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Imogen Stuart , German, 1927-2024

Title

Self-portrait

Date2011

MediumOak

Dimensions

167 × 84 × 48 cm

Credit LinePurchased, 2021

Object numberNGI.2021.51

DescriptionBorn in Berlin in 1927, Stuart trained in sculpture under the celebrated expressionist sculptor, Otto Hitzberger, and at the Academy of fine arts Munich. She developed an appreciation for Romanesque art while finding inspiration in the work modernists including Rodin, Maillol and Barlach. In 1948 Stuart moved to Ireland. Stuart grew to love the Irish landscape and Irish culture, in particular early-Christian art. She developed a personal style that fused different aesthetics, from Irish Christian stone carving to German expressionism. Often inspired by various religious and mythological subjects, her work explores her own faith, spirituality and her relationship to a wider sense of community. In Self-portrait Stuart portrays herself in her profession as an artist. Carved from a large panel of French oak, the work shows the artist in her smock and holding the tools of her trade, a hammer and chisel. It is Stuart’s final work in carved wood and references her long interest in German Expressionist sculpture.


ProvenancePurchased, 2021Exhibition HistoryAnnual Exhibition, RHA, Dublin, 2011