Statues - Hither & Thither

 

Description

Two-meter-tall fiberglass sculpture of Sigmund Freud, who is holding onto a beam with one hand and hanging in mid-air high above the intersection of Husova Street and Betlémské náměstí.
The sculptor explained that Freud - who spent the first three years of his life in Prague - symbolizes the intellectualism of the twentieth century. The sculpture, created in 1996 on the eve of the new millennium, reflects uncertainty about the future.
Various online sources give an interpretation, not one put forward by Černý, that Freud appears to be wavering between letting himself fall and holding on, and that is seen as a representation of the existential uncertainty.

Artist

• David Černý (Praha 1967), Czech sculptor (Website – Wikipedia).

Sources & Information

• Blogspot, Only in Bohemia, Hidden Prague #5 - A Fly On The Wall and other Oddities .
• Psychoanalýza dnes, 12 Nov. 2025, Freud, the eternal dissident. A look inside Outsider by Yair Qedar (2025).
• Wikipedia, Dům U Sladkých.

Tags

• Town: Praha
• Kraj: Hlavní mĕsto
• Country: Czechia
• Černý, David
• Freud, Sigmund
• Man (hanging)
• Psychologist
• Statue (man)

Location (N 50°5'2" - E 14°25'5") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

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