Peace Sculpture Around the World

Click here for peace statues.
See below for special section on "Non-Violence" (aka "The Knotted Gun") by Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd [1934-2016].
Click here for special section on "Reconciliation" (aka "Reunion") by Josefina de Vasconcellos [1903-2004].

Right click image to enlarge.

Circa 1735 - Allegory of Peace by unknown Italian sculptor, Park of Bolshoy Catherine Palace, Tsarsoe Selo / Royal Village, 25 km south of St. Petersburg (Russia).

Circa 1735 - Statue of Pax by P. Baratta, Garden of Pavlovsk Palace, St. Petersburg (Russia).

1858 - Statue of Peace, East front portico (to the right of the Columbus doors), US Capitol, Washington, DC (USA). Marble sculpture by George Gianetti, (after Luigi Persico). Draped in simple flowing robes, Peace holds an olive branch in her left hand.

1890 - "Signal of Peace," Chicago, Illinois (USA). Sculpted in France by Cyrus E. Dallin [1861-1944] and exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition (World's Fair) in 1893. "Represents a Sioux Chief on horseback, his right hand holding a spear pointed upward in a gesture of peace."

1925 - "Peace Through Justice," Vredespaleis / Peace Palace, Carnegieplein 2, The Hague (Netherlands). On landing of grand staircase. Gift from the govenment of the USA. Sculpted by Andrew O'Connor [1874-1941]. "The statue is a modern version of Lady Justice; she has cast off her blindfold, and her scales & sword are absent." Shown on "Sites Relating to US History in the Netherlands" (webpage maintained by American Embassy in The Hague).

Date? - War Memorial, center of town, Bitche, Moselle Department (France). "Represents the military & civilian casualties of the three big conflicts to sweep through the town -- the Franco-Prussian War, World War I, and World War II. In the center are three comrades, lowering a mortally wounded soldier to the ground. To the left is the wife and family, mourning the soldier but also a symbol that life and the native village will live on. On the far left, is France liberated from her chains, a symbol of World War II, and next to her is Lorraine liberated during World War I. On the right [not visible in image] are symbols of the Citadel de Bitche resisting during the 1870-71 seige." Bitche was on the Maginot Line constructed after World War I.

May 29, 1935 - Statute of "La Paix / Peace," "Garden of Normandie," Pinelawn Memorial Park (aka Long Island National Cemetery), Framingdale, Long Island, New York (USA). "Thirteen feet tall gilded statue of a toga-clad woman, one arm raised & offering an olive branch, by Louis Dejean [1872-1954]. [Originally] dominated the center of the [305-foot long] first class dining room of the French liner Normandie [1935-1942]" -- which sank in New York City during World War II.

July 3, 1952 - "Expressions of Freedom," First Class Dining Room, SS United States. Four stylized figures (12x16 feet) representing the 'Four Freedoms' by sculptress Gwen Lux [1908-1987]" (right image). /// Out of service since 1969, the SS United States is now tied to a pier in Philadelphia, Pennsyvania, awaiting possible restoration as a hotel and/or museum. Many of the ship's fittings were auctioned on October 14, 1984. According to the New York Times, "William D. Wilkinson, director of the Mariners' Museum of Newport News, Virginia, was delighted with his purchases of ''Expressions of Freedom'' by Gwen Lux, the aluminum sculpture from the main dining room, & the buffet that stood beneath it, for a total of $1,525."

1954 - Women of Kassope, Zalongo (Greece). "A grandiose monument representing the 'Dance of Zalogos.' By sculptor Zogolopoulos. Erected on the rocks where the Souliot women and their children committed suicide [in 1803], not letting the men of the Turk Ali Pasha catch them."

1956 - "Life out of chaos," Narvik (Norway). Also known as "The woman on the square." One of three peace sculptures in Narvik. Dedicated in 1956, 1995 and 2006. Narkik is known as a city of peace.

1959 - "Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares", United Nations, New York City, New York (USA). Bronze statue sculpted by Evgeniy Vuchetich to represent the human wish to end all wars by converting the weapons of death and destruction into peaceful and productive tools that are more beneficial to mankind. Donated to the UN by the Soviet Union.

September 5, 1960 - Statue of "Mother & Child in the Storm", in front of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Hiroshima (Japan). #31 of 56 "cenotaphs & monuments" on the Virtual E-Tour.

1990 - "Wings of Peace" Sculpture, Levi and Fortuna Eskenazi Sculpture Garden, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv (Israel). Ceramic casting by Carlo Zauli.

1962 - Allegory of Peace, Parc Richelieu, Rue Richelieu, Calais (France). "Behind the war memorial. Portrays an allegory of Peace with an olive tree branch pressed to her bosom. The duck pond and the layout of this lovely park attracts adults and chidren alike. 'I Held the Hand of Peace who Held the Olive Branch.'" /// "Gravement endommagé par les bombardements sous l’Occupation, ce monument a été remplacé en 1962 par un nouveau mémorial, oeuvre d’Yves de Coëtlogon qui réunit le souvenir des disparus des deux guerres en un unique hommage. Une allégorie de la Paix presse un rameau d’olivier sur son sein. Aménagé à partir de 1862 sur l’emplacement des fortifications de la vieille ville, le jardin Richelieu a été redessiné en 1956."

"Broken Obelisk:" Four identical monuments by Barnett Newman [1905-1970]. Each is 6,000 pounds of Corten steel more than 25 feet high -- a pyramid topped by a reversed obelisk ascending yet torn, or 'broken,' at its top, obviously some kind of symbolic object roughly resembling traditional monuments of combined pyramid and obelisk. Newman himself described the sculpture in terms conventional to his art: 'It is concerned with life, and I hope I have transformed its tragic content into a glimpse of the sublime.'"

1963 - Broken Obelisk, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), 11 West 53rd Street, New York City, New York (USA). A sculpture by Barnett Newman. Four versions of it exist.

1963 - Broken Obelisk, Central Plaza (Red Square), near Suzallo Library, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (USA).

February 27, 1971 - Broken Obelisk, Rothko Chapel, Houston, Texas (USA). First exhibited in front of the Seagram Building in New York City, and then the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. In 1969, Houson city officials said they would reject this as a public memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. [1929-1968]. Dominique & John de Menil proposed that it be placed in front of City Hall with the words "Forgive Them, for They Know Not What They Do" before erecting it permanently at the Rothko Chapel.

2003 - Broken Obelisk, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (Germany). A fourth was cast in 2003 by permission of the Barnett Newman Foundation and temporarily installed in front of the Neue Nationalgalerie.

About 1965 - Open Hand Monument, in "The Ditch of Consideration," Chandigahr, Punjab (India). Heavy copper hand 100 feet high rotates in the wind. Also looks like dove of peace. By French architect Le Corbusier [1887-1965] who said, "This sign of the Open Hand is a sign of peace and of reconciliation. [It] is meant to receive the created riches, and to distribute them to the peoples of the world. That should be the symbol of our epoch." Corbu made the overall plan for Chandigahr and designed some of the original buildings. Click here for air view.

1966 - Pacem in Terris, 96 Covered Bridge Road, Warwick, New York (USA). Sculptures & sculpture garden created by Dutch-born Dr. Frederick Franck [1909-2006]. Dedicated to Dr. Albert Schweitzer (with whom Dr. Franck practiced dentistry in Gabon 1958-1961), Pope John XXIII (whom he sketched during the Second Vatican Council), and the Buddhist sage Daisetz T. Suzuki (who "taught me to think"). Images show entrance sculpture, St. Francis sculpture, Seven Generations, & Hiroshima--The Unkillable Human. See Harrisburg, PA (USA).

1990 - Peace Garden, Riverfront Park, Susquehana River, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (USA). Placed by Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), an affiliate of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) which received the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize. "Three statues by Dutch-born Dr. Frederick Franck [1909-2006] are especially notable: Hiroshima--The Unkillable Human, Death and Transfiguration, and Seven Generations (shown in image)." Entry #866 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001). See Pacem in Terris in Warwick, NY (USA).

1968 - Deur "Oorlog en Vrede" / Door of Peace and War, Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk, Grotekerkplein 27, Rotterdam (Netherlands). Bronze by Italian sculptor Giacomo Manzù [1908-1991]. "Celebrates the heart of Europe destroyed by WW-II the elegy of death and the strength of life; below the wrapped forms of despair and fratricide, and the cry of innocence; in the midde a lonely cloth that marks a caesura, a sense of emptying, the fall; in the top, in an ascensional dynamism, the naturalness of existence, the cloth of life and of victory, as in a resurrection." [Maria Antonietta Malleo, Gernika, 2005]

1969 - Monument de La Paix, Place Communale, La Louvière (Belgium). "L’oeuvre du sculpteur sonégien Michel Stiévenart (1910-1991). Pèse 8 tonnes et est réalisée en petit granit. Représente deux hommes unis fraternellement par une même pensée pacifiste. Les personnages sont massifs et les détails quasi inexistants vu le respect de la forme initiale du bloc. La géométrisation des volumes donne une force d’expression supplémentaire. Erigé à l’occasion de la célébration du centenaire de La Louvière, consacrée première ville belge de la paix."

1981 - Broken Shield, central quadrangle, Goshen College, Goshen, Indiana (USA). Sculpture by John Mishler. "One of his first metal pieces, Broken Shield became a part of the college, which used it in its advertising. It has been covered in tinfoil, a student made a papier mache figure and posed them together for his senior show and other students turned it into a flag." Goshen is a Mennonite college with the slogan "Healing the World, Peace by Peace."

1983 - "Two parallel lightning bolts of assembled stone," Nakahara Peace Park, Kosugi Area, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture (Japan). Adjacent to Kawasaki Peace Museum (1992). By American sculptor James Sanborn (1983). Kawasaki is adjacent to Tokyo. Photo by EWL.

1984 - Livermore Peace Monument, Livermore, California (USA), home of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Created by local sculptor Don Homan, an employee of LLNL. Originally made of plywood but later bronzed and rededicaed by Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson. A replica has been given to sister city Yotsukaido, Chiba Prefecture (Japan). Click here to see brochure in Japanese. Entry #74 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

After 1984 - Livermore Peace Monument, Yotsukaido, Chiba Prefecture (Japan). Model of the 1984 monument in Livermore, California (USA), qv. Photo shows presentation to sister city Yotsukaido by sculptor Don Homan.

April 1986 - "Messenger of Peace," Manchester Peace Gardens, St. Peter's Square, Manchester, England (UK). Sculpted by Barbara Pearson. Also called "peace statue" and "the pigeon woman."

Date? - Statue of Peace, end of the pier, Turgutreis, Bodrum, (Turkey).

1987 - Peace Monument, Attu Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska (USA). Erected by Japan at site of only battle on US soil during World War II.

April 1988 - - The Peace Tree Sculpture, Garden for Peace #1, Swan Woods Trail, Atlanta History Center, 130 West Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta, Georgia (USA). 14-foot life-size bronze statue created by Gia (Georgi?) Japaridze, an artist from sister city Tbilisi (Republic of Georgia).

1989 - Statue of National Reconciliation, Klafthmonos Square, Athens? (Greece). Celebrates the 40 years from the end of the 1945-49 civil war. Klafthmonos Square means "square of grief," named for civil servants of 19th century who were fired from their state jobs every time the government was changes and gathered there to cry for their fate.

October 16, 1989 - "Mother and Child," North Garden, United Nations Headquarters, New York City, New York (USA). Sculpted by Italian artist Giacomo Manzù [1908-1991]. Presented the government of Italy.

1991 - "Chain Reaction," Santa Monica Civic Center, Santa Monica, California (USA). Directly across the street from Rand Corporation headquarters (monument visible at bottom of right image). A 26-foot mushroom cloud made from links of a massive chain. Text of plaque: "This is a statement of peace. May it never become an epitaph. Paul Conrad 1991." Designed by Paul Conrad [1924-2010], chief editorial cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times 1964-1993 (& syndicated to 100's of newspapers worldwide). See video. "Gifted to the City of Santa Monica through a $250,000 anonymous donation..." Said to be structurally weak in 2011. "Save Our Sculpture" (SOS) campaign organized by Jerry Peace Activist Rubin. Officially declared a City Landmark by unanimous vote of the Santa Monica Landmarks Commission on July 9, 2012.

October 8, 1992 - Reconcilation (National Peacekeeping Monument), Ottawa, Ontario (Canada). Memorializes Canadian "casques bleus / blue caps" who served in UN peace-keeping missions in Korea (1947), Palestine (1948), Golan Heights, former Yugoslavia, and Somalia. Erected during 125th anniversary of Canadian Confederation (Canada 125). Base includes 1956 quote from Lester Pearson [1897-1972]: "We need action not only to end the fighting but to make the peace... My own government would be glad to recommend Canadian participation in such a United Nations force, a truly international peace and police force." /// Entry #1302 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001). Click here for an analysis of this monument by Paul Gough.

October 1992 - Constellation Earth, World Peace Symbol Zone, Nagasaki Peace Park, Nagasaki (Japan). Bronze sculpture by Paul Granlund [1925-2003] donated by the citizens of sister city St. Paul, Minneasota (USA). "The seven human figures represent the continents. The interdependence of the figures symbolizes global peace and solidarity." There are several copies of the same sculpture in the USA.

1992? - Constellation Earth, Traffic Circle, Bluffton College, Bluffton, Ohio (USA). "An eight-foot sphere celebrating the global family." Duplicate of bronze sculpture by Paul Granlund [1925-2003] which the City of St. Paul, Minnesota (USA), presented in 1992 to Nagasaki (Japan) for the "Peace Symbols Zone" in Nagasaki Peace Park.

1994 - "Urban Peace Circle," Sam Smith Park, Seattle, Washington (USA). By Seattle sculptor Gerard Tsutakawa. Dedicated to children killed by gun violence in Seattle’s inner city.

1995 - National Monument for Peace, Narvik (Norway). Also known as "Trinigon." Erected by the Norwegian government on the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Norway. One of three peace sculptures in Narvik. Dedicated in 1956, 1995 and 2006. Narkik is known as a city of peace.

December 6, 1995 - "Colateral Damage: A Reality of War," downtown, Santa Cruz, California (USA). Created by metal attist E.A. Chase. Entry #155 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1997 - Peace House, Lion & Lamb Peace Arts Center, Bluffton University, Riley Court (Lower Level), Spring Street, Bluffton, Ohio (USA). By Jack Mann, art professor at Wittenburg University. Stainless steel sculpture intended to evoke "the peaceful and not-so-peacefull world of 'home.'"

1997 - Jonah & the Whale, Lion & Lamb Peace Arts Center, Bluffton University, Riley Court (Lower Level), Spring Street, Bluffton, Ohio (USA). By Gregg Luginbuhl, art professor at Bluffton University. Invites viewers "to sit and ponder their own experiences of transformation from chaos to peace."

July 21, 1998 - Parque de la Memoria, frente al Río de la Plata, Zona Norte, Buenos Aires (Argentina). "Fin de recordar a las víctimas del régimen militar de terrorismo de estado conocido como Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (1976-1983)." Left image: Sin título, escultura de Roberto Aizenberg [1928-1996] representando seres fragmentados. Right image: Monumento al escape, escultura de Dennis Oppenheim, dedicated in October 2006.

March 11, 2002 - "The Sphere" (World Peace Monument), Battery Park, New York City, New York (USA). Made in Bravaria (Germany) by Fritz Koenig. Erected in 1969 between the two World Trade Center (WTC) towers to symbolize world peace through world trade. Damaged on September 11, 2001. Left unrepaired but moved to become a memorial to the victims of the attack. Eternal flame ignited September 11, 2002.

October 5, 2002 - Greenham Common Commemorative & Historic Site, RAF Greenham Common, Berkshire (England). Includes a six-foot high steel sculpture of a campfire, with a circle of seven standing stones within a landscaped setting. The sculptures symbolise the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp (qv) that occupied the site from September 1981 until 2000.

November 4, 2002 - "Peace,", Broward College, Downtown Center Building 31, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (USA). Stainless steel sculpture by Mexican artist Leonardo Nierman.

Date? - A. J. Muste Alcove, Van Wylan Library (2nd floor), Hope College, Holland, Michigan (USA). "Named for Hope College alumnus and well-known peace activist A. J. Muste [1885-1967]. He spent his life working with Quakers and Communists, organized labor and radical peace activists, all in the name of non-violent solutions to the world's problems. The green sculpture pieces were created by a Hope graduate. They offer a graffiti-friendly way to express your thoughts and convictions."

October 11, 2003 - "Musica,", Traffic Circle, Music Row, Nashville, Tennessee (USA). 48-foot composition of eight nude figures by Nashville sculptor Alan LeQuire. Symbolizes Nashville's music business but expresses positive exuberence similar to some peace monuments, e.g. Constellation Earth in Nagasaki (Japan) & Bluffton, Ohio (USA).

June 2004 - Peace Sculpture, Woodstock School, Mussoorie, Uttarakhand (India). Sumerian cuneiform character for "peace" (oldest known language). Stainless steel sculpture by Jim Havens of Gibsonburg, Ohio (USA). (Sumerian is a language created out of necessity for the grain trade circa 2,500 BCE.) Photo by EWL.

2004 - "Let There Be Peace," by Alexandra Nechita, young Romanian artist known as the "Petite Picasso." Painting is privately owned. Sculpture is for sale (edition size is 49 plus 8 Artist Proofs and 8 "Monumental" works).

August 6, 2006 - "Peace is a promise of future," Narvik (Norway). Sculpture of a sleeping child by Håkon Anton Fagerås. Design incorporates on a separate pedestal a rock from Hiroshima's ground zero given earlier to Narik by the mayor of Hiroshima. One of three peace sculptures in Narvik. Dedicated in 1956, 1995 and 2006. Narvik is known as a city of peace.

August 26, 2006 - Women's Suffrage Memorial, Market Square, Knoxville, Tennessee (USA). Statues of three women from East, Middle, and West Tennessee by Nashville sculptor Alan LeQuire. On August 26, 1920, the Tennessee legislature ratified the 19th Amendment by a single vote, thus bringing suffrage to every adult woman in the USA after many years' sturggle by "suffragettes" such as the three leaders depicted by this memorial.

2007 - "Peace Tree" sculpture (Columbus Unity Piece), Broadway & 12th Street, Columbus, Georgia (USA). Created by the Thompson-Pound Art Program (TAP) during a multicultural, interfaith summer arts camp for children, which teaches tolerance and appreciation of cultures and religions.

September 15, 2008 - Tolerance Monument, Tolerance Park, Jerusalem (Israel). 15-meter monument "funded by Polish businessman Aleksander Gudzowaty as a symbol to promote peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." Between Jewish Armon Hanatziv and Arab Jabal Mukaber and just outside the United Nations headquarters in Jerusalem's "Government House." Inscription says: "The monument is in the form of two halves of a broken column, which stand divided but still linked, on the ruins of a nameless and ageless temple. An olive tree grows in the middle of the split column and with its leaves seeks to encompass and shade both halves. The tree enables the two parts of the column to link together in symbolic coexistence. It cannot be known when the break will heal, when the two sides will grow back together but it can be seen that between the branches of the olive tree a new seed is sprouting, a golden grain of tolerance."

"Non-Violence" by Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd:

As many as 20 "knotted gun" monuments in different countries. Reuterswärd has written that the grieving after John Lennon was murdered inspired him to design this artwork. Click here for an article about the distribution of the sculpture. Click here for a cartoon of "Non-Violence" at the UN in New York City.

	1985 - Malmö (Sweden). The original sculpture.		1988 - Oil on canvas, Conventional Arms Branch, Dept. for Disarmament Affairs (DDA), United Nations, New York (USA).
	September 30, 1988 - United Nations, New York City, New York (USA). Second sculpture. Gift to UN from Luxembourg. Entry #753 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).		Date? - Jean Monnet Building, Kirchberg (Luxembourg). This is the third sculpture.
	1995 - Sergelgatan, Stockholm (Sweden).		1997 - Kungsportsavenyn & Engelbrektsgatan, Göteborg (Sweden).
	1999 - Victoria & Albert Waterfront, Cape Town (South Africa).		2000 - Cavern Walks Shopping Centre, Mathew Street, Liverpool (England). Next door to Cavern Club where the Beatles played in their early days. Uveiled by Dr. Michael Nobel, then head of the Nobel family society and chairman of the Non-Violence Foundation. Supported by Yoko Ono.
	2005 - Federal Chancellery, Berlin (Germany).		2005 - Memorial de Caen, Caen (France).
	Date? - Musée olympique, Lausanne (Switzerland).		Date? - "Orgnisation pour la Non-Violence," Where is this? "From this piece of art, the Non-Violence Foundation has been formed using 'The Knotted Gun' as its symbol. It was founded in 1994 by Dr. Michael Nobel as a non-profit organization in Geneva, Switzerland. Today, the Foundation operates in the United States, South Africa, Brazil, England & Germany."
	Date? - Phnom Penh (Cambodia). Looks different. Probably not by Reuterswärd.		Date? - "Stop the Violence" sculpture, St. Ein Ganim, Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv (Israel). "A sculpture of a padlock on the front of a gun, with the inscription 'stop violence!' in Hebrew." "In memory of Tal Reichman, a 17-year old boy who worked as an usher at work in taxis & was murdered 29/10/99 by a driver who fell out with him." Photo by Dr. Avishai Teicher.
	December 8, 2011 - Gibson Guitar Studio, London (England). "Ringo Starr Unveils His Self-Designed Replica 'Knotted Gun; Statue for the Non-Violence Foundation." "The former Beatle’s version of the statue was created for the Non-Violence Foundation & unveiled on the anniversary of the death of John Lennon."		1993 - Non-Violence Project Foundation (NVP), Geneva (Switzerland). "Registered in Bagnes Valais, Switzerland, in 1993. NVP is a non-profit foundation with the mission to inspire, motivate & engage young people to understand how to solve conflicts without resorting to violence. The objective is to reach out to as many schools & sport clubs around the world as possible." "Our signature logo is the well-known ‘Non-Violence’ symbol – the gun with the knotted barrel – created by the Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd as a memorial tribute to John Lennon after he was shot and killed in New York City."