Focus on this artwork and analyze the History.
In 1927 G. K. Chesterton was the first person to suggest that a statue of Holmes be sited in London, but his efforts came to nothing. A new campaign was begun by the Sherlock Holmes Society of London in 1996. Before then the society had, according to its president Anthony Howlett, spent "a decade or two debating whether we should put a statue smack in the middle of Baker Street, and the traffic be damned". The Sherlock Holmes Statue Company Limited was set up to manage the project. In 1998, Abbey National agreed to fund the statue because of their connection with Holmes. (Their headquarters were at 215−229 Baker Street and they employed a member of staff to respond to any letters addressed to Holmes at 221B.)John Doubleday, the sculptor of the first statue of Holmes at Meiringen, was given the commission for the London statue on 31 March 1998. After the plans to install the statue were announced some local residents and the St Marylebone Society spoke out against the work, saying that it was "not very appropriate. It should have been in Baker Street itself, which is much quieter." The statue was unveiled by Lord Tugendhat, the chairman of Abbey National, on 23 September 1999.
Since 2014, Doubleday's sculpture has been one of a series of "Talking Statues" across London where passers-by can receive a simulated telephone call from the statue's subject by scanning a QR code or visiting a link. The Holmes statue is voiced by the actor Ed Stoppard with a script written by the English novelist Anthony Horowitz which humorously gives details relating to the statue's appearance.
Abbey National Baker Street John Doubleday QR code Talking Statues Meiringen Ed Stoppard Lord Tugendhat G. K. Chesterton Sherlock Holmes London Anthony Horowitz