Ireland

Life of Imogen Stuart resembled ‘a beautiful symphony, everything arranged in order’, funeral hears

German-born artist died last month aged 96

The funeral of sculptor Imogen Stuart took place in St Joseph's Church, Glasthule. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw / The Irish Times

Derek Scally
Wed Apr 3 2024 - 17:02

Imogen Stuart was celebrated on Wednesday as an Irish-German artist whose Christian faith “fed the fibres of her life”.

At her funeral service in St Joseph’s Church, Glasthule, celebrant Fr Christopher Dillon of Glenstal Abbey said the sculptor’s death in the Easter season, aged 96, had an artistic elegance to it.

“The artist in her had an eye for dying now because to die in Christ is to rise with Christ,” he said.

Grandson Sam Horler told the congregation how Stuart’s life resembled “a beautiful symphony, everything arranged in order”.

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Sabina Higgins was among the mourners. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw / The Irish Times

Another grandson, Ben Horler, said Stuart, a member of Aosdána, viewed her grandchildren “as a raw piece of log, something she could sculpt into a work of art”.

Asked about outliving all her friends, Stuart told Horler she was “too busy to die”.

Stuart’s German niece Daniela May attributed her aunt’s longevity in part to how “until about two years ago she did the Canadian Airforce exercises every day”.

Born Imogen Werner in Berlin in May 1927, she moved to Ireland in 1949, married fellow artist Ian Stuart and worked here as an artist ever since, completing her last commission a week before her death on March 24th.

She is survived by two daughters, Aisling and Aoibheann; a third daughter, Siobhán, died in 1988, after which her children moved with their father to Norway.

Speaking for his siblings, Stefan Skanseg recalled his “Oma” – German for grandmother – and her Sandycove home as a sanctuary of continuity for them after losing their mother.

“Time stood still there even if Oma never stood still,” he said, recalling how visits to Dublin were packed with walks and exhibition visits, “always in pursuit of beauty”.

“I’m happy she is finally there with Siobhán,” he added, finally together.”

President Michael D Higgins was represented by his aide-de-campe Commandant, Brian Walsh, Sabina Higgins and their son, Michael Edward Higgins.

Other mourners included author Anne Enright; artist Mick O’Dea; Patrick T Murphy, director of the RHA; and photographer Amelia Stein.

A mass booklet from the funeral. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw / The Irish Times

In a packed church, her youngest daughter Aisling Law remembered her mother as a “mother tree” while Maria Simmons Gooding, Stuart’s friend for 50 years and a fellow artist, recalled her deep connection to nature, and concern for the natural environment.

Her final work, the Stele standing stone on a hillock near Sandycove’s Forty Foot bathing area, would, Simmons Gooding said, “welcome everyone, enormous, for evermore”.

Derek Scally

Derek Scally

Derek Scally is an Irish Times journalist based in Berlin

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