Seattle, Washington: World's Ugliest Statue of Columbus (Gone)
There are several theories as to what sculptor Douglas Bennett was trying to accomplish with his bug-eyed Christopher Columbus statue, but almost everyone agrees that it didn't work.
- Directions:
- In Waterfront Park, at the intersection of Alaskan Way and Union St. Just south of the Seattle Aquarium and just north of Pier 57.
- Hours:
- In storage since 2013.
- Status:
- Gone
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Seattle has a statue of Christopher Columbus (in a modern, free-associational, non-representational style) at the downtown waterfront area, facing the Sound, a body of water Columbus never even dreamed of. As yet we have no monuments to Irish monks in coracles but give us time.
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Columbus, whose face resembles one of the bug-eyed aliens from Close Encounters, is regarded by some critics as the ugliest statue in the world. The statue was rejected by the Seattle Arts Commission, but the Seattle City Council overruled them and installed it in 1978. It was the first statue by local sculptor Douglas Bennett, who said he'd wanted to depict Columbus as gaunt and worried. Bennett reportedly never received an offer to sculpt again.