Rush Hour (sculpture)

Rush Hour
Bronze sculpture of six people
Rush Hour in 2024
ArtistGeorge Segal
Year1983
MediumBronze
Dimensions185 cm × 188 cm (73 in × 74 in); 170 cm diameter (67 in)
Location
  • Exchange Square, Broadgate, City of London
  • 51°31′13″N 0°4′49″W / 51.52028°N 0.08028°W / 51.52028; -0.08028

Rush Hour is a bronze group sculpture by American artist George Segal, from 1983.[1] It is a depiction of workers walking during rush hour. Five casts were made at various dates, with several held in public collections. Perhaps the most famous cast (3/5) is now located in Exchange Square in Broadgate, City of London, United Kingdom. Rush Hour is one of many public artworks in the area depicting workers. It has been described as one of the best modern sculptures in London, but also "depressing" as the six people depicted are performing a mundane routine. The other casts are held by the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas,[2] the Ho-Am Art Museum in Seoul,[3] the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.[4] and the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation in Los Angeles.[5]

Description of the London cast

Rush Hour is a bronze sculpture depicting six people quickly walking during rush hour. They are wearing raincoats, "each one seemingly isolated in their demeanour", with their eyes closed as they perform a daily routine.[6][7][8] The sculpture measures 1.85 metres (6 ft 1 in) tall, 1.88 metres (6 ft 2 in) wide, and 1.7 metres (5 ft 7 in) in diameter.[6] The inscription "RUSH HOUR / GEORGE SEGAL / 1983–87" is on the pavement slab beneath the sculpture.[8] The people used as models for the sculpture were likely friends or family of the artist, George Segal, an American sculptor and painter associated with the pop art movement.[7] To create the sculpture Segal performed his signature method of wrapping the models in plaster bandages before removing the hardened forms to create empty shells.[9][10]

It is located on the Exchange House concourse of Exchange Square, a 5,000 m2 (54,000 sq ft) public square in the Broadgate district of the City of London.[11][12] It was previously located on Finsbury Avenue Square, also in Broadgate.[13] Other public artworks in Exchange Square and the immediate area include Broadgate Venus by Fernando Botero, Chromorama by David Batchelor, The Broad Family by Xavier Corberó, Eye-I by Bruce McLean, and Fulcrum by Richard Serra.[14][15] A cast of the sculpture is on display at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.[8]

History of the London cast

Rush Hour was installed in October 1987 by property development companies Rosehaugh and Stanhope plc. It was the first of many public artworks installed in Broadgate, with Rush Hour being the closest to a traditional form of sculpture.[8][16] In Segal's 2000 obituary, it was noted that the sculpture was his only one on public view in the United Kingdom.[9] Beginning in 2014, Rush Hour was one of 35 sculptures in London and Manchester to be included in an interactive programme whereby visitors can scan a QR code and listen to audio recordings of stories related to each artwork.[17] The story related to Rush Hour was recorded by comedian Clive Anderson.[10]

Journalist and author Matt Brown of Londonist suggested the sculpture "neatly symbolises the daily drudge of the woebegone financial services professional" and included it in his list of the top nine modern sculptures in London, but also described it as "depressing" as they are on a "miserable march to work".[18][19] In the scholarly journal The Social Studies, Thomas A Lucey and James D Laney wrote Rush Hour "serves as an allegory of the fate of the individual in modern society and as a tribute to the sacrifice of middle class workers".[20] Art critic Benjamin Forgey of The Washington Post described the sculpture as an "eerie, ironic, contemporary replay" of The Burghers of Calais by Auguste Rodin, but noted the contrast between depicting heroes and tired workers.[21]

Rush Hour is one of many public artworks throughout London depicting workers. Others include The Building Worker by Alan Wilson, The Cordwainer by Alma Boyes, The Spirit of Brotherhood (also known as The Spirit of Trade Unionism) by Bernard Meadows, Deal Porters by Philip Bews, Out in the Fields by Arthur G Atkinson, The Window Cleaner by Allan Sly, Landed (also known as Dockers) by Les Johnson and the National Firefighters Memorial by John Mills.[18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Public Sculpture, The George and Helen Segal Foundation
  2. ↑ Rush Hour, George Segal, 1983 (cast 1985-86), Nasher Sculpture Center
  3. ↑ Rush Hour, George Segal, Ho-Am Art Museum
  4. ↑ Rush Hour, George Segal, 1983 (cast 1995), Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
  5. ↑ Garden Design, August 1992
  6. 1 2 "Rush Hour". Art UK. Archived from the original on 7 September 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Memorials and Public Art". City of London Corporation. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Ward-Jackson, Philip (2003). Public Sculpture of the City of London. Liverpool University Press. pp. 51–52. ISBN 9780853239772. OL 3753901M.
  9. 1 2 Livingstone, Marco (4 June 2000). "Obituary: George Segal". The Independent. p. 6. ProQuest 311702179.
  10. 1 2 "Rush Hour". Sing London. Archived from the original on 1 July 2026. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  11. ↑ Barry, Frances (9 June 2023). "George Segal". Walks of Art. Archived from the original on 2 July 2026. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  12. ↑ "Exchange Square". Maylim Limited. Archived from the original on 28 July 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  13. ↑ "George Segal (1924–2000)". Public Statues and Sculpture Association. Archived from the original on 1 July 2026. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  14. ↑ Khan, Tabish (8 January 2016). "Have You Walked The Broadgate Art Trail?". Londonist. Archived from the original on 23 April 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  15. ↑ "Morag Myerscough brings the park to the workplace at 1FA". OnOffice. 10 January 2020. Archived from the original on 18 February 2026. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  16. ↑ Pearson, Lynn (2016). "Public Art 1945–95". Historic England. p. 12. Archived from the original on 31 March 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  17. ↑ "England's historic statues to start talking". The Daily Telegraph. 8 July 2014. ProQuest 1543525921.
  18. 1 2 Brown, Matt (29 April 2015). "A Working Class Statue Is Something To Be..." Londonist. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  19. ↑ Brown, Matt (24 October 2023). "Top 9 Modern Sculptures In London". Londonist. Archived from the original on 2 July 2026. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  20. ↑ Lucey, Thomas A; Laney, James D (2009). "This Land Was Made for You and Me: Teaching for Economic Justice in Upper Elementary and Middle School Grades". The Social Studies. 100 (6): 260–272. ProQuest 596621174.
  21. ↑ Forgey, Benjamin (28 June 1987). "Dramatic Dimensions in Space". The Washington Post. ProQuest 306905044. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
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