‘Absolutely hideous’: new London sculpture of Oscar Wilde condemned by his grandson

Representation of how Eduardo Paolozzi’s black bronze sculpture of Oscar Wilde will look when installed in Chelsea within the next few weeks. Photograph: The Paolozzi Foundation

A huge sculpture of Oscar Wilde’s head lying on its side, his face sliced into segments, has been condemned as “absolutely hideous” by the playwright’s grandson.

Merlin Holland, an expert on Wilde’s life and works, has ­criticised a 2 metre-high black bronze sculpture by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi that is to be unveiled in a public garden in Chelsea, south-west London, near Wilde’s former home.