many doorways.

The trail takes about an hour and ahalf to complete, starting outsideThe Gallery of Modern Art onQueen Street and ending either inthe gallery district of King Street, orin a rewarding walk along theClyde to Glasgow Bridge.

Or you can complete the trail atyour own pace, over a day, stoppingoff for refreshment in the manycafes and restaurants of the area,detouring through some of thegalleries and public buildings, orsimply taking time to look up andaround at the often-ignoredrichness of the city’s fabric andwhat it tells us about Glasgow pastand present.

1 Gallery of Modern Art

Tympanum/Monument to the

Duke of Wellington

2 Royal Exchange House

Transition

3 Ingram Hotel

Untitled sculpture

4 177 Ingram St

St. Mungo and other sculptural

elements

5 178 Ingram St

Works

6 The Italian Centre

Works

7 Virginia Place

Cherubs and Narrative Tympana

8 Wilson St

Police Box/Jacobean Corsetry Sign

9 Hutcheson St

Glasgow Bouquet

10 Hutcheson’s Hall

Statues of George and

Thomas Hutcheson

11 Rottenrow Gardens

Monument to Maternity

12 Ramshorn Theatre

Pavement Engravings

13 City Halls

Pavement Engravings

14 Tontine Lane

Empire Sign

15 Tontine Lane

Dug-out canoe

16 Glasgow Cross

Mercat Cross

17 Tron Steeple

St. Mungo at the Tron

18 Tron Theatre

Cherub/Skull

19 New Wynd

Bough 2

20 Clyde Street

La Pasionaria

21 Beside Glasgow Bridge

Piers/Disused Railway bridge

Public

Art Trail

The Merchant City

The frieze shows elements fromthe story of St. Mungo, Glasgow’spatron saint. In particular itconcentrates on the legend of howhe helped an unfaithful queenretrieve her ring after her royalhusband threw it in the Clyde. Thesaint instructed a messenger tofish a salmon from the river, andthe ring was found inside. This ishow a fish with a ring in its mouthcame to be one of the fouremblems of the saint, who we seeat the centre, with his initial M andthe unlucky salmon. On the left thequeen and her lover are framed in aheart, while the king is alone onthe right. A stylised bell, bird, treeand ring complete the scene.

The original plan for this work wasvery ambitious, involving animatedsculptures on the roof of the gallery,like the ones on the fountainde St. Phalle created beside thePompidou Centre in Paris, butpracticalities and opposition frommore conservative factions resultedin a relatively modest work. Whileyou are passing, have a look atentrance hall which she lined inmirror mosaic and includes a lightfitting by her husband, artist JeanTinguely.

Monument to the

Duke of Wellington

Carlo Marochetti, 1840-4

In front of the gallery stands anequestrian statue of the Duke ofWellington. More often than not,the Duke, or the horse, or both,will be wearing traffic cones ontheir heads. This persistent‘intervention’ by anonymousmembers of the public has beengoing on for years, and hasbecome something of an iconicsight, commemorated on t-shirtsand posters, despite beingdiscouraged by those worried forthe wellbeing of the statue.

Marochetti was a well-establishedVictorian sculptor, who alsocreated the equestrian statuesof Queen Victoria and PrinceAlbert in George Square.

Royal Exchange House100 Queen St.

Transition

John Creed, 1990

Diagonally opposite the Gallery ofModern Art, on the corner ofQueen Street and Ingram Street,you will see two metalwork screensflanking the entrance to an officebuilding. This is a good spot to lookback at the facade of GOMA, butalso affords a close look at anotherinteresting work of architecturalembellishment.

‘Transition’ is by Scottish-baseddesigner and metalworker JohnCreed and is made from forgedmild steel with brass and bronzedetailing. The subtle serpentineforms and layering of curved steel‘fronds’ contrast with the blockyformality of the surroundingarchitecture, softening the spacewhile protecting it. The form of thework was prompted by pot plantsused in the building’s foyer to liventhe space, and creates an organicflow towards the street.

John Creed has also created metalgates for the refurbishedKelvingrove Art Gallery and Museumin the city’s west end.

Proceed east along Ingram Street.

The façade of GOMAQueen St. at Royal Exchange Square

Tympanum

Niki de St. Phalle, 1996

1 2The triangular mirrored frieze above thefront pillars was commissioned from Frenchartist Niki de St. Phalle to mark thetransformation of this iconic building intoThe Gallery of Modern Art.

This main figure has a very benignappearance and was sculpted byGeorge Frampton, who alsomodelled the rest of the sculpturaldecoration around the facade, butleft the carving of them to a localstone sculptor, William Shirreffs.

Flanking St. Mungo are twoweight- bearing figures. Otherpairs appear on the sides of thebuilding. Called atlantes, theyare a common motif throughoutthe city, but these ones areparticularly burdened, bentdouble by the heavy pediment.

Look, also, at the lovely ironworkdetail of the letter box and bellpush on either side of the door,one nestled in a bed of oak leaves,the other wreathed by mistletoe.

The next stop on the trail isdirectly across the road

178 Ingram St.(Cruise Clothing)

Works

Alexander Stoddart and

Jack Sloan, 1994

At the Ingram Hotel we saw anexample of new building raised onthis old thoroughfare, but by the1990s the emphasis had shifted tosaving and restoring what wasalready there. This 1994reconstruction of a fire-damagedwarehouse by architects Page &Park incorporates work by twoartists to articulate the traditionallyproportioned façade.

On the ground floor, AlexanderStoddart’s portrait capitals on thepillars commemorate the history ofthe Merchant City as embodied infour men involved in theconstruction of some of the finestGeorgian buildings in the area.Bronze plaques at the bottom ofthe pillar identify each one – theyare, from left, Mungo Naismyth,mason; David Hamilton, architect;Thomas Clayton, plasterer; andAllan Dreghorn, merchant (anddesigner of St. Andrew’s church).

On the floor above, Stoddart alsoexecuted the restrained windowsurrounds which act as a transitionbetween his subtle portraits andthe bravura swirls of the windowshutters on the top floor. Theseshutters are given the title Graspthe Thistle by their maker Jack Sloanand are decorated with stylisedthistles and large protruding spikes.Images of thistles appear onseveral Merchant City buildings,but their adoption here is acontemporary reference to theresurgent sense of Scotland as aseparate nation.

Ingram Hotel197-201 Ingram St.

Untitled sculpture

Richard Coley, 1973

This abstract sculpture, reminiscentof a rock pool or waterflow, wasdesigned by the artist RichardColey for Reo Stakis, the originalowner of the hotel. It hasan almost brooch-likeappearance, and ismounted on aluminiumfins which tie it in to thedesign of the building,resulting in a satisfyinglycomplete example of 70sdesign. The dish is made fromfibreglass with metal elementsand was similar to other worksmade by Coley for the Stakisorganisation.

177 Ingram St.former Trustee Savings Bank,

now Jigsaw

St. Mungo and other

sculptural elements

George Frampton, 1894-9

This ornate littlebuilding incorporatesa Beaux Arts versionof St. Mungo abovethe main door, hisbronze crozier withbell, fish and leavesheld in his left hand.

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Exit the courtyard to your left,and re-cross Ingram Street, turningright then left into Virginia Place.

Virginia Place(rear of the Corinthian building)

Cherubs

Narrative Tympana, c.1854,

John Mossman

Like Alexander Stoddart’sMercurius, this 19th centurycarving refers to the creation ofwealth. Three semi-circular archesframe scenes of cherubic toddlersengaged in counting money,design and engineering, and in thefinal arch, agricultural activities.The building was originally theUnion Bank of Scotland, a typicalinstitution to extol the benefits ofindustry and hard work, evenwhen undertaken by babies.

Recently restored, the building isnow a complex of bars, casino andrestaurants and retains asumptuously ornate interior.

Continue down Virginia Place andturn left into Wilson Street.

Wilson St.Police Box and

Jacobean Corsetry

Sign

Unknown

In the middle of Wilson Street standsa police box, effectively redundantsince the advent of the walkie-talkie,but cherished enough to remainhere, repainted and re-invented asa mock first aid station.

Look back to Virginia Place and youwill see how the buildings framean ornate gilt sign reading‘Jacobean Corsetry’ - all that is leftof a defunct undergarment shop.Neither of these items wereintended as artworks, yet they addso much to the area’s characterthat they have become a cherishedpart of it - remaining for purelyvisual pleasure, having lost theiroriginal functions.

Later on in the walk will see howsome contemporary artists havecreated works that look like signs.

Turn left into Hutcheson Street.

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8The Italian Centre7 John St./Ingram St.

Works

Alexander Stoddart, Jack Sloan and

Shona Kinloch, 1990

To the right of the Cruise shop is anearlier development, the ItalianCentre, also by Page and Park. Withits mixed residential and commercial

units, its street café flowing intopedestrianised John Street, and itsinternal courtyard, it was a catalystfor the development of the kind ofurban living that the Merchant Citynow embodies, but which wasgroundbreaking at the time.

Alexander Stoddart’s neo-classicalfigures on the top of the buildingconnect the development to aclassical European aesthetic. Italiafaces Glassford Street holding apalm branch in one hand andcornucopia in the other – symbolsof peace and prosperity. Around thecorner in John Street, two seatedfigures of the god Mercury embodydual aspects. To the left, Mercuryholds a caduceus - a wandsymbolising his artistic role, while,on the right, he is called Mercuriusand holds a money pouch. This isthe first of several references wewill see to the area’s importantcommercial role, now and in thepast. At ground level, a free-standing figure of the god blendsboth roles.

Walk through the covered archwayon John Street and you will findtwo more sculptural works in theinternal courtyard of the centre .Directly in front of you are theplayful figures of a man and hisdog by Shona Kinloch. EntitledThinking of Bella, the man yearnsskywards, ‘aspiring to all thingsbeautiful’, according to Kinloch,while his little dog echoes the pose.

To your right you will see JackSloan’s metal ‘Guardians’ standingabove a glass canopy and abovethem, a set of sliding windowshutters depict the story of Phaeton,a human who stole the Apollo’schariot and rode across the sky,almost destroying the earth in hisfolly.

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Hutcheson St.opposite Garth St.

Glasgow Bouquet

Doug Cocker

made 2005, installed 2010

This, most recent of artworks to beplaced in the Merchant City, wascommissioned to commemoratethe 400th anniversary of thereconstitution of the Trades Houseand Merchants House. Cocker’sidea was to echo the notion of abouquet, but with tools in an openweave basket rather than flowersin a vase. There are ten tools in all,six representing the trades ofGlasgow including a tailor’s square,a dyer’s tongs and a mason’sdividers. A ship’s mast and abobbin represent the role of themerchants, while a mace and acrozier are symbolic of the city inits civic and ecclesiastical roles.

The sculpture was originallyconstructed in wood, then cast inbronze. It is mounted on a tallgranite column, and faces downGarth Street to the front of TheTrades Hall of Glasgow, whilstbehind it is the façade of theearlier Merchants House before it relocated to its current home inGeorge Square.

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Hutcheson’s HallIngram St.

Statues of George and

Thomas Hutcheson

James Colquhoun, c. 1649

Looking north, you will see thehandsome spire-topped frontageof Hutcheson’s Hall, formerlyHutcheson’s Hospital. In nicheseither side of the entrance standtwo stone figures. These are portraitstatues, the earliest in Glasgow, ofthe philanthropic Hutchesonbrothers, landowners and notaries,who set up a hospital in 1641 for‘poor, aiget, decreppit men’ onTrongate and an associated charityschool for boys.

George died before the foundationstone was laid and so his charitablework was taken on by Thomas forhis few remaining years.

The statues were carved in Ayrshirefreestone and brightly painted, aswas the style of the day. When thenew hospital was built here in1805, the statues were moved andtheir bright colours stripped off,butduring the upheaval the brotherswere apparently placed on thewrong pedestals. So George isactually Thomas and Thomas isGeorge, but so much time has

passed since the error, that no oneis inclined to correct it now.Someone also repaired George’sdate of death wrongly – it shouldread 1639 not 1693.

Note the money bag in ‘George’s’right hand, so similar to the oneheld by Mercurius on top of theItalian centre to your left.

Walk east on Ingram Street thenturn left on Montrose Street untilthe road climbs steeply to a park

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Rottenrow GardensMonument to

Maternity

George Wyllie, 1995

This park was createdin 2003/4 on the siteof Glasgow’swell-known maternityHospital, Rottenrow.

You can see a remaining fragmentof the building at the highest partof the site, which is now owned byStrathclyde University.

At the centre of the park, a seven-metre high safety pin, or nappy pin,is placed with a plaque naming itas ‘Mhtpothta/Maternity’. The pinis made of stainless steel and wasmade by George Wyllie, a formercustoms officer who became anartist later in life, and is well knownin Scotland for his humorous andquestioning work.

Notice the little bird perched onthe top of the pin, an echo of thesculpture-loving pigeons that siton the worthy heads of so manyGlasgow statues.

Interestingly, the sculpture had aformer life situated as a temporaryartwork on Glasgow Cross during1995. It was then entitled ‘Just inCase’, but has taken to the role ofmotherhood without alteration.

Return down the hill to IngramStreet and turn left.

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Another pavement work, this timein red rather than gray granite.It includes four speciallycommissioned poems by Glasgow’swell-loved poet laureate, the lateEdwin Morgan. The poems areframed by simple motifsrepresenting the trades of Glasgowand market goods – reflecting themany former uses of the City Halls,now an important music venue.Orkney-based sculptor and stonecarver Pelly designed the motifsand the layout of the text.

The four poems vary in tone,some elegiac, others playful.One takes the traditional verseassociated with the four emblemsof St. Mungo:

Here is the Bird that never flewHere is the Tree that never grewHere is the Bell that never rangHere is the Fish that never swam

And alters it into something thatmore accurately reflects the storiesbehind the myths and also holdsout the possibility of renewal. For

example, the bird of myth was apet robin accidentally killed.St. Mungo prayed over it andbrought it back to life. So inMorgan’s poem, it becomes the‘bird that fainted but flew’.Similarly, in the other Mungostories, the bell did ring, the treemerely had a couple of branchesplucked from it and the fish swamwell enough until it was hookedfrom the Clyde. How the ratherdour and inaccurate verse tooksuch a hold on the Glaswegianimagination is a bit of a mystery.

Tontine LaneEmpire Sign

Douglas Gordon, 1997

Douglas Gordon is the mostsuccessful Scottish artist of hisgeneration in Scotland,internationally renowned andwinner of the Turner Prize, amongmany other awards. His work isoften concerned with language,and also with film, and both cometogether in this rare public work.

The sign is a mirror image of onebriefly seen in Hitchcock’s film‘Vertigo’, so here we have somethingreturned to the real world from thefictional. Says Gordon, ‘I liked thefact that I could make an artworkthat would not look like an artwork.I could make an object which was acopy of something that doesn’tactually exist except in fiction,and the only way you can read itproperly is to look in a mirror whichis a place that does not really existeither.’

The word Empire is a loaded onehere, the source of so much of the

wealth that the Merchant City wasbuilt on, but also a common namefor cinemas and theatres.

This work was originally sited inBrunswick Lane, opposite The MitreBar, a favourite with artists. Whenthe Empire sign had to be movedbecause of development in thatarea, the sign from the defunctMitre Bar came with it, to keep asense of the original juxtaposition.

Walk past the sign towardsTrongate. The next work is situatedjust before you emerge from thelane on your right.

Ramshorn TheatreIngram St.

Pavement Engrav-

ings

Kate Robinson, 2008

This is another example, like theDoug Cocker basket and AlexanderStoddart portrait capitals before,where a contemporary artist hasbeen commissioned to make workwhich reflects directly on thehistory of the area.

The Ramshorn church and adjacentgraveyard are the resting place ofmany important Glasgow figures,and once stood among orchardsand vegetable gardens. In 1992 thechurch became a theatre, and theseengravings were subsequentlycommissioned to reflect this richhistory by the Merchant CityInitiative in 2009 as part of therepaving of Ingram Street.

In the centre of the work is a roundpattern derived from a stainedglass rose window inside thechurch. Above it the head of a ramreflects the building’s name, andbelow we see the church in previousand existing forms. On either sideof the central motif stand twostylised trees, a Laburnum and aYew, symbolic in themselves andoften associated with graveyards,but also referring to two treeswhich stood here long ago, butwere removed to widen the road.

Other parts of the carving refer toindividual events or people in theRamshorn’s history, including, onthe far right, an audience watchinga performance of A MidsummerNight’s Dream, marking thebuilding’s new theatrical role.

Walk down the cobbled street,Candleriggs, opposite the churchand stop half way down on theleft hand side.

City HallsCandleriggs

Pavement Engravings

Frances Pelly and Edwin Morgan, 1996

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Turn left on Bell Street,cross Albion Street and take a rightinto narrow Tontine Lane

Glasgow CrossMercat Cross

Edith Burnet Hughes

(architect),

Margaret Findlay

(sculptor),

1929-30

Part building, part sculpture, aMercat (or market) Cross is anessential component of anysubstantial Scottish settlement.During the 19th century, citizenswere concerned that Glasgow hadno cross – the original one havingbeen destroyed centuries earlier,though it was said to be some where near here, and to beoctagonal in form ‘finely spangledwith thistles’.

This replacement cross, datingfrom 1930, was bequeathed to thecity by antiquarian William GeorgeBlack and his wife Anna BlackieBlack. It is a rare example of acollaboration between a womanarchitect and woman sculptor.Edith Burnet Hughes is consideredto be Britain’s first practisingfemale architect, setting up practicein Glasgow in 1920, althoughrefused membership of the RIBAin 1927.

Sculptor Margaret Findlay trainedat Glasgow School of Art andmodelled the unicorn holding a

thistled shield on the top of thecross and the wooden owl, rabbit,cat and small dog that perch on thestaircase. Actual carving was doneby the firm Dawson & Young.

The interior of the cross is notaccessible to the public, but wehope the photograph will conveyan idea of Findlay’s work.

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Tron SteepleTrongate

St. Mungo at the

Tron

Eduard Bersudsky,, 2002

This figure is made in bronze andthe elements are designed to movewith the striking of the clock onthe hour. Artist Eduard Bersudsky’sintention, much like Edwin Morgan’spoem at Candleriggs, was tosubvert the ‘Bird that never flew…’verse with animatronics that wouldsee the bird flap, the fish swim andthe bell ring. Unfortunately,interruptions with the electricitysupply have meant that thesculpture is not always operational,and the verse often rings sadly truein this case.

The concept of the clock tower withmoving figures has a deep historyin Europe, as seen at the famousexamples at the Old Town Squarein Prague and at St. Mark’s Squarein Venice. The appearance of thisSt. Mungo seems influenced byboth eastern European traditionand the medieval Celtic art –reflective of the influences onRussian-born Bersudsky who movedto Scotland in 1993 and whoseunique moving sculptures can beseen at the nearby SharmankaTheatre at 103 Trongate.

17Tontine LaneDug-out canoe found

AD 1871

Louise Crawford and

Ian Alexander, 2002

In 2001 artist Louise Crawford andarchitect Ian Alexander wereinvited to collaborate on a researchproject in the Merchant City,investigating the history,overlooked spaces and changingdetails of this small quarter.

This neon triptych is a result of theircollaboration and was intended asthe first in a series of signs whichwould make reference to the area’shidden past. One of the old mapsthat they came across in theirresearch bore the words, ‘Dug-out

Canoe found AD 1871’ where theTontine buildings now stand. Thecanoe was one of four uncovered inthe city centre during variousbuilding works, and one of themstill lies in the storeroom ofGlasgow’s Museum of Transport,

a simple hollowed oak shell. Thesign brings attention to the factthat below the paving lies theriverbed mud of an ancient stream,or early River Clyde.

Like the Empire Sign, this artwork

uses the visual language of thetwentieth century city – neon – totell of a nineteenth centurydiscovery of an even more ancientartefact. The lights of both worksare activated in time with thestreet lighting in the evening.

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Walk west on Trongate to theTron steeple which juts into the roadon your left.

Walk out onto Trongate and cross tothe central traffic island at the busyintersection of Glasgow Cross.

Perched in front of thesecond floor windowon the west side ofthe steeple, facingdown Argyle Street, isanother interpretationof Glasgow’s patronsaint and hisemblems of tree, bell,fish and bird.

Retrace your steps through thesteeple to the corner of Trongateand Chisholm Street.

Tron TheatreChisholm St. and Parnie St.

Cherub/Skull

Kenny Hunter, 1997/8

Commissioned as part of therefurbishment of the celebratedTron Theatre, these two relatedsculptures bracket or bookend thebuilding. On the corner of thebuilding facing on to Trongate, theCherub steps confidently forwardfrom an ornate niche, as if about tofly or jump into the bustle below.Like other public works by Hunterit manages a delicate balancebetween traditional andcontemporary forms.

The second part of the work canbe seen at the back of the theatreon Parnie Street. In a speciallyconstructed square niche sits acolossal human skull of a dull goldcolour. Like the cherub it is animage associated with theatre,but more generally with thequestioning of human existence.Conceptually, the two sculpturesrefer to the span betweenchildhood and death, to spirit andmortality, suggesting that allhuman endeavour is reflected andaddressed inside these walls.

18Continue west along Parnie Street,towards what looks like a dead-endwall, and turn left at the wall intothe cobbled lane called New Wynd.

New Wynd(off Parnie St.)

Bough 2

Simon Corder, 2005

This work was commissioned forthe 2005 Radiance Festival,a mid-winter festival of lightworksand installations centred aroundthe Merchant City which also tookplace in 2007.

Although initially intended as atemporary work, Glasgow CityCouncil purchased Bough 2 in amore permanent version so that itcould remain illuminating thistypical back court, bringing lightand colour to a dark corner of thecity. The piece is made fromcommercially available fluorescenttubes in three colours, butarranged in a dynamic, almosttreelike flow. Part of the work (theblue tubes) is installed on thehidden walls of the courtyard andis seen only reflected in thewindows surrounding the centralstream of light.

From this point you can either stopand explore some of the galleriesin the King Street/ Osborne Streetarea, or you can continue on to seetwo more public artworks of note,outside the Merchant City proper,but worth the walk along the Clyde.

Best seen at night orin the dark of awinter’s afternoon,Bough 2 is the thirdwork we have seen inwhich light plays acentral role.

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Leaving New Wynd, skirt the largecarpark and head down Bridgegate,past an ornate grey building whichhas a steeple emerging from ittopped by a golden ship. This buildingis called the Briggait and the steeplewas once an important lookoutpoint for merchants and ship owners.The building below was a purposedesigned fish market, but nowhouses artists’ studios. Head westalong the Clyde, passing St. AndrewsCathedral and a pedestriansuspension bridge, until you come tothe figure of a woman with upraisedarms facing the river.

La Pasionaria was a real woman,Dolores Ibarruri, a communistmember of the Popular Front andan inspirational figure to hergeneration, although the rousingquote ascribed to her on the baseof the statue is not originally herown.

The statue was commissioned byThe International BrigadeAssociation of Scotland andfunded by money raised from thelabour movement. However, notenough money was raised, andDooley had to abandon his planfor it to be cast in bronze. Insteadthe armature was weldedtogether from scrap iron andcovered in fibreglass. Recentrestoration revealed a cataloguefrom the fibreglass companyglued into the skirt and that themetal armature included a pairof tongs.

Arthur Dooley was a fascinatingfigure, a former Liverpool welder,self-taught as an artist, whocompleted many religious worksin his native city and achievedsuch fame in the sixties that therewas a This is Your Life made abouthim. A communist and a catholic,he gave away or spent whatevermoney came his way. During histime in Glasgow he stayed in aworking men’s hostel onAnderston Quay.

The statue was controversial fromthe outset, a bone of contentionbetween Labour and Conservativecouncillors, the latter objecting toit on both political and aestheticgrounds. The planned unveilingwas cancelled for these reasons.It is believed that Dooley nevermade it back to Glasgow to seethe work in place.

Clyde Street(near Dixon Street)

La Pasionaria

(Monument to Dolores Ibarruri)Arthur Dooley, 1979

This monument waserected tocommemorate theBritish volunteerswho took part in theSpanish Civil War onthe republican side,and specifically the65 Glaswegians whodied in the conflict.

20Continue to walk west, then crosshalf way on to the first bridge,Glasgow Bridge, from where youcan view the disused railway bridgethat lies between the bridge youare on and the working rail bridgeinto Glasgow Central.

Beside Glasgow Bridge PiersDisused railway

bridge

Ian Hamilton Finlay, 1990

On the strong granite pillars thatonce held up a rail bridge intoGlasgow Central Station are carved,in Greek and in English, the phrase‘All greatness stands firm in thestorm ‘ On one pillar the Greek iscarved above the English, on theother the sequence is reversed.The phrase derives from Plato’sRepublic, through a translation byHeidegger.

Ian Hamilton Finlay was a Scottishartist of international standing,whose work explored thepersistence of the classical traditionthroughout western culture. He isperhaps best known for his garden,Little Sparta, south of Edinburgh,which contains dozens of hissculptural works. The work you seenow came about through Finlay’sown proposal to the organisers ofa city-wide public art project for1990, Glasgow’s year as EuropeanCapital of Culture. The other partsof the project were temporary, butthe organisers found Finlay’s ideafor a permanent work too good topass up.

It is safe to presume that Finlaywas drawn to this site for theclassical grandeur of the pillars,made from Dalbeattie granite and‘rusticated’ in form – each stoneblock roughly rounded to suggest

strength. The combination of thephrase and this particular sitehowever, produces an ambivalence– the pillars do indeed stand firmmore than 130 years after theywere built, but they no longer havea purpose. Like so much ofGlasgow’s industrial heritage, theywere built to last, but the shifts ofhistory and economics mean thathave become redundant, thatstrength is not all.

So is Finlay’s work a celebration ofthe pillars’ survival or is it an ironicstatement about empire’s decline?There is no simple answer here, butthe work throws us back achallenging reflection on anever-changing city

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