Oscar Wilde Statue
London’s first statue of an openly gay figure
The bronze statue of Oscar Wilde at the corner of Adelaide Street and the Strand was unveiled on 30 November 1998 – the 98th anniversary of his death in Paris. It was created by Maggi Hambling, who had made the Scallop on the Suffolk coast in memory of Benjamin Britten. The statue shows Wilde emerging from a stone sarcophagus, cigarette in hand, witty and alive – which is exactly what he is.
The fundraising committee included Ian McKellen, Judi Dench and Seamus Heaney. It was the first public statue in London of an openly gay historical figure. The inscription reads: “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” They tried to erase him; it took a hundred years; the statue says it didn’t work. Come and have the conversation.