Art should challenge our beliefs, prejudices, and even our concepts of what we believe is possible. You may have noticed cities across the globe that are home to beautiful, awe-inspiring modern works of art cast out of stone and metal by master sculptors and artists, usually tucked along the streets or city squares.
No matter what, you’ll find these famous sculptures extremely conversation-provoking and eye-catching; they demonstrate the creativity and capacity of the human mind.
Venus of Hohle Fels is the oldest statuette dating from 33.000 – 38.000 BCE. Since then, sculpture art has changed in many ways. At first, sculptures were used to depict the surrounding world, then it became a way of worship, and later it turned to the classical art era to commemorate well-known strong people.
Today modern sculptures are made from any imaginable material and represent an idea and philosophy, not a living being or an object.
Check out the below list of 40 masterpiece sculptures and statues found around the globe and compiled by A&D that will inspire you. Some of these art pieces are old and modern but creative and impressive.
01. Expansion “Bronze, Electricity and Mixed Media” Sculpture By Paige Bradley In New York, USA
Expansion is not just a marvelous piece of contemporary and mixed media sculpture (bronze and electricity) to exhibit; it is a philosophy.
02. Dancing With Dandelion “One o’clock” By Robin Wight, UK
This FantasyWire fairy is originally called One o’clock; people recognize her as “Dancing with Dandelions,” which twists and turns; however that’s a mere headline at the time and stuck. She is a signature piece and trademark of the artist Robin Wight.
03. Giant 16th-Century ‘Colossus’ Sculpture In Florence, Italy
Stephen H. & Zetablack
Italian renowned sculptor Giambologna erected this epic colossus in the late 1500s, half man, a half mountain, as a symbol of Italy’s rugged Apennine mountains. Appennino, the “mountain god” in Tuscany, stands 35 feet tall over Villa di Pratolino ground.
04. Burning Man Sculpture By Reveals Inner Child Glowing Within Giant Wire-Framed Adult Bodies
Alexander Milov, a Ukrainian artist, created this excellent piece called “Love Sculpture,” which features two wire adult figures sitting back-to-back with two children standing and reaching out to one another.
05. The Force Of Nature Sculpture By Lorenzo Quinn In New York City, USA
A series of sculptures called “The Force of Nature” by Italian sculptor Lorenzo Quinn depicts mother nature hurling planet earth in circles after witnessing the destruction brought on by hurricanes in the Southern U.S., Thailand, and worldwide.
06. Nine Wild Mustangs Sculpture By Robert Glen In Las Colinas, Texas, USA
The Mustangs of Las Colinas are impressive realistic bronze sculptures of nine wild mustangs galloping across a stream that serves as the centerpiece of Williams Square, a stark, pink granite plaza in the Las Colinas Urban Center.
07. Black Ghost “Juodasis Vaiduoklis“ Sculpture In Klaipeda, Lithuania
The immense bronze sculpture, known as “Juodasis Vaiduoklis” (“The Black Ghost”), sculpted by Svajunas Jurkus and Sergejus Plotnikovashas, is 2.4 meters “7.8 feet” in height.
A man without a face is about half below the level of the waterfront walkway and half above. The mysterious figure holds a lantern as his long sinister fingers grip the dock. Apart from the ghost’s hands, the hooded robe is empty inside, creating a strangely expressive spectral appearance despite the lack of facial features.
08. The Caring Hand Concrete Sculpture In Glarus, Switzerland
“The Caring Hand” is a cleverly placed 1.6 meters high concrete sculpture made by Eva Oertli and Beat Huber in Glarus, Switzerland.
09. Freedom Sculpture In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Zenos Frudakis
This 20 feet long, 8 feet high bronze sculpture is about the struggle to achieve freedom through the creative process. Regardless of background, almost anyone could look at it and instantly recognize that it is about the idea of struggling to break free.
10. Poet Mihai Eminescu’s Face In Onesti, Romania
The sculpture of Mihai Eminescu in Onesti, Romania, is a landmark representing a National poet’s face.
11. The Rain Man Fountain By Jean-Michel Folon In Italy
Fulvio Petri
The bronze man fountain by the artist Jean-Michel Folon is a contemporary masterpiece and a gift to the City of Florence that stands over 3 meters high.
12. Diminish And Ascend By David Mccracken In Bondi, Australia
Paul David
A visionary impressive stairway sculpture by David McCracken in Bondi Beach, Australia, designed as part of the Sculpture By The Sea exhibition, takes advantage of perception and never-ending illusion.
13. A Giant Sculpture “Popped Up” By Ervin Loránth Hervé In Budapest, Hungary
Ervin Loránth Hervé
This impressive polystyrene sculpture in Széchenyi Square in Budapest, called “Popped Up,” was created for the Art Market Budapest by artist Ervin Loránth Hervé and depicted a giant man crawling out of the earth.
14. Vicissitudes “Underwater Sculpture Of 26 Children” By Jason Decaires Taylor In Grenada, West Indies
Jason Decaires Taylor
The underwater sculpture of 26 children is a large circle shackled together and holding hands; off the coast of Grenada in the Caribbean, it proposes growth, chance, and natural transformation.
15. Raindrop Resting On Man’s Face By Nazar Bilyk In Ukraine
Nazar Bilyk
Nazar Bilyk, a Ukrainian artist, created this 6-foot-tall bronze and glass sculpture called “Rain,” which features a man looking upward as a symbol of man’s communication with nature and relationship with the elements.
16. Shadow Street Art “The Star Sower” By Morfai In Kaunas, Lithuania
Morfai
Artist Morfai created this street as an illusion in Kaunas, Lithuania, that works at night and doesn’t make any sense during the day; it’s named The Star Sower. City officials removed the graffiti.
17. Sinking Building Outside State Library, Melbourne, Australia
This piece of art depicts that the weight of the books has sunk the library in the heart of the historic landmark Victoria State, Melbourne Library.
18. Epic 1,320-ton God Of War Statue By Han Meilin In Guan Yu Park, China
Han Meilin
The 58 meters (190ft) tall bronze statue of the Chinese god in Guan Yu Park, Jingzhou, weighs over 1,320 tonnes, designed by Chinese artist Han Meilin.
19. Hippos On The Loose Sculptures In Taipei, Taiwan
Patche99z
These creatively installed sculptures complement the African Animal Area in Taipei Zoo. This Hippo Square was conceptualized by the former zoo director Chen Pao-Chung and is now one of the zoo’s signature nonliving attractions.
20. The Shoes On The Danube Bank By Can Togay & Gyula Pauer In Budapest, Hungary
Nikodem Nijaki
Conceived by film director Can Togay and the sculptor Gyula Pauer in Budapest, it is a haunting tribute to honor the Jews who were massacred, consisting of 60 pairs of 1940s-style shoes sculpted out of iron true to life in size and detail.
21. Les Voyageurs “The Travelers” Sculpture By Bruno Catalano In Marseilles, France
Bruno Catalano
Extraordinary bronze surrealist sculpture by the French artist Bruno Catalano in Marseilles depicts realistic human workers with large parts of their bodies missing.
22. The Monument Of An Anonymous Passerby “Przejście” In Wroclaw, Poland
The captivating sculpture, called Przejście (meaning “Passage” or “Transition”), depicts a group of 14 lifelike people sinking into the ground in Wroclaw, standing on both sides of Swidnicka Street, where it intersects with Pilsudskiego Street.
23. Ocean Atlas “The Greek God”: Massive Submerged Statue Of Girl Carrying The Ocean On Her Shoulders
Jason deCaires Taylor
Ocean Atlas is a surreal submerged and dream-like 60-tonne statue of a girl 18-foot-tall in the seas off the coast of Nassau, Bahamas.
The girl in the piece, named after Atlas, “the Greek god,” is the giant underwater statue in the world and seems to struggle underneath a heavy burden.
24. De Vaartkapoen “Insolent Channel” By Tom Frantzen In Brussels, Belgium
Andrey Osipenko
The sculpture De Vaartkapoen is work of Tom Frantzen.
25. Nelson Mandela’s Head Sculpture In South Africa
Jonathan Burton
Mandela’s head by Marco Cianfanelli is made from 50 steel charcoal columns when viewed from a certain angle, and the vertical bars represent his imprisonment.
26. People Of The River Sculptures By Chong Fah Cheong In Singapore
Chong Fah Cheong
Chong Fah Cheong is a self-taught sculptor best known for this whimsical sculpture installed near the Cavenagh Bridge. The sculptures are made of bronze and depict five local boys celebrating the river’s importance and influence on their work and life.
27. The Kelpies “Scottish Waterhorse” In Grangemouth, UK
The Kelpies are mythical Scottish water horse sculptures and the world’s most giant equine sculpture. The 30 meters high two-horse head depicting kelpies is between Falkirk and Grangemouth.
28. The Knotted Gun “Non-Violence” Sculpture In Turtle Bay, New York, USA
Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd
The Knotted Gun, also known as a non-violence bronze sculpture, is an oversized Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver with its muzzle tied in a knot by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd.
29. Jaume Plensa Sculptures In Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, U.K.
Jaume Plensa
These Jaume Plensa Sculptures show how humans should be protecting the trees.
30. Salmon Sculpture “Transcendence” In Portland, Oregon, USA
Keith Jellum
Transcendence is an outdoor sculpture depicting a fish flying through the brickwork in Portland, Oregon by Keith Jellum is 11 foot (3.3 meters) long sculpture made of hand-forged and welded bronze.
31. Hanging Man Statue In Prague, Czech Republic
David Černý
“Man Hanging Out” is the imagination of Czech sculptor David Černý in Prague’s Old Town is a statue that a man is about to plummet to his death.
32. The Rising Tide By Jason Decaires Taylor In London
Jason DeCaires Taylor
Jason deCaires Taylor has installed four horse riders of the Apocalypse on the banks of the River Thames, depicting a series of working horses with riders.
33. A Day Out In Adelaide, Australia
Marguerite Derricourt
These artworks are in Rundle Mall, Adelaide, Australia, where pigs hogging the pedestrian walkway will put a smile on your face.
34. The Cattle Drive Sculptures In Dallas, Texas, USA
The Dallas Cattle Drive is a large sculpture in Pioneer Plaza that depicts three cowboys and a herd of forty longhorn steers commemorating nineteenth-century cattle drives.
35. Metalmorphosis By David Cherny In Charlotte, NC
Rick_28105
36. The Unknown Bureaucrat by Magnús Tómasson In Reykjavik, Iceland
itinerantlondoner
Magnús Tómasson depicts a man in a suit holding a briefcase representing an anonymous bureaucrat with his head and shoulders subsumed in a slab of unsculpted stone.
37. The Headington Shark Sculpture In Oxford, UK
artmoscow
A 7.6-meter rooftop fiberglass sculpture of a shark in Oxfordshire crashing through the roof of Magnus Hanson-Heine’s house.
38. The World War Scene With Real-size Statues In Eceabat, Turkey
39. Man At Work “The Peeper” In Bratislava, Slovakia
The Peeper is a bronze statue of a sewer worker resting at the top of a maintenance hole by Viktor Hulík, “peeping” at passersby.
40. Spider, Tate Modern “Maman” In London, UK
Alf GillmanMaman is stainless steel, marble, and marble giant female sculpture spider by artist Louise Bourgeois for the opening of Tate Modern in London.
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