If you have ever visited some of the most well-known stately homes in England - such as Chatsworth House, Hatfield House, or Longleat House – or been lucky enough to visit Noel Coward’s estate in Jamaica you will have come into contact with some of Conner’s monumental sculptures, including water features, combining elegance and intricate engineering.

Join us on a trail through London...

Closer to home, Angela Conner’s sculptures can be found dotted throughout the streets of London. Join us on a trail through London as we walk the streets to find some of Conner’s most important and interesting sculptures which stand pride of place in some of the most popular corners of the city.

No doubt you will have been unable to stop yourself from taking a quiet moment to admire some of these sculptures, perhaps not knowing that they were a work by Angela Conner.

Pall Mall and Carlton Gardens

Our trail begins at Dreweatts London gallery at 16-17 Pall Mall where highlights from the forthcoming auction will be on view from 24-26 June. We are just moments away from the first sculpture on our trail which is located across the road at Carlton Gardens. Between 1940-1944, Charles De Gaulle set up the headquarters for the Free French Armed Forces at 3-4 Carlton Gardens. The sculpture was publicly funded and pushed through by Mary Soames, daughter of Winston Churchill. The sculpture was unveiled in June 1993 by the late Queen Mother. The success of the sculpture resulted in a statue of Churchill to be erected by Angela Conner in the centre of the French capital in 1998. Dreweatts are selling the head study in painted plaster for the Charles de Gaulle sculpture in our forthcoming auction on 11 July (Lot 36).

The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Next we head along the road to Trafalgar Square. Continue passed this point and head up Catherine Street. Keep your glance upwards to the balcony of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. This is where you will find Noel Coward seated enjoying a cigarette on the Grand Saloon terrace. Why not enjoy a spot of afternoon tea at the Theatre Royal and take a breath of fresh air beside Noel Coward himself. The work was moved from the Foyer to the terrace after renovations at the theatre which were officially unveiled by His Majesty The King and Her Majesty, Queen Camilla who shared afternoon tea beside Conner’s sculpture of Coward.

The Royal National Theatre, the South Bank

Now leave the theatre and head straight over Waterloo Bridge. Ahead of you stands the brutalist architecture of The Royal National Theatre, rising from the water’s edge. Facing the theatre, standing on a large stone plinth is a striking sculpture of Laurence Olivier, founder of The Royal National Theatre, dressed as Macbeth. The work was commissioned by the Laurence Olivier Centenary Statue Appeal, and was unveiled outside the theatre in 2007. Lot 6 in our auction, illustrates a bust of Laurence Olivier made in preparation of the final full scale piece.

Yalta Memorial, Cromwell Gardens, South Kensington

The next stop on our trail requires a quick journey on the London underground. Jump on the District Line at Embankment and disembark at South Kensington. Exit the tube and follow the signs towards the Victoria & Albert Museum. At Cromwell Gardens, just opposite the museum, stands the Yalta Memorial by Angela Conner. In 1981, Conner was commissioned to produce the Yalta Memorial Statue to commemorate the hundreds of thousands of people sent back to the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia by the United Kingdom between 1944 and 1947. Unfortunately, not even a year after its erection, plans for its rebuild were made following a series of attacks and vandalism made to the sculpture. A new memorial was produced by Conner in 1986 for the same location in South Kensington, Yalta Memorial Statue (2nd), depicting 12 heads of tragedy - anger, pain, horror, determination. The funds were raised through the support of the Duke of Devonshire who held a party to launch a series of lithographs for sale which Conner produced - examples of which are presented as Lot 30 and Lot 31 in the auction. Lot 29 shows a maquette for the large-scale sculpture.

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Auction Details

Thursday 11 July, 10.30am BST
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

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VIEWING:

• Viewing in London (highlights)
  • Monday 24 June: 10am-4pm
  • Tuesday 25 June: 10am-4pm
  • Wednesday 26 June: 10am-4pm
• Viewing in Newbury (full sale)
  • Saturday 6 July: 10am-3pm
  • Sunday 7 July: 10am-3pm
  • Monday 8 July: 10am-4pm
  • Tuesday 9 July: 9am-4pm
  • Wednesday 10 July: 9am-4pm
  • Thursday 11 July: 9am-12 noon
• Remote Viewing Service | Available from Saturday 6 July
• Dreweatts 360 Virtual Auction Tour | Available from Saturday 6 July