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91Èȱ¬ Great Britons Churchill Memorial Sculpture now on view in Westminster Hall

Category: Factual & Arts TV
Date: 09.02.2005
Printable version

Facsimiles of Churchill's typewritten speech drafts, which his staff referred to as 'hymn sheets', are embedded in the work.

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The distinctive way the speeches were set out on the page, in stepped diagonal blocks, and their message of strength through cooperation are the inspiration behind Song.

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The individual elements of the sculpture are unstable but, once interlocked, the structure stands firm.

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The title of the piece comes from Churchill's own description of his contribution to a meeting of French leaders at the time of Dunkirk: "I sang my usual song: we would fight on whatever happened."

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Paul de Monchaux says: "Churchill's wartime speeches helped listeners to identify with his message, remember it, and make it their own.

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"One of the many historic functions of song is to allay fear, and Churchill's contribution in the war years was to lift the spirits and conquer our sense of dread."

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Song will be on free public view in Westminster Hall, House of Commons, London SW1, from 9.00am to 6.00pm, Monday to Friday, Thursday 10 February until Friday 25 March 2005.

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Access to Westminster Hall is via the St Stephen's entrance, St Margaret Street, London SW1.

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After Westminster, Song will visit other regional venues before being installed in a 91Èȱ¬ building in London.

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A 91Èȱ¬ FOUR programme, Churchill in Art, featuring Song and other representations of Churchill in painting and sculpture, will transmit on Saturday 19 February.

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The installation of the 91Èȱ¬ Great Britons Churchill Memorial Sculpture in Westminster Hall coincides with the opening of the new Churchill Museum at the nearby Cabinet War Rooms, Clive Steps, King Charles Street, London, SW1.

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Notes to Editors

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Biography - Paul de Monchaux

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Paul de Monchaux was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1934.

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He studied at the Art Students League in New York, USA, before coming to the Slade School of Fine Art in London in 1955.

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He was Lecturer in Sculpture at Goldsmiths College (1960-65) and was also Head of Sculpture & Fine Art at Camberwell School of Art (1965-86).

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He retired from teaching in 1986 to concentrate on his sculpture.

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Public commissions include sculptures for Brunswick and Oozells Squares in Birmingham; Enclosure for West Park Southampton; the Wilfred Owen Memorial in Shrewsbury; Basilica for the Crown Court in Coventry; and the four Time benches at Euston station in London.

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He won a Civic Trust Award with Townshend Associates for his work in Oozells Square.

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Great Britons

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The Great Britons television series ran on 91Èȱ¬ TWO from 20 October to 24 November 2002.

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The series launched with a public poll people to nominate the person they thought was the greatest Briton of all time.

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The top 10 (in alphabetical order) then featured in a 10-part series in autumn 2002 in which high-profile presenters including Mo Mowlam, Michael Portillo and Jeremy Clarkson argued the case for their chosen Great Briton and asked viewers to vote by phone or through bbc.co.uk.

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All ten Great Britons were debated in a final programme which then announced the winner.

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The series captured the public imagination and generated much interest and debate.

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In total 1.6 million people registered votes and the final rankings were: 1) Winston Churchill; 2) Isambard Kingdom Brunel; 3) Princess Diana; 4) Charles Darwin; 5) William Shakespeare; 6) Isaac Newton; 7) Elizabeth I; 8) John Lennon; 9); Lord Nelson; 10) Oliver Cromwell.

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The 91Èȱ¬ Great Britons Churchill Memorial Sculpture: Song

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Five contemporary artists were shortlisted to submit proposals for the memorial.

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No particular medium was stipulated for the commission, other than that the 91Èȱ¬ was not seeking a conventional proposal as it was felt the UK already had the definitive Churchill figurative sculpture in Ivor Roberts-Jones' work of 1973 in London's Parliament Square.

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Paul de Monchaux's proposal was chosen in July 2004 by a 91Èȱ¬ selection panel comprising: Susan Brades, former director, Hayward Gallery; Richard Cork, art critic and art historian; Mark Harrison, Creative Director, 91Èȱ¬ Arts; Roly Keating, Controller, 91Èȱ¬ TWO; Vivien Lovell, Director, Modus Operandi art consultants; Jane Root, former Controller, 91Èȱ¬ TWO; and Alan Yentob, Creative Director, 91Èȱ¬.

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Song is funded by the profits generated from the telephone voting during the television series, excluding the final programme.

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Profits from the voting during the final were donated to 91Èȱ¬ Children In Need.

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The total budget for the memorial is £50,000, which includes materials, construction, installation, touring costs and the artist's fee.

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Song is a free standing wooden tower - measuring 2.1m x 1.4m x 1.4m, weighing 2.25 tons - made of 20 interlocking pieces of sawn green English oak heartwood felled at 91Èȱ¬ Wood, Denn Park, Horsham, Surrey in June 2004 as part of a thinning operation to improve tree growth.

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The trees used were planted after the First World War to replace wartime felling.

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Churchill's Forgotten Years

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Wednesday 16 February 2005, 9.00-10.30pm, 91Èȱ¬ FOUR

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Focussing on the less documented years of Churchill's life - post-Second World War - this film offers a fresh look the man voted our Greatest Briton.

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Most particularly, how he carefully spun his own legend in order to ensure a revered place in British history.

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Presented by historian, Professor David Reynolds, the programme delves into the psyche of this complex man.

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Featuring rarely seen archive footage and interviews with his daughter Mary Soames, grandson Winston Churchill and former colleagues, the film gets closer to the real man behind the national icon.