COLOURFUL mosaics by Eduardo Paolozzi are to be reassembled in his home city after 30 years in the London Underground.
Transport for London (TfL) came under fire for removing the much-loved mosaics earlier this year as part of a multi-million refurbishment of Tottenham Court Road station.
The 1984 pieces formed arches over escalators in the station’s main concourse and their removal sparked an online petition signed by more than 7,500 people.
Yesterday TfL announced that the Scots-Italian artist’s works are to come to his home city of Edinburgh for display.
The pieces will be taken to the University of Edinburgh, where they will be the focus of a new undergraduate course set to begin in the next academic year.
Neil Lebeter, the university’s art collections curator, said: “I am delighted that the university is able to provide a home for this work. The mosaics will be a very important addition to our art collection.
“We expect the murals to become an important part of the campus – a major draw for students and wider public.
“The possibilities for creative engagement through this project are hugely exciting.”
Born in Leith, Paolozzi was versatile artist famous for his graphic pop art, ceramics and sculptures. Several of his works on permanent display in the Scottish capital, including a giant hand outside St Mary’s Roman Catholic Cathedral at the top of Leith Walk.
The mosaics make up just a fraction of the artworks created by the artist for the Tube station, and TfL says the remainder will stay in place as remodelling continues.
Featuring references to George Orwell novel 1984, rushing commuters, computers and objects from the nearby British Museum, the transferred pieces will be photographed and digitally mapped over the next few years, allowing experts to virtually reconstruct the work before it is physically reassembled by students, researchers and ceramics conservators.
Born in Leith in 1924, Paolozzi studied at Edinburgh College of Art during the Second World War and, as a visiting professor to the college in the 1990s, would take students to London to see his mosaics.
Edinburgh University already has 150 pieces by Paolozzi in its collections.
Toby Treves of the Paolozzi Foundation said: “Eduardo Paolozzi was one of the most important British artists of the late 20th century, whose art captured the breadth of the modern world.
“His work at Tottenham Court Road station has delighted Tube passengers for over 30 years and will continue to do.
“The work with Edinburgh will provide a fitting home for the pieces that could not be accommodated at the station as it is modernised.
“It will serve to promote public appreciation of the fine arts and the extraordinary contribution of Eduardo Paolozzi.”
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