Eric’s Gainsbourgesque nose bump did not escape the attention of the producers of Serge Gainsbourg: Vie Héroïque (see trailer), directed by the influential comic book artist Joann Sfar, and they sure as hell wouldn’t let it escape the attention of the Parisian public. The poster for the biopic (to be released in France on the 20th of January) features a stark image of Eric-as-Serge in profile, the spotlit outline of his nose set off by a dark shadow. That nose, anywhere from 1 to 5-feet high, depending on the poster format, is plastered everywhere: You can’t travel 100 meters in Paris, above- or underground, without bumping into it.

Eric’s acquaintances may no longer poke fun at his Gainsbourgesque nose, but others may find themselves staring at it in the poster, wondering if he had it expertly broken or enlarged for the role by a plastic surgeon. Might this reverse form of rhinoplasty be de rigueur in the new decade? Or will it be more of a fashion bump than a lasting trend?

Turns out Eric was fitted with a prosthetic nose and prosthetic ears for the role (see Paris Match interview with Eric and Le Figaro interview with the director). Even his schnoz was judged inadequate for a convincing portrayal that appears to mythologize Gainsbourg’s outsized features. Whatever the motives of director Sfar, whose comics are often inspired by his Jewish heritage, it is refreshing that a famously big and, yes, Jewish nose – so long a target of ridicule and caricature – is held up in the Métro of Paris as an emblem of cool.

Three storeys of gorgeousness from United Designers: Torode’s trademark chunky, butch aesthetic (see Smiths of Smithfield) married to fluid lines, ravishing furniture – wing-shaped Cherner chairs, stork-legged tables and lamps that look like Méret Oppenheim…

You can practically hear the members of the live BBC audience falling over themselves with nods of recognition. It hardly matters that most haven’t a clue who the artist and muse Meret Oppenheim was. We’ve all seen women who look like lamps and lamps which look like women. I happen to have one in my bedroom.

Which brings us to tonight’s quiz for all those listening at home: At left is Erotique Voilée (“Veiled Erotic”), a classic surrealist image taken by American photographer Man Ray in 1933. Rather than ask you if the subject of the portrait is a lighting fixture or an Oppenheim, the more pertinent question is: How do you work the oddly placed knob?

Meret Oppenheim is one of the featured artists in Angels of Anarchy: Women Artists and Surrealism, an exhibition on view through the 10th of January at the Manchester Art Gallery.