Friday, December 7, 2012

The Oscar Wilde Memorial In Merrion Square (Dublin)

The sculptor Danny Osborne used complementary colour stones and also sought out stones with varying textures to give a more lifelike representation of Oscar Wilde than you would find in a conventional statue.

Wilde’s jacket is green stone which is complemented by red stone cuffs. The sculpture includes two stone pillars which are covered in quotations by Oscar Wilde. Placed on top of the pillars are two sculptures, one of the sculptures is a bronze figure of a pregnant naked woman kneeling this represents Oscars wife Constance, while the other pillar has a bronze male torso.

The two pillars which flank Oscar Wilde on both sides are used to set out his thoughts,opinions, witticisms on art and life for all to see and judge. These quotes were selected by a mixture of poets, public figures, artists, and scientists, who use Wilde’s own words to pay tribute to him.

To the visitor it seems that the Etchings on the pillars are graffiti but they are not, they are the personal handwriting of figures from Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney to playwright John B. Keane to the current irish president Michael D Higgins – all paying homage to Oscar Wilde with his own words.

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