Repairs to fix one of the most intriguing statues in London have begun.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council is spending more than £15,000 towards the restoration of its sculpture – called The Leaning Woman. It sits alongside the A4 in Hammersmith near St Peter’s Church.
A further £10,000 has been donated by the Heritage of London Trust which uses public donations to restore neglected monuments.
In addition, local residents and sculpture fans donated £11,737 via our crowdfunding campaign last year to fully restore the gravity-defying sculpture alongside the Great West Road.
Cllr Sharon Holder, H&F Cabinet Member for Public Realm, said: “I thank everyone who has donated or helped preserve this impressive sculpture for future generations to enjoy.”
The H&F funding will come from our Community Infrastructure Levy – the fund property developers pay into to provide facilities for supporting new building projects in the borough.
History of The Leaning Woman
The reclining sculpture was created by sculptor Karel Vogel, who arrived in Britain from Prague in 1938 after fleeing the Nazis shortly before the Second World War.
It is of a half-nude classical Greek figure doing a sideways limbo movement, and it was commissioned by the old London County Council in 1958 to fill an area of leftover land alongside the A4.
The idea was to be a calming influence on motorists using a stretch of road that was the first multiple carriageway in the UK, and to compensate Hammersmith residents for the intrusion of the road.
Locals have grown to love the Leaning Woman, despite some hostile initial reviews, including one which dubbed it a ‘modern monstrosity’. Vogel died two years after his Leaning Woman was installed on its brick plinth.
Lean on me
Dr Nicola Stacey, Director of Heritage of London Trust, said: “We’re so pleased to have this project up and running with a great conservation team on board.”
More than 250 local pupils have visited the statue as part of the trust’s Proud Places programme and been inspired to create their own works of art based on the Leaning Woman.
Twice life size and cast in concrete (a daring new art material in the 1950s) around a metal frame, the original has been exposed to the elements, as well as harmful pollution from relentless vehicle traffic, for 65 years and now has cracks, while rust from the metal is visible.
Restoration work will include careful removal of old repairs, stopping the corrosion, repairing cracks in the concrete, and also improving the statue’s landscape and setting so that the public can appreciate the statue from all directions.
In 2017, it was put on the Heritage at Risk Register to acknowledge its importance and highlight the urgency of the need for repair.
Joanna Edmunds, of the St Peter’s Residents Association, said: “Residents are delighted to see restoration work begin. We’re proud to have this important landmark on our doorstep and for others to discover her story. It’s wonderful that the Leaning Woman’s future is now secured.”
