The first public sculpture of Vincent van Gogh in Britain is to be installed in Brixton’s Van Gogh Walk later this month.
The great Dutch artist lived in nearby Hackford Road in 1873-1874 while working as an art dealer in Covent Garden.
The work is part of a 12-month project, A Year With Vincent, by award-winning artist Anthony Padgett who has an MA in contemporary art from Wimbledon School of Art and whose sculptures are found in major galleries, museums, libraries and Ripon Cathedral.
The Brixton sculpture is one of seven, each a different colour, that will be sited in England, Holland, Belgium and France. A total of four will be in places he lived in England – Brixton, Ramsgate in Kent, Isleworth in West London, and Welwyn in Hertfordshire.
The base of the sculpture incorporates items from van Gogh’s life, including oil paints and his pipe that is on the famous “Chair” painting in the National Gallery.
Van Gogh is Padgett’s second public sculpture in London, the first is of 1920s poet Humbert Wolfe in Eccleston Square Gardens, near Victoria Station.
Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) is one of the most famous painters in western art.
The installation, without ceremony, will take place on Friday 16 November.
The statue could join the David Bowie mural on the wall of Morleys as a place of pilgrimage in Brixton for culture lovers.
