Harry Clarke

Harry Clarke

Harry Clarke was an Irish artist who lived from 1889 to 1931. He was associated with the arts and crafts movement and was the most prolific Irish artist from that school of art. Besides being known for his stained glass works, he was a successful book illustrator during the Golden Age of Illustration.

Harry Clarke was born on St, Patrick’s day, March 17, in Dublin, Ireland to the son of a craftsman. He attended the Dublin Art School as a teenager where he quickly excelled at stained glass works. After art school, Clarke moved to London, England and got a job as a book illustrator with the publishing company, Harrap. By 1916, he had finished his first illustration commission with the publication of Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen. He quickly followed that up with an illustration commission for Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allen Poe. 

After the death of his father in 1921, Harry Clarke and his brother, Walter, took over their late father’s craft business. Together, they produced a number of stained-glass windows. Clarke continued to illustrate books, with his last publication in 1928 with Selected Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne. Clarke’s stained-glass work incorporates bright, saturated hues with thick black leading. His figures were often elongated with expressive eyes. He created over 160 works of stained glass for both religious institutions and secular buildings. One of his major influences was the Art Nouveau movement, which his father first exposed him to.

Harry Clarke died in 1931 at just 41 years old from tuberculosis. Both him and his brother, Walter, had poor health in the last years of their lives. This is often attributed to the toxicity of the materials used in stained glass production at that time. Unfortunately, the two brothers died within a year of each other. Harry Clarke Studios was a company that was founded by Harry Clarke, in 1930, shortly after the death of his brother and collaborator. After his own death in 1931, his studio continued creating commissions for several decades. It remained open until 1973 when it closed.

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