6 Great Denmark Street, Rotunda, Dublin 1, Ireland
Clarke was a student of Belvedere College.
College/University
Gallery of Harry Clarke
100 Thomas St, Merchants Quay, Dublin, Ireland
Harry Clarke attended evening classes in the National College of Art and Design in 1910. By his late teens, Harry Clarke studied stained glass at the same college, leaving it in 1913.
Harry Clarke attended evening classes in the National College of Art and Design in 1910. By his late teens, Harry Clarke studied stained glass at the same college, leaving it in 1913.
(Illustrated with 8 full-color plates and 24 full-page dra...)
Illustrated with 8 full-color plates and 24 full-page drawings filled with brooding eroticism by Harry Clarke, a brilliant Edwardian-era artist too long overshadowed by his contemporary Aubrey Beardsley.
Harry Clarke was an Irish book illustrator and stained-glass artist. His artworks were influenced by both the Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts movements. In Ireland, he was a leading figure of the latter.
Background
Clarke was born in Dublin, Ireland, on March 17, 1889. Harry Clarke was the younger son and third child in the family. His father, Joshua Clarke, arrived in Dublin from Leeds in 1877 and started his career as a decorator. His business, Joshua Clarke & Sons, later expanded to include a stained glass division. Brigid Clarke (née MacGonigal) was Harry Clarke's mother. She died in 1903 when Harry was fourteen years old. This event greatly affected him, because his mother was his closest confidant.
Education
Harry Clarke studied at the Central Model Senior School in Marlborough Street, Dublin and Belvedere College.
Clarke left Belvedere College in 1905 and became apprenticed into his father's studio, and attended evening classes in the National College of Art and Design in 1910. By his late teens, Harry Clarke studied stained glass at the same college. He won a travelling scholarship in 1913 having left it and moved to London.
Clarke moved from Dublin to London, trying to find a job as a book illustrator. He was hired by London publisher Harrap. Clarke started with two commissions which he never completed: Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (much of his work on which was destroyed during the 1916 Easter Rising) and also an illustrated edition of Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock.
Eventually, Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen became his first printed work, which was released in 1916. It comprised of 16 colour plates and more than 24 illustrations. This work was then followed by a set of illustrations for an edition of Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Its first version was limited to halftone illustrations, while the second with eight colour plates and more than 24 illustrations was released in 1923. The 1923 edition created his reputation as a book illustrator.
His next commission was connected with the creation of The Years at the Spring editions. It consisted of 12 colour plates and more than 14 monotone images. He also produced illustrations for Charles Perrault's Fairy Tales of Perrault, and Goethe's Faust, with eight colour plates and more than 70 halftone and duotone paintings. The latter of these is his most famous work, indicating the disturbing imagery of 1960s psychedelia.
Two of Harry Clarke's most popular titles are promotional booklets for Jameson Irish Whiskey: A History of a Great House (1924) and Elixir of Life (1925) written by Geofrey Warren. Selected Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne, his final book, was published in 1928.
Clarke also worked in stained glass, he and his brother Walter having taken over his father's studio after his death in 1921. He created more than 130 windows. His glass was distinguished by the ingenuity of its drawing and his use of rich colours. He was especially passionate about deep blue hues. His use of heavy lines in his black-and-white book illustrations echoes his glass techniques.
The artist's stained glass work includes many religious windows, and also much secular stained glass. The examples of his religious windows included the windows of the Honan Chapel in University College Cork; of stained glass, a window illustrating John Keats' The Eve of St. Agnes (now in the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery in Dublin) as well as the Geneva Window (now in the Wolfsonian Museum, Miami, Florida, United States). Perhaps his most well-known artworks were the windows he created for Bewley's Café on Dublin's Grafton Street. In 1924, Dean D’Alton PP Ballinrobe commissioned windows for St. Mary’s, giving Harry Clarke artistic freedom for his design.
His brother Walter Clarke, who was responsible for the decorating side of the business, died suddenly in July 1930. This ended the church and general decorating part of the business. With his own studios in 1930, Harry Clarke continued to receive commissions and the name of Harry Clarke soon became synonymous with original stained glass work of the highest quality.
(Nearly 30 illustrations by Harry Clarke, eight of them in...)
1925
illustration
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
painting
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
The Year's at the Spring
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
Personality
Physical Characteristics:
Harry Clarke had poor physical health for most of his life and in 1929 he was diagnosed as suffering from tuberculosis. Unfortunately, his condition worsened as he used chemicals and lead in his stained-glass artworks. On occasions, he travelled to Switzerland in an attempt to strengthen his seriously deteriorating health. However, he continued to suffer with no improvement apart from short breaks.
Connections
Harry Clarke met fellow artist and teacher Margaret Crilley while studying at the National College of Art and Design. They married on October 31, 1914. The marriage produced three children, Michael, David, and Ann.
Harry Clarke Illustration Showcase
This compilation features over 120 examples of Clarke's colour paintings and black and white pen work, mostly full page.
The Harry Clarke Colouring Book
In this book, 30 of Harry Clarke's most famous designs have been redrawn in black and white to create intricate pictures, ideal for coloring.