25 Unusual Sculptures You Might Not Know About (26 photos)

To paraphrase the German art theorist Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, sculpture is music frozen in stone. While millions of tourists take photos against the backdrop of world-famous masterpieces by Bernini, Michelangelo, and Rodin, we present a selection of 25 lesser-known but noteworthy stone, bronze, and steel sculptures.





Funny and sweet, sometimes strange and frightening, they lift the spirits of passersby and make the cities they inhabit a little more unusual.



The Mustangs of Las Colinas in Irving, Texas, USA

This is one of the largest horse sculptures in the world. It symbolizes the dynamism and free spirit that characterized Texas during its early years.

Expansion, New York, USA

The artist comments on this sculpture: "From the moment we're born, the world offers us a ready-made shell into which we must fit: a Social Security number, a gender, a race, a profession. I wondered: what are we really—this outer shell we live in, or what's underneath it, inside each of us? Would we recognize ourselves if we went beyond our bodies?"



Monument to the Unknown Passerby, Wroclaw, Poland

The sculpture symbolizes the suppression of the individual during communism and the underground anti-communist activities of Poles in the 1980s.



Salmon, Portland, USA

Portland is a major port city, and this fish attracts visitors to one of its most famous restaurants.



People by the River, Singapore

The artist of this piece, Chong Fah Cheong, is known for his many sculptures depicting people who live and work along the banks of the Singapore River.



Shoes on the Bank of the Danube, Budapest, Hungary

The sculpture commemorates Jews murdered by the Nazis in Budapest during World War II. They were ordered to remove their shoes and shot near the water. The victims' bodies fell into the river and were carried away by the current. Only a pair of shoes remained as a reminder of the tragedy.



Sculpture "No Violence" (also known as "Knotted Gun"), New York, USA

It was created by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd in late 1980 in memory of the murder of John Lennon, who was a friend of the sculptor.



Break Through from Your Mold, Philadelphia, USA

This composition symbolizes the desire for immortality. The four figures represent one and the same person, gradually awakening from sleep, throwing off the shackles, and breaking free toward eternal life.



Black Ghost (Juodasis Vaiduoklis), Klaipeda, Lithuania

According to legend, in 1595, one of the guards at Klaipeda Castle saw a ghost who warned him that the city needed to increase its grain and timber reserves. Having said this, the spirit vanished. It is believed that befriending a supernatural being will bring wealth and good fortune.



Travellers (Les voyageurs), Marseille, France

A series of sculptures by French artist Bruno Catalano was installed in the port of Marseille in 2013. Each figure is missing a significant part of their body. One can only speculate about the reasons for this emptiness: is it because these people are missing something, or did they simply leave behind a part of their soul while traveling?



Nelson Mandela Memorial, South Africa

The monument was erected to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the human rights activist's arrest during apartheid. The monument, erected where Mandela was arrested, consists of 50 steel columns symbolizing the prison bars behind which the 8th President of South Africa was held for 27 years.



De Vaartkapoen, Brussels, Belgium

Created in 1985, this humorous statue shows a police officer tripping over an intruder hiding in a manhole.



Cattle Drive, Dallas, USA



Maman (giant spider), London, UK

The bronze sculpture of a giant spider is located in the Tate Modern gallery of modern art.



Hippos, Taipei, Taiwan



Sinking building at the State Library, Melbourne, Australia



Iguana Park, Amsterdam, Netherlands



Observer Bratislava, Slovakia

This sculpture is called "The Worker" in English, but its name translates from Slovak as "observer." This bronze plumber watches passersby from a manhole. Tourists believe that rubbing the sculpture's hand will make their wishes come true.



Mihai Eminescu, Onesti, Romania

A monument to a classic of Romanian literature.



World War I scene with life-size soldier figures, Eceabat, Turkey

During World War I, the area was the site of land battles during the Dardanelles Offensive.



Hanging Man, Prague, Czech Republic

Who do you think this sculpture depicts? Surprisingly, it's the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. Sculptor David Černý created this piece in response to the question of what role intellectuals will play in the new millennium. According to the author, the founder of psychoanalysis is the embodiment of the 20th-century intellectual.



The Kelpie, Grangemouth, UK

In Scottish mythology, the kelpie is a hostile water spirit that inhabits many rivers and lakes. It appears in the form of a horse grazing by the water, but can transform into a sea lizard, which is why it is often associated with the Loch Ness Monster.



Pigs in front of Rundle Mall, Adelaide, Australia

The pigs' names are Oliver, Augusta, Horatio, and Truffle.



Unknown Official, Reykjavik, Iceland

Perhaps the only statue in the world dedicated to the impersonal work of bureaucracy.



Headington Shark, Oxford, England

Created by sculptor John Buckley, the shark caused much controversy when it first appeared in public. Oxford City Council attempted to remove it from the building due to safety concerns, and then on the grounds that it had not granted planning permission for the shark statue. It was proposed to move it to a local swimming pool, but many local residents supported the idea of ​​leaving the shark on the building. Incidentally, the meaning of the sculpture is much deeper than it might first appear: it was erected to commemorate the 41st anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. In a sense, the shark represents a beautiful but potentially deadly missile.