25 unusual sculptures you may not have known about

To paraphrase the German art theorist Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, we can say that sculpture is music frozen in stone. While millions of tourists are photographed against the backdrop of the world-famous masterpieces of Bernini, Michelangelo and Rodin, we offer you a selection of 25 lesser-known, but noteworthy stone, bronze and steel sculptures.

Funny and cute, sometimes strange and frightening, they lift the mood of passers-by and make the cities in which they are located a little more unusual.

Las Colinas Mustangs in Irving (Texas, USA)

It is one of the largest sculptural groups of horses in the world. It symbolizes the dynamic and liberated spirit that was inherent in Texas during its development.

Expansion, New York, USA

The author comments on this sculpture as follows: "From the moment we are born, the world offers us a ready-made shell into which we must fit: social Security number, gender, race, profession. I thought: what are we really — this outer shell in which we live, or what is under it, inside each of us? Do we recognize ourselves if we go beyond our body?»

Monument to the unknown passer-by, 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 author of this composition Chong Fah Cheong (Chong Fah Cheong) is known for a large number of sculptures depicting people who live and work on the banks of the Singapore River.

Shoes on the banks of the Danube, Budapest, Hungary

The sculpture commemorates the Jews killed by the Nazis in Budapest during the Second World War. They were ordered to take off their shoes and shot at the water. The bodies of the victims fell into the river and were carried away by the current. As a reminder of the tragedy, only the shoes remained.

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

It was created by the Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd (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 4 figures are one and the same person who gradually wakes up from sleep, throws off the shackles and breaks out to meet eternal life.

Black Ghost (Juodasis Vaiduoklis), Klaipeda, Lithuania

According to legend, in 1595, one of the guards of the castle of Klaipeda saw a ghost, who warned the guard that the city needed to increase the supply of grain and wood. After saying this, the spirit vanished. It is believed that if you make friends with a supernatural being, it will bring wealth and good luck.

Travelers (Les voyageurs), Marseille, France

A series of sculptures by the Frenchman Bruno Catalano (Bruno Catalano) was installed in the port of Marseille in 2013. Each figure is missing a significant part of the body. We can only guess at the reasons for this emptiness: is it because these people are missing something, or just because they left a part of their soul somewhere during their travels?

Nelson Mandela Memorial, South Africa

The composition was installed in honor of the 50th anniversary of the arrest of a human rights activist during the existence of apartheid. The monument is erected where Mandela was arrested, and 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 mock statue shows a police officer tripping over an intruder who was hiding in a manhole.

Cattle drive, Dallas, USA

Maman (Giant Spider), London, United Kingdom

A bronze sculpture of a giant spider is 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

In English, this sculpture is called "Worker", but its name is translated from Slovak as "observer". This bronze plumber watches the passers-by directly from the sewer manhole. Tourists believe that if you rub the hand of the sculpture, then all wishes will be fulfilled.

Mihai Eminescu, Onesti, Romania

Monument to the classic of Romanian literature.

An episode of the First World War with full-length figures of soldiers, Ejeabat, Turkey

During the First World War, land battles of the Dardanelles operation took place in the area.

Hanging Man, Prague, Czech Republic

Who do you think this sculpture represents? Oddly enough, this is the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. The sculptor David Czerny created this work 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 epitome of the intellectual of the 20th century.

Kelpie, Grangemouth, United Kingdom

The Kelpie in Scottish mythology is a hostile water spirit that lives in many rivers and lakes. It appears in the form of a horse grazing near the water, but it can turn into a sea lizard, and therefore it is often associated with the Loch Ness monster.

Pigs in front of Rundle Mall, Adelaide, Australia

The piglets are named Oliver, Augusta, Horatio, and Truffle.

Unknown official, Reykjavik, Iceland

Perhaps the only statue in the world dedicated to faceless bureaucratic work.

Headington Shark, Oxford, England

Created by sculptor John Buckley, the shark caused a lot of controversy when it first appeared in public. Oxford City Council tried to remove it from the building for safety reasons and then on the grounds that it had not given planning permission for the shark statue to be erected. 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. By the way, the meaning of the sculpture is much deeper than it may seem at first glance: it was installed on the 41st anniversary of the fall of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. In a sense, the shark represents a beautiful but potentially deadly missile.