Harry Clarke

Henry Patrick Clarke (17 March 1889 – 6 January 1931) was an Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator. Born in Dublin, he was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts movement.

His work was influenced by both the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements. His stained glass was particularly informed by the French Symbolist movement.

Early life

Henry Patrick Clarke was born on 17 March 1889, the younger son and third child of Joshua Clarke and Brigid (née MacGonigal) Clarke. Joshua Clarke was a church decorator who moved to Dublin from Leeds in 1877 and started a decorating business, Joshua Clarke & Sons, which later incorporated a stained glass division. Through his work with his father, Clarke was exposed to many schools of art but Art Nouveau in particular.

Clarke was educated at the Model School in Marlborough Street, Dublin and Belvedere College, which he left in 1905. He was devastated by the death of his mother in 1903 when he was only 14 years old. Clarke was then apprenticed into his father's studio and attended evening classes in the Metropolitan College of Art and Design. His The Consecration of St Mel, Bishop of Longford, by St Patrick won the gold medal for stained glass work in the 1910 Board of Education National Competition.

At the art school in Dublin, Clarke met fellow artist and teacher, Margaret Crilley.

Clarke was commissioned by the Committee of the Irish National War Memorial in 1919 to illustrate the Ireland's Memorial Records 1914-1918, a roll of honour for the 49,435 Irish who died during World War I. Illustrations for the 8 volumes were completed in 1922 and published in 1923, and a set is on display in the Irish National War Memorial Gardens. 100 copies of the book were distributed to cathedrals and libraries across Ireland and to other Allied countries. Each page features a large four-sided border of black and white illustrations by Clarke.

Difficulties with these projects made Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen his first printed work, in 1916. It included 16 colour plates and more than 24 halftone illustrations. This was followed by illustrations for an edition of Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination: the first version of that title was restricted to halftone illustrations, while a second with eight colour plates and more than 24 halftone images was published in 1923. of the latter, a window illustrating John Keats' The Eve of St. Agnes (now in the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery in Dublin) and the Geneva Window, created for the Centre William Rappard in Geneva, Switzerland (now in the Wolfsonian Museum, Miami, Florida, US).

Later years and death

thumb|Commemorative plaque for Clarke at the Hof cemetery in Chur, Graubünden, Switzerland

Both Harry and his brother Walter were plagued with ill health, in particular problems with their lungs.

In 2026, a plaque marking Clarke's birthplace was unveiled on North Frederick Street in Dublin.

thumb|A plaque marking Harry Clarke's Birthplace unveiled in March 2026 at 33 North Frederick Street, Dublin

Gallery

Stained glass

File:Cork - Honan Chapel - Saint Gobnait by Harry Clarke (Detail).jpg|The Saint Gobnait window, Honan Chapel, Cork, 1916

File:Longford St. Mel's Cathedral West Transept Window Sts. Anne and Mary by Richard King 2019 08 22.jpg|St Anne and Mary, St Mel's Cathedral, Longford, 1932

File:Dingle Presentation Convent Chapel Harry Clarke Window The Baptism of Jesus.jpg|Chapel of the Sacred Heart, Dingle, The Baptism of Jesus, 1922–24

File:Duhill Church of Saint John the Baptist Window Vision of Bernadette at Lourdes by Harry Clarke Detail Our Lady of Lourdes 2012 09 08.jpg|"Vision of Bernadette at Lourdes", Church of Saint John the Baptist, Duhill, County Tipperary, 1925

File:Queens whose finger once did stir men.jpg|Queens whose finger once did stir men ("Queens"), 1917

</gallery>

Illustrations

File:Ligeia-Clarke.jpg|Illustration for Edgar Allan Poe's "Ligeia", 1923

File:Page 28 illustration from Fairy tales of Charles Perrault (Clarke, 1922).png|The Fairy, from Fairy tales of Charles Perrault, 1922

File:Harry Clarke The Colloquy of Monos and Una.jpg|The Colloquy of Monos and Una, Edgar Allan Poe series, 1923

File:Page 002 (Faust, 1925).png|Faust, page 2, 1925

File:Clarke - The Two Distilleries on the Same Hill (1925).png|From Elixir of Life, G. C. Warren, 1925

File:Fairy Tales by Hans Andersen (Harry Clarke).jpg|From Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, 1916

</gallery>

Works

As illustrator

Andersen, H. C. — The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, George Harrap, London, 1916
Poe, E. A. — Tales of Mystery and Imagination, George Harrap, London, 1919
Walters, L. d'O. — The Year's at the Spring, George Harrap, London, 1920 The Year's at the Spring via HathiTrust
Perrault, C. — The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault, George Harrap, London, 1922
_____ Ireland's Memorial Records 1914–1918, Maunsel and Roberts, Dublin, 1923 Volume Five via Trinity College Dublin
Warren, G. C. — The History of a Great House, John Jameson & Son, Dublin, 1924
Warren, G. C. — Elixir of Life {Uisge Beatha} John Jameson & Son, Dublin, 1925
Goethe, J. W. von — Faust, George Harrap, London, 1925
Swinburne, A. C. — Selected Poems of Charles Swinburne, John Lane, London, 1928

References

External links

Harry Clarke Stained Glass Site
Harry Clarke's Looking Glass at The Public Domain Review
Stained Glass Studio Archive at Trinity College Dublin