Prominent Irish sculptor Imogen Stuart has passed away at the age of 96. Her sculptures feature widely across Ireland, in public spaces and places of worship. Her formidable career spanned over 70 years, and she continued to create right until her final years. A showcase of her legacy was exhibited at Dublin Castle only recently, and a documentary about her life and work, titled “Imogen from the Heart”, was aired on RTÉ 1 earlier this year.
Imogen was born in 1927 in Berlin, with the given name Imogen Werner. She was raised in a cultured, affluent household, with her father, Bruno E. Wener, being a renowned arts editor for a newspaper, who later became a cultural diplomat.
Imogen moved to Ireland in 1949 after meeting Ian Stuart, her soon-to-be husband, whilst honing her skills as a sculptor in Bavaria after the war. She adopted Catholicism, got married to Ian, and the couple made the Stuart family estate in Laragh, Co Wicklow their home. They went on to have three daughters and later shifted to Sandycove. However, they split in the early 1970s and ultimately got divorced.
Imogen Stuart cultivated her unique style, by infusing Irish saint’s life narratives with the pre-war expressionist style of her native land, primarily through her commissions for churches. Her most noted works include the bronze crucifix at St Patrick’s Cathedral (Co Armagh), the Angel of Peace on Dublin’s St Teresa’s Carmelite Church façade, and the crafted doors of Galway Cathedral. She also created various interpretations of the Stations of Cross, showcased in Firhouse, Dublin and Ballintuber Abbey, Co Mayo.
Other commendable works of hers include the carved altar and baptismal font in UCC’s Honan Chapel, and the grand statue of Pope John Paul II outside St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. Her works aren’t strictly limited to churches. They also include the Fiddler of Dooney at the Stillorgan Shopping Centre, inspired by a Yeats poem, and her interpretation of Pangur Bán, a poem about a monk and his cat, currently exhibited at the Áras an Uachtaráin visitor centre.
In 2005, the renowned artist got her piece, Flame Of Human Dignity, installed in the courtyard of the Paris Centre Culturel Irlandais. Her Arch of Peace, which was first erected in the town of Cavan in 1989, got a new place of display last year. She is also known for her self-portrait carved in oak which is preserved in the National Gallery collection.
The artist, Stuart, had a penchant for working with wood and stone, frequently collaborating with skilled stone carver, Phil O’Neill. Her final significant work, a granite sculpture named Stele, was uncovered in May 2022. This piece, which was carved in conjunction with Ciaran Byrne, features depictions of King Laoghaire and St. Patrick, and stands on a mound near the Forty Foot in Sandycove.
President Michael D Higgins, who officially unveiled the work of art, praised her at the 2022 retrospective of her work in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. He expressed his gratitude towards Stuart, stating that, as a nation, they should appreciate her for her generous spirit and the enormous body of public art she has contributed to their society and communal environment.
He spoke of how she frequently chose to work distantly from contemporary trends throughout her extensive career, however this never deterred her from her artistic pursuits. Her primary aim was to express herself through her work, and to impact the feelings and emotions of the people for whom she crafted her pieces.
Stuart received several accolades later in life, from both Ireland and Germany. A member of Aosdána since 1981, she achieved the prestigious position of Saoi in 2015. In the same year, she was elected as a professor of sculpture at the Royal Hibernian Academy. In November 2018, she received the Cross of the Order of Merit from the Federal Republic of Germany, which is the highest civilian honour in her homeland.
In 2010, she was awarded the McAuley Medal by President Mary McAleese from Mary Immaculate College at the University of Limerick, which houses a significant number of her works. Mrs McAleese spoke highly of her, saying that, regardless of whether she sculpted or painted, Stuart’s vibrant personality and generosity made her an exceptional, life-affirming individual.
In 1988, her offspring Siobhan tragically passed away in an automobile accident. Her sole sister, Sibylle, met her demise in 2022. Stuart is now survived by her two daughters, Aisling and Aoibheann.
In a conversation about mortality in 2021, Stuart expressed, “The absence of music will indeed be the painful part for me. However, I am not fond of pondering over the idea of death. I make an effort to not contemplate the existence of an afterlife excessively, but I maintain a hope of there being one, accounting for all those magnificent souls who are no more. It seems impossible for them to have completely disappeared, doesn’t it?”