President Higgins leads tributes to acclaimed sculptor Imogen Stuart after her death aged 96
Sculptor Imogen Stuart with her “Pangur Bán” displayed at Áras an Uachtaráin. File Picture: Maxwells
Tributes have been paid to leading German-Irish sculptor Imogen Stuart, who has died at the age 96.
An acclaimed and prolific artist, Ms Stuart's works can be found in public spaces and in Catholic and Church of Ireland churches throughout the country.
Among her best-known pieces are a sculpture of Pope John Paul II, located in St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth, and the altar and baptismal font of the Honan Chapel on the grounds of University College Cork (UCC).
Born in Berlin, Ms Stuart was the daughter of art critic and author Bruno E Werner and his wife Katharina Klug.
In 1945, she began to study under influential sculptor and professor Otto Hitzberger in Bavaria. Due to the scarcity then affecting post-war Germany, she helped Hitzberger sculpt grave crosses in return for food packages for local farmers.
In 1948, she met Irishman Ian Stuart, the son of novelist Francis Stuart and Iseult Gonne, who was the daughter of Maud Gonne.
In 1951, the couple returned to Ireland and married. They later had three daughters together — Aoibheann, Siobhan, and Aisling. Imogen and Ian Stuart later separated in 1972.
Her daughter Siobhan died in a car accident in 1988.
Over the course of her seven-decade-long career, Ms Stuart created works with a variety of materials including wood, bronze, stone, steel, clay and terracotta.
Other notable works of hers include the main doors of Galway Cathedral, the Angel of Peace on the exterior of St Teresa's Carmelite Church on Dublin’s Clarendon Street, a sculptural representation of the WB Yeats poem 'The Fiddler Of Dooney' at the Stillorgan Shopping Centre in Dublin, and 'the Flame Of Human Dignity' in the courtyard of the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris.
He work has also been displayed in exhibitions internationally.
In 2015, she was elected Elected Saoi of Aosdána, the highest honour the creative arts association can bestow.
In December 2022, her first show in just over a decade was officially opened by President Michael D Higgins at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick.
Speaking on Monday, President Higgins said Ms Stuart made "a singular contribution to the enrichment of the lives of so many throughout Irish society, not only through her inspiring and challenging work, but by her committed vision of art as an essential public good, something that must for that very reason be accessible and available to the public.
"As a nation, we are all deeply indebted to Imogen for this great spirit of generosity and for the rich wealth of public art which she has left us and which, not only for our generation, has so enhanced our society and our shared environment, but will give joy to future generations," he said.
President Higgins said he and his wife were fortunate to call Imogen a friend "for many years" and that the couple have always been "fervent admirers, not only of her work, but of this generosity of spirt to which I refer that has ensured that her beautiful sculptures have become firmly rooted in the public space to be shared by all.
"Not only on behalf of Sabina and myself, but on behalf of all who will continue to encounter her work, may I express my deepest condolences to Imogen’s daughters Aisling and Aoibheann, and to all of her family and many friends," he added.
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