Imogen Stuart, R.H.A. b.1927

Monument to Love is inscribed with lines from letter seven of Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet (May 14 1904), '...Love consists in this that two solitudes protect and touch and greet each other...'. A large scale monumental version of the present work was recently commissioned for the Centre of Irish Studies in Paris and unveiled to great acclaim in 2006.

Born in Berlin, Stuart moved to Ireland in 1951 where she has lived and worked ever since. She studied with Otto Hitzberger who importantly taught her the art of wood carving that she developed to become one of the key characteristics of her own style.  Stuart has received numerous important public commissions including Pangur Bán (1976, University College, Dublin), Stations of the Cross (1981-81, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Firhouse, Dublin), Monument to Pope John Paul II (1986, Maynooth College), The Arch of Peace (1989, Market Square, Cavan) and Madonna (1991, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin).