Gloomy segmented head of famed playwright fails to convey his wit and brilliance, says Merlin Holland

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 2ft-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.