Harry Clarke (1889 to 1931) is regarded as the finest Irish stained glass artist of his generation. His windows are detailed, dark and jewel-like, closer to book illustration than to the broad designs of most church glass, and he was also a notable illustrator, including an edition of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales in 1916.
A family studio
He was born in Dublin on 17 March 1889. His father, Joshua Clarke, had moved to the city from Leeds in 1877 and founded a decorating business, Joshua Clarke & Sons, which later added a stained glass department. After leaving school, Harry trained there and studied stained glass at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art. In 1911 he won a gold medal in a national competition in London, the first of three consecutive gold medals for his stained glass panels.
Main works
- Honan Chapel, Cork (1915 to 1918). Nine windows that established his reputation.
- St Stephen’s Cathedral, Brisbane (1923). The Ascension window.
- The Geneva Window. Commissioned by the Irish government for the International Labour Office in Geneva, it was never displayed by the State and is now in the Wolfsonian in Florida.
- Basilica of St Vincent de Paul, Bayonne, New Jersey (1929). Nine windows, his first American commission.
- The Eve of St Agnes. Now in the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin.
- Bewley’s Oriental Café, Dublin. Decorative windows in a working café.
Early death
Clarke was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1929 and died in his sleep on 6 January 1931 in Coire, Switzerland, aged 41. One account suggests that his exposure to chemicals and lead in the studio may have worsened his poor health. The studio continued after his death. See working safely with glass for why those materials are handled carefully today.
What to look for
Look for small, intricate details, a lot of fine painting and etching, and unusually rich colour. His figures are elongated and expressive, and backgrounds are often filled with tiny patterns. The surface was often worked with acid, a method described under acid etched glass.
More artists
Also on this site: Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Comfort Tiffany, John La Farge, Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, Marc Chagall, John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens. See all artists.
For the wider story, see Stained Glass from the Gothic Revival to the Twentieth Century and A Short History of Stained Glass.