In Crystal Palace Park, beside the Lower Lake, stands a wonderful statue of a Gorilla, by David Wynne. The gorilla is shown on all fours as a way to convey the powerful majesty of the animal.
In 1959, London County Council, through its Patronage of the Arts scheme, commissioned David Wynne to create a large animal sculpture, to go with the spirit of the dinosaur and extinct species statues already in the park
Having studied zoology at the University of Cambridge, David Wynne chose 'Guy the Gorilla' as his subject.
The sculpture was completed, in 1961, and unveiled near the Children's Zoo in 1962. The statue is still in place, even though the Children's Zoo closed in 1990.
