Explore the Creation of this artwork, Statue of George Orwell.
The statue was funded by a trust established by the Labour MP Ben Whitaker, with all funds coming from private donors. Notable donors to the trust included Ian McEwan, Andrew Marr, Ken Follett, Rowan Atkinson, Neil and Glenys Kinnock, Tom Stoppard, David Hare and Michael Frayn. In 2012 the BBC had rejected the offer of the statue, reportedly due to the opposition of the then Director-General, Mark Thompson but the project was revived under the next director-general, Tony Hall. Whitaker died in 2014 and the project was continued by his wife, Janet Whitaker, Baroness Whitaker.Jennings was chosen as the sculptor because Whitaker admired his sculptures of John Betjeman at St Pancras station and Philip Larkin in Hull. Jennings said that Orwell was "...an ideal subject for a sculptor: loomingly tall, skinny as a rake, forever [with] fag in hand, body leaning in to make a point. He wore the kind of clothes that might have spent their off-duty hours hanging from a nail in the potting shed".
Philip Larkin Janet Whitaker, Baroness Whitaker Michael Frayn St Pancras station Andrew Marr David Hare Ben Whitaker Glenys Kinnock Tony Hall Rowan Atkinson Mark Thompson Ian McEwan Hull Orwell John Betjeman Tom Stoppard Neil Ken Follett BBC Director-General fag