A CHANGE to the iconic cone on the head of the Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow was not made by famed street artist Banksy, it has been reported.
The artist’s popular Cut And Run exhibition opened at the city’s Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in June and closed on Monday.
Just feet from the entrance to the gallery, the statue of the 19th-century politician and military commander riding a horse has for years had an orange traffic cone adorning its head.
The image has become synonymous with Glasgow, and Banksy has described it as his favourite artwork and part of the reason he decided to hold his first exhibition in the city.
Following the end of the exhibition, photos taken by the PA news agency show a new cone in place on the statue, this time with a propeller on top and a black stripe at the base, while a regular traffic cone appears to have been placed under the arm of the duke.
But it is understood the change was not made by the artist, leaving the identity of the perpetrator unknown.
@scotnational There's a new cone on the Duke of Wellington, but it's a bit of a mystery how it got there ... #glasgow #fyp #banksy #art ♬ Art of Chill - 2091
Previously discussing the exhibition in Glasgow, GoMA manager Gareth James said: “Cut and Run has welcomed a new and diverse audience, from primary school pupils to octogenarians, from all areas of society and corners of the globe.
“Every day we open our doors to queues of hundreds of people waiting for walk-up tickets.
“Free community tickets and overnight opening hours have extended the museum’s reach far beyond our usual scope.”
Speaking on the artists decision to ban the use of phones at the exhibition, he added: “We expected some resistance but in fact visitors embraced the no phones rule; enjoying the time and space to see the work unhindered.”
Art pieces in the Cut and Run exhibition included the stencils for Girl With Balloon and Kissing Coppers.
There was also a model that explains how the artist managed to shred Girl With Balloon during an auction at Sotheby’s in London in 2018.
The artwork hit the headlines when it partially self-destructed at the conclusion of an auction in which it had been sold for over £1 million.
The canvas was passed through a secret shredder hidden inside the frame, which left the bottom half in tatters.
The artist renamed the work Love Is In The Bin and it sold at auction for £18.58 million in 2021.
