Oscar Wilde statue Merrion Square, Dublin 2

Picture of the Oscar Wilde statue which can be found across from the Wilde family home in Merrion Square, Dublin. Dubliners jokingly refer to it as “The Queer with the Leer”, “The Fag on the Crag” or “The Quare in the Square”. These nicknames are not meant to be offensive as Dubliners have a long habit of labelling statues which are sometimes not flattering but if it rhymes and it is someway funny the nickname will invariably stick with Dubliners. ( I blame James Joyce for this! )

The statue was commissioned by Guinness Ireland and the sculptor was Danny Osborne, it was unveiled by Merlin Holland in 1997. The sculptor used stones in complementary  colours and of varying textures to give us a much more lifelike representation of Oscar Wilde than your conventional statue. A lot of stones had to be specially imported from places such as Siberia , Norway, Guatemala in the video the sculptor discusses the process

The sculptors assistant Deborah Wilson has some interesting pictures on her website, click on monuments and scroll down.

The statue of Wilde shows Oscar reclining almost provocatively on a rock, it is positioned so that he is looking at his family home on the north side of Merrion Square. The Oscar Wilde statue is composed of highly polished coloured stones, Wilde’s jacket is green stone which is complemented by red stone cuffs. The sculpture includes two stone pillars which are covered in quotations from Oscar Wilde. One of the sculptures is a bronze figure of a pregnant naked woman kneeling,while the other has a bronze male torso. Perhaps these are meant to symbolise Wilde’s ambiguous sexuality and aesthetic sensibilities?.

The statue works on many levels,the highly polished surface combined with Oscars provocative posture, makes us notice him right away. The statue captures the essential Oscar, almost magnetically it draws your attention and causes discussion exactly like Wilde did himself more than 100 years ago now, Oscar would be so pleased!

If your visiting Dublin to see the Oscar Wilde statue please bear in mind that the park closing times vary from between 9:30pm in midsummer and 4:30pm in midwinter.

Oscar Wilde Paris

Photos and images of Oscar Wilde and his links to Paris.

Wilde was released from prison 19 May 1897, and wandered between a small band of friends in England, France and Italy for the next few years. Since the death of his wife in 1898 he had been denied access to his two sons and given £150 a year from her estate to live on. Given his extravagant tastes, this did not go far.

Oscar WILDE family and Friends Images

Oscar Wilde family images and pictures

Oscar Wilde Quotes on Family

“How marriage ruins a man! It is as demoralizing as cigarettes, and far more expensive.”

“In married life three is company and two none.”

“Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them.”

“The one charm about marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties.”

“As long as a woman can look ten years younger than her own daughter, she is perfectly satisfied.”

“Fathers should be neither seen nor heard. That is the only proper basis for family life.”

Images of Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde Images

Oscar Wilde looking Dandy

While studying at Oxford, Oscar became an aesthete. Aestheticism states that we should strive for beauty, and that if we do, goodness will follow – a theory still widely used by philosophy students to sleep around. Wilde enthusiastically embraced dandyism: essentially a dandy was known as a man who placed a heavy emphasis on his excellent appearance, wit, and cultural knowledge, something which Oscar Wilde achieved with minimal apparent effort – essentially Oscar Wilde was a 19th century hipster.

Wilde used his extravagant clothing for self-advertisement as an extension of his personality, Wilde was financially obliged to court publicity to be able to sustain himself through his writings and public speaking.  Wilde as a young dandy, for instance, lectured on aestheticism in the United States to promote Gilbert and Sullivan’s satirical operetta Patience which ridiculed the aesthetes. Another Wilde paradox so as a dandy, he was committed to rally against the vulgarity of the middle class values, but it was the same middle class public which he relied on to earn a living as a journalist, public speaker and writer. At least Oscar Wilde was the first dandy who earned a living by his dandyism but this was because he had the talent to captivate his audience after his fashion sense had drawn their attention. What clothes did Oscar choose to use on his American tour you may ask, well of course he had recently joined the Masonic order whilst at the same time courting Catholicism and so he found their clothing most suited to his fund-raising tour of America.

Oscars quotes on fashion

“Women’s dress can easily be modified and adapted to any exigencies of the kind; but most women refuse to modify or adapt it. They must follow the fashion, whether it be convenient or the reverse. And, after all, what is a fashion? From the artistic point of view, it is usually a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months. “

Oscar Wilde Quotes