Oscar II at the Magritte Museum in Brussels, Belgium

myminifactory

This is a painted bronze bust of the artist with a shotgun nose inspired by the Magritte portrait 'Oscar'; it was sculpted in 2000 by British artist Gavin Turk and scanned in the Magritte Museum in Brussels. The character with bulging eggs for eyes and a shotgun nose is taken from a Magritte painting ‘L’ellipse’. He has become a self-portrait turned 3D to 2D and cast in bronze, then painted with all the vivid colours of the original. Magritte is one of the most striking and consistent of the surrealists, and his imagery dominates the artist's work. His childlike painting style produces image after image of familiar meeting unfamiliar. Like dreams that collage the realities of the day into impossible yet plausible scenarios, Magritte expresses his subconscious on canvas. Oscar is a character from a period of Magritte's life called by critics his ‘Vache’ or ‘Renoir’ period, when he appeared to be reacting against controlled, meticulous and tranquil clocks and pipes and moustaches: the signifiers of ordered civilized European society. Suddenly he became expressive and violent – but with humor. The violent imagery of the shotgun impotently sneezing out bullets in place of a nose, juxtaposed with the spooky eye peering from the bowler hat – symbol of power and professionalism, and of course the ill-fitting check suit. This contrasts with the fay positioning of the back to front hands offering up – or is it pleading in supplication? This object is part of "Scan The World". Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for public access. Scan the World is an open source community effort; if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help.