Statue of Lenin, Seattle, Bronze statue in Fremont, Seattle, United States
The Statue of Lenin is a 16-foot bronze figure of a standing man in a cap, long coat, vest and tie, his left leg stepping forward. Behind his right side rises a jagged bronze mass of angular vertical forms. It stands on a low rectangular base at a Fremont street corner, with trees and a building behind it.
Emil Venkov created the work in 1988 for a Czechoslovak town, but after the fall of communism in 1989 it was removed. An American teacher discovered the sculpture in 1993 at a scrapyard and brought it to Seattle.
Local residents often decorate the figure with seasonal items or messages, turning it into a living expression of community creativity. The bronze sculpture stands in a neighborhood known for its unconventional approach to art and public space.
The monument stands at the intersection of Fremont Place North and North 36th Street and can be viewed throughout the year. The surrounding area offers sidewalks and nearby shops for a short walk through the neighborhood.
The statue is hollow bronze, and when Lewis Carpenter found it in a Poprad scrapyard in 1993 a homeless man was living inside it. He cut it into three pieces to ship it 2,400 km to Rotterdam and on to Washington, mortgaging his house to pay the US$40,000 cost.
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