Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) Design for St. Maculind Window, St. Maculind's Church, Lusk, Co. Dublin (1923) Pencil, watercolour, bodycolour and inks on paper, 45.5 x 4.3cm (18 x 1¾'') Signed and dated 1923 Provenance: The artist’s studio; with David Clarke; collection of Donald Dean; with Gorry Gallery, Dublin. Exhibited: Dublin, Royal Hibernian Academy, 1925, cat.no.28; Dublin, Douglas Hyde Gallery, TCD, 1979, cat.no.179 Literature: Thomas McGreevy, ‘The New Parish Church at Lusk’, ‘ The Irish Builder & Engineer’ 21 March 1925, p.230; ‘Irish Statesman’, 18 April 1925, p.178 & 17 July 1926, p.522; Nicola Gordon Bowe, ‘Harry Clarke’, Douglas Hyde Gallery, 1979, no.179; Nicola Gordon Bowe, ‘The Life and Work of Harry Clarke’, Irish Academic Press, Dublin 1978, p.172, 177, 179 & 226. Harry Clarke always made a point of visiting the churches where his windows would be installed, both to observe the building’s architecture, note the orientation of the proposed window, its distance from ground level, etc., and to meet the client to discuss the subject, iconography and treatment, etc. For St Maculind’s church, (1) Lusk it seems clear that there were two clients, the church’s architect, John Joseph Robinson, and the parish priest, Canon John Fennelly. (2) Robinson, a favourite with the Catholic hierarchy, designed a delightful Hiberno-Romanesque for Lusk drawing inspiration from Monasterboice, Cashel and Roscrea, and among the windows in St Maculind’s he decided to include one that was notably tall and slim, approximately 18 feet by 21 inches. A former parishioner, Catherine Dempsey, who had died in 1919, had left a generous bequest of £237 for stained glass, more than sufficient to cover the cost for a fine memorial window to her and her late husband. After initial discussions Clarke prepared a precise design at a scale of 1 inch to the foot for the stained glass window which he would have presented to the client(s) for approval before proceeding. He made it in December 1923 which meant that Clarke may have found himself in an unusual situation as the church’s construction was still underway – the foundation stone had been laid in November 1922 and the church was not dedicated until January 1925 – so to some degree Clarke may have had to imagine what the finished church would look like. As Clarke was also a highly skilled illustrator his small-scale designs for windows are also beautiful works of art in their own right. They inform us of what the artist’s intentions were, and it is always interesting to compare the initial design with the window as executed, and in this instance some changes were made. This design also has the benefit of the original notations on the reverse which is helpful as the subject of the window, St Maculind, is not well known. The window is essentially divided into three figurative sections, separated by mellow diamond-patterned quarries that allow light in and act as a foil to the deep, rich colours that Clarke favoured. In the middle is a full length depiction of St Maculind, staring impassively straight ahead. The inscription on the reverse informs us that it shows ‘St Maculind holding the new church and standing upon the head of the monster from which he delivered the Scots.’ Some adjustments have been made in the actual window (red halo instead of green, and the inclusion of a pallium on the saint’s vestment). Also, the head of the crozier differs but this may relate to a restoration intervention made some decades ago. In the window as executed, Clarke has developed the sketched version of the monster so that it appears as a writhing two-headed creature with scrawny necks and vulture-like appearance. Floating above the saint’s head in the quarries, though absent in his design, is a gold bell, a symbol of the call for the faithful to worship. The scene at the top section of the window depicts, according to the notation on the reverse, Angels planning the cemetery at Lusk. In Clarke’s design there are six angels and in the window as executed only five, and he has given one a navigation compass and another an unfurled map. On close inspection of the window a few tiny crosses have been introduced to mark burial sites. Arguably the most striking section of the window is the scene depicted at the base, and of course for visitors to the church it is nearest to eye level so was inevitably the part of the window that would receive greatest attention. This time St Maculind is no longer impassive and detached, but looking somewhat lost and overwhelmed, surrounded by a closely-packed group. The notation on the reverse states that it depicts St Maculind curing the blind, the dumb and the sick. Prominent among them in Clarke’s design is a kneeling monk in grey-brown habit with his cowl over his head. It is difficult to discern his expression but his general demeanour could suggest a certain sinister quality. In Clarke’s window as executed he has dispensed with the monk, though whether this was the artist’s decision or was perhaps requested by Robinson or Canon Fennelly we have no way of knowing. The other figures in the design, kneeling and standing, are sketched in without too much detail. In the actual window we see a disparate group of lepers, ghoulish figures, the pious, the destitute, the deformed, and two pretty young girls added into the mix. Unmistakably among the group is a self-portrait of Harry Clarke appearing intense and haunted. Dr David Caron, August 2026 1 There are several variants of the saint’s name in use. The one that is inscribed on the reverse of Clarke’s design is Maculind. 2 Although TCD has an almost complete set of the outgoing correspondence from the Clarke Studios, unfortunately the correspondence covering the period 28/2/1922 to 12/1/2024 is missing, but we can see from letters sent later in 1924 that both parish priest and architect were involved in the commission.
HARRY CLARKE RHA (1889-1931) (ILLUS) TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION BY EDGAR ALLAN POE published by Tudor Publishing Co., New York, 1933, black cloth cover.
[CLARKE, Harry (1889-1931), illustrator]. ANDERSEN, Hans Christian (1805-1875). Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen. New York: Brentano's, [1916]. 4to. Illustrated with 16 mounted color plates and 24 full-page black and white plates. [320] pp. Captioned tissue guards. Publisher's full gray cloth, boards and spine decoratively stamped in black, oval pictorial label on front board, top edge gilt. FIRST AMERICAN TRADE EDITION.
[CLARKE, Harry (1889-1931), illustrator]. GOETHE [Wolfgang von (1749-1832)]. Faust. From the German of John Anster... London: George G. Harrap & Company, [1925]. 4to. 253, [3] pp. With 21 plates, eight in color, plus numerous text illustrations. Publisher's deluxe binding of quarter vellum over boards, spine stamped in gilt, pictorial endleaves, top edge gilt. #703/1,000 COPIES OF THE ENGLISH ISSUE, SIGNED BY CLARKE (1,000 copies were also printed for the American market).
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1794-1832) & Harry Clarke (1889-1931), illus. Faust. London: George G. Harrap & Co., 1925. Limited edition, quarto; number 790 of 2,000 copies signed by the illustrator in black ink on the limitation, one of 1,000 reserved for sale in England (the other 1,000 being reserved for the United States); complete with 22 tipped-in plates, some in color, as well as numerous black-and-white text illustrations throughout; bound in parchment-backed gray boards, spine gilt-lettered, illustrated endpapers, top edge gilt, other uncut (offsetting from plates; occasional spots, usually at edges, foxing to gutter of a few pages; minor soiling, bumped, corners exposed, front fly leaf starting); 10 ½ x 8 in.
Clarke, Harry (b.1869). Fishing boat sitting in a canal . Oil on canvas. Unsigned with paper label on the back. Sight: 19 1/2" x 11". Frame: 25 1/2" x 17". Condition: Relined.
Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) Faust in the Witches Kitchen, for Faust (1925) Watercolour, 31.5 x 23cm (12½ x 9”) Signed, top right; also signed and dated 1925 in pencil verso Provenance: With De Burca Rare Books, Dublin, from whom purchased c.2010, private collection, Dublin Harry Clarke created illustrations for several classic books which were published by the London firm of George G. Harrap & Co., including light and frothy images for Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales and The Fairy Tales of Perrault and, in dramatic contrast, macabre and menacing illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination, but his illustrations that are the darkest and most disturbing, several containing overt sexual elements, can be found in his final book with Harraps, John Anster’s translation of Faust (1925). This book would be a mammoth undertaking for Harry Clarke: ninety illustrations in all, the majority small images in crisp black and white, and with eight that were full-page colour illustrations; Faust in the Witch’s Kitchen is one of these eight. Johann Georg Faust (c.1480–1540) is the eponymous anti-hero of Goethe’s Faust, he who enjoyed a successful life, though one that left him dissatisfied, and so he entered into a pact with the devil to exchange his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. The incident Clarke illustrated in Faust in the Witch’s Kitchen takes place towards the end of scene VI in Part I when the devil, in the form of Mephistopheles, has brought Faust to a witches lair with the enticement that she will concoct a potion which will make him thirty years younger and consequently restore his diminished carnal urges. With the witch initially absent, Faust converses with a family of apes who live in the lair and act as her assistants. Clarke portrays the lair as a dark and mysterious space receiving no daylight, and like many of his illustrations it is reminiscent of a stage set. Suspended from the ceiling are, bizarrely, what appear to be a number of flaccid penises, some with a single staring eye and others with sharp bird-like beaks, recalling imagery in the fantastical paintings of Hieronymus Bosch. Mephistopheles himself, with amber red eyes, lies recumbent at the base of the illustration, one bony hand fondling a snake-like creature while the other holds a slim rod with a tassel at the end, as if directing the proceedings with insouciance. Clarke’s illustration on the theme of Faust in the Witch’s Kitchen is set after the witch has returned and has presented Faust with a slender chalice of the elixir. Wearing a crazed expression, her eyes have been manically circled in mascara and framed by her shaggy grey-blond tresses. With sagging flat breasts, her spindly outstretched arms attempt to spread a flimsy shawl in order to cover her genitalia, but due to its near transparency it has the opposite effect of drawing attention to her harsh nakedness. Faust, whose face clearly resembles that of Clarke, has instantly become oblivious to the grotesque witch and instead is fixated on the delicate chalice he carefully holds with both hands. One can view this scene as a parody of the Catholic sacrament of Holy Communion where the faithful drink consecrated wine that has been transformed into Christ’s blood; Faust, however, is only gaining a mere thirty years compared with eternal life promised to observant Catholics. Although Faust was the book that Clarke considered to be his best, Harraps were not enamoured with all of his illustrations for it – perhaps including Faust in the Witch’s Kitchen – something the artist relayed to his good friend Thomas Bodkin (later director of the National Gallery) – ‘full of stench and steaming horrors and they say “leave you open to charges which we are sure you would indignantly repudiate”. But there is it is … I did my best to convey what I felt.’ (1) One wonders what Harry Clarke’s stained glass client base, composed mainly of Irish Catholic clergy, would have made of illustrations such as Faust in the Witch’s Kitchen had they perused a copy of his illustrated Faust. Dr David Caron, October 2025
[CLARKE, Harry (1889-1931), subject]. BOWE, Nicola Gordon (1948-2018). Harry Clarke: His Graphic Art. Mountrath, Ireland: The Dolmen Press and Los Angeles: H. Keith Burns, [1983]. 4to. Illustrated. 160 pp. Publisher’s special binding of full black cloth, front board and spine stamped in gilt, publisher’s acetate jacket and slipcase (acetate jacket a bit wrinkled at spine, slipcase with minor rubbing and occasional faint soiling). Fine. FIRST DELUXE EDITION, AMERICAN ISSUE, #186/250 SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR. Laid-in are two typed letters signed by the publisher (H. Keith Burns) to Louis A. Irmo. From the Collection of Louis A. Irmo. Measurements: 13 x 9 x 1”.
[CLARKE, Harry (1889-1931), illustrator]. POE, Edgar Allan (1809-1849). Tales of Mystery and Imagination. London: George G. Harrap and New York: Brentano’s, [ca. 1926]. 4to. Illustrated with 32 color or black and white plates. [384] pp. Publisher’s full black cloth, front board decoratively stamped in gilt and white, spine lettered in gilt, later endleaves, publisher’s unclipped dust jacket, publisher’s box with pictorial lift-off lid (recased, light rubbing, soiling, bumping to boards, rear hinge just starting, jacket with several tape repairs on verso, jacket worn, soiled, chipped, torn, box worn with a few small splits, scuffing). Good. FIRST AMERICAN TRADE EDITION USING THE BRITISH SHEETS. From the Collection of Louis A. Irmo. Measurements: 12 x 10 x 2”.
Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) ILLUMINATED ADDRESS TO JIM BRINDLEY FOR HIS 50 YEARS SERVICE TO THE WARD UNION HUNT, 1916 ink on vellum with gold leaf; presented in ornate, bespoke cushion frame signed with initials and dated [April 1916] lower right h:29 w:20 in. Provenance: Fonsie Mealy's, 30 May 2023, lot 815; Private collection Also with pencil sketch drawings of James Brindley and a listing of the contributors, in ornate cushion frame. This illuminated address dedicated to "Jim", James Brindley, dates to April 1916 on the occasion of what we can assume is his retirement from the Ward Union Hunt. This is a rare and exquisite example of Harry Clarke's original illustrations in pen and ink with gold leaf. The borders of the address are profusely decorated with layers of patterning visible from the faintly applied decoration against the yellow background through to the heaviest, velvety black inks which punctuate the design. A sense of pageantry is created in the upper margin where a framed horseshoe, representing good luck, and a stag's head, representing the hunt and prestige, are flanked by horses with medieval style riders holding up heralding trumpets. Spiralling tendrils of foliage, plumes and flowers together with other hunting motifs and intricate patterning in check, dots and stripes, all come together to create an artwork that is inimitably Harry Clarke. The illuminated address also includes three portrait miniatures in pencil, one of which we can assume depicts "Jim". The 1911 census of Ireland records a James Brindley, 61 years, of Ashbourne, Donaghmore, Meath, as a "Professional Huntsman", a widower and head of a family of five children, two daughters and three sons, among them Charles (recorded as a "Professional Whip" on the 1901 census) and listed on the Ward Union Hunt Steeplechases Race Card, Easter Monday April 1916 under Officials as Stakeholder Mr C Brindley. The address is dated April 1916 and is likely to have been presented to Brindley on the occasion of the Ward Union Hunt Steeplechases at Fairyhouse on Easter Monday. This was a pivotal moment in Irish history. These races were attended by a large number of the British garrison and administration and their absence from Dublin at the beginning of the Rising facilitated the insurgents in establishing their strongholds around the city. Harry Clarke and the Clarke Studios, located in North Frederick Street, less than ten minutes walk from the heart of the fighting, were also directly impacted by the Rising. Nicola Gordon Bowe writes, "The military refused permission for the men to leave the building, so they were held there for four days, and work was at a standstill until 8 May. Joshua Clarke (Harry's father), confined to his house in Shankill for twelve days, had to endure the anxiety of not knowing 'whether my house was blown down or my sons killed in Dublin'. Luckily North Frederick Street was some distance from Sackville Street, the epicentre of the action, although a few bullets grazed the walls of No. 33 and struck its balcony." (1) Most of Harry Clarke's drawings for 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' by S.T. Coleridge were lost during the Rising when the building of Maunsel & Co., 96 Middle Abbey Street, was completely destroyed. How Harry Clarke came to be commissioned by the Ward Union Hunt to create this illuminated address is unknown, however the presence of the name "Waldron" amongst more than 250 members and subscribers suggests a possible connection to Clarke's friend and patron Laurence Ambrose Waldron (1858-1923) the stockbroker, epicurean, patron of the arts, and MP who lived in Marino House overlooking Killiney Bay (now Abbeylea, the residence of the Australian Ambassador). Also a former student of Belvedere College in Dublin, Waldron befriended Clarke in 1912 and the artist was a regular guest in his Killiney home, a hub for literati including John Millington Synge, George Moore and Oliver St John Gogarty. Through Waldron Clarke received numerous significant commissions and was introduced to some of his most important patrons including Thomas Bodkin, cousin of Sir Hugh Lane and Director of the National Gallery of Ireland (1927-1935). Adelle Hughes August 2025 1. Gordon Bowe, Dr Nicola, Harry Clarke The Life & Work, The History Press Ireland, Dublin, 2012, p.87
Harry Clarke RHA (1889 – 1931) A collection of five original ink illustrations on Bristol card comprising: - A Decoration, as published on page 200 of Faust, pub. George G. Harrap, London 1925, Pen and Indian ink 10.7 x 13cm (4 ¼ x 5”) Signed in pencil verso and inscribed with printer’s instructions. - A Decoration, as published on page 24 of Swinburn Selected Poems, pub John Lane, The Bodley Head, and Dodd, Mead and Co., New York 1928, Pen and Indian ink 9 x 11.2cm (4 ½ x 3¾”) Signed ‘Clarke’ in pencil verso and inscribed with title and printer’s instructions - A Decoration, as published on page 158 of The Fairy Tales of Perrault, pub. George G. Harrap, London 1922 Pen and Indian ink 8.4 x 16cm (3 ¼ x 6 ¼”) Signed and dated 1922 in pencil verso; inscribed: ‘Tailpiece; Ridiculous ….; Porky Skin; Puss in Boots’ on margin. - A Decoration, as published on page 166 of Swinburns Selected Poems, pub. John Lane, The Bodley Head, and Dodd, Mead and Co., New York 1928, Pen and Indian ink 12.8 x 9.9cm (4 x 5”) Inscribed in pencil ‘Epitaph 166’ recto and ‘Swinburne page 166’ verso. - A Decoration, as published on page 154 of Faust, pub. George G. Harrap, London 1925, Pen and Indian ink 12.3 x 13.3cm (5 ¼ x 4¾”) Signed in pencil verso and inscribed ‘Tailpiece; Promenade 154’ recto and ‘She snuffled at the Chain and Gem’ and printers instructions verso Provenance: Collection of the late Caroline Faulkner (US); Private Collection, Ireland In parallel to Harry Clarke’s career as a stained glass artist, he illustrated several books, most for the publisher, George G. Harrap. Clarke’s books regularly featured a selection of full page illustrations in watercolour (both full colour and monochrome), full page illustrations in crisp black and white, and also smaller ‘incidental’ works in black and white of irregular shapes, known as headpieces or tailpieces, that were inserted within the text to provide additional visual interest or to conclude a chapter. Unlike the full page illustrations, these smaller works could be more personal or whimsical as they were not necessarily seen as critical to reflect or advance the narrative in the same way as full page images. This collection of five headpieces and tailpieces were created for three different books: one image for The Fairy Tales of Perrault (1922) published by George G. Harrap, London: two images for Goethe’s Faust (1925), also published by George G. Harrap, and three for Selected Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne (1928) published by John Lane The Bodley Head, London, and Dodd, Mead and Co., New York. The illustration from The Fairy Tales of Perrault was made as a tailpiece to accompany ‘The Master Cat or Puss and Boots’. Light in both mood and technique, it features three delicate butterflies – anticipating the butterflies that feature in Clarke’s windows for Bewley’s café – contained within a broad frame composed of his signature ‘floral ornament’, so often a feature in his stained glass. Faust was the fifth and final book Clarke illustrated for George G. Harrap, and it was also the book with the most images, ninety in total, which he made over the course of twelve months commencing in June 1924. The protagonist, Johann Georg Faust, made a pact with the devil and Marguerite is the innocent young girl he lusts after. ‘Promenade’ was inspired by the quote ‘she snuffled at the chain and gem’ which is inscribed in pencil on the reverse. It features Marguerite’s bald-headed mother who takes the improbable form of an amorphous cloud with only hands and nipples emerging, exclaiming as she views the contents of a jewellery box. The other tailpiece from Faust, which is much smaller, features three slim daggers piercing a heart circled by a crown of thorns, and inscribed on the reverse is ‘a little shrine’. Working for Harraps on Faust had not been a particularly happy experience for Harry Clarke and so in 1926 he looked for an alternative publisher. Going through an agent he arranged to illustrate a collection of Swinburne’s poetry for John Lane publishers. Clarke wrote to his good friend Thomas Bodkin ‘I know of only two of his poems that I want to do – “Faustine” and “Queens”. You are a Swinburnite [sic] and I wonder if you could help me, or lend me some of his books.’[1] One of the illustrations in this lot was drawn to accompany ‘Queens’ and in dramatic black and white it depicts two females; a close-up of a face in profile crowned with stylish tight curls, and in the distance a semi-nude woman wandering through a landscape. The other illustration is inscribed ‘Epitaph’ and is altogether grimmer. It depicts a communal gallows with three emaciated corpses blowing in the wind; one appears to be naked and missing his lower leg as if gnawed off, and another has a vulture perched on his shoulder. The semi-decomposed skull of some indeterminate creature at the base of the gallows completes the macabre image. Dr David Caron, August 2025 [1] Quoted in Nicola Gordon Bowe, Harry Clarke, the life and work (2nd ed., Dublin, 2012, p. 266.
Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) (Illus) ‘Tales of Mystery and Imagination’ by Edgar Allen Poe, Illustrations and decorations by Harry Clarke RHA, Published by Tudor Publishing Co., New York, 1933, black cloth. Provenance: Private Collection, Dublin
Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) (Illus) ‘Tales of Mystery and Imagination’ by Edgar Allen Poe Illustrations and decorations by Harry Clarke RHA, Published by George G. Harrap & Co Ltd, London, 1st Edition, 1919, green cloth with dust jacket Provenance: Private Collection, Dublin
Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) (Illus) Selected Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne, with illustrations and decorations by Harry Clarke RHA and an introduction by Humbert Wolfe, photogravure plates by Nickeloid. Published by John Lane, The Bodley Head Ltd, London and Dodd, Mead & Co, New York, 1st Edition, 1928, magenta cloth with gilt. Provenance: Private Collection, Dublin
Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) A collection of publications of Clarke interest, comprising: ‘The Life and Work of Harry Clarke’ by Nicola Gordon Bowe, Irish Academic Press, Dublin 1989; ‘Harry Clarke’ The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, exhibition catalogue with monograph by Nicola Gordon Bowe, 1979; together with two copies of ‘Irish Stained Glass’ by Michael Wynne, Irish Heritage Series; ‘Irish Stained Glass’ by James White and Michael Wynne, The Furrow Trust, Gill & Son, Dublin, 1963; and ‘The Honan Chapel, UCC’ by MJ O’Kelly, 1966. Provenance: Private Collection, Dublin
Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) A collection of printed material of Clarke interest, with illustrations by him or references to his work, comprising : ‘An Anthology of Recent Poetry’ compiled by L. D’O. Walters, Published by George G. Harrap & Co, London, 1924, 6th Edition; ‘Elixir of Life’ by George C. Warren, decorated by Harry Clarke, John J. Jameson, Dublin 1925; ‘Origin of John Jameson Whiskey’, illustrated by Harry Clarke; ‘Queens’ by JM Synge, Dolmen Press, 1986, with colour plates by Harry Clarke; ‘The Studio – A Magazine of Fine and Applied Art’, Vol 82, December 1921 – article on The Arts and Crafts Society of Ireland by Thomas Bodkin, pp 257-266; ‘Good Housekeeping’ Nov. 1924 including illustrations by Harry Clarke, pp.18/19; Together with miscellaneous photographs, postcards etc Provenance: Private Collection, Dublin
Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) (Illus) ‘Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Anderson’ With colour and black & white illustrations by Harry Clarke RHA Published by George G. Harrap & Co, London, 1st Edition, Full vellum binding with gilt illustration and titles to the front board and spine. Signed by Clarke and no. 21/125 Provenance: Private Collection, Dublin
Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) (Illus) ‘The Year’s at the Spring’ – An Anthology of Recent Poetry. Compiled by L. D’O. Walters with colour and black & white illustrations by Harry Clarke RHA. Published by George G. Harrap & Co, London, 1920, 1st Edition, Full vellum binding with gilt illustration and titles to the front board and spine. Signed by Clarke and no. 99/250 Provenance: Private Collection, Dublin
Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) (Illus) ‘The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault’ With colour and black & white illustrations by Harry Clarke RHA and an introduction by Thomas Bodkin. Published by George G. Harrap & Co, London, 1922, 1st Edition, White cloth lettered in black with blue vignettes to upper cover and spine Provenance: Private Collection, Dublin
Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) (Illus) Goethe's Faust From the German by John Auster, edition limited to 2000 copies, of which 1000 for North America and 1000 for England. With colour and black and white illustrations by Harry Clarke RHA. Published by George G. Harrap & Co, London, 1925, 1st edition. Quarto, qtr. vellum gilt. Signed by Clarke and numbered 144/1000 of the English issue. Provenance: Private Collection, Dublin
Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) The Playboy of the Western World (c.1915) Pen and ink, 47.6 x 30.5cm (18¾ x 12'') Provenance: Private Collection, Dublin Harry Clarke had a keen interest in literature, whether poetry, plays or fiction. His first significant patron, Larky Waldron, in whose Killiney social circle he socialised, leant him books from his extensive collection. Synge was a friend of Waldron’s, though he had died in 1909 ahead of when Clarke first encountered Waldron, however it is likely that Waldron leant him books by Synge, and Clarke featured one by Synge in the illustrative bookplate he created for Waldron in 1914. The same year, Clarke drew his first of several illustrations inspired by Synge’s controversial play, The Playboy of the Western World,[1] which had been first performed in Dublin in 1907. Clarke was an enthusiastic theatre goer and it remained his favourite play. It, along with Synge’s published journals of his travels on the Aran Islands, had inspired Clarke to holiday in the islands annually for six years, initially while still an art student in 1909.[2] Harry Clarke’s biographer, Nicola Gordon Bowe, has identified the present work as being ‘probably’ an illustration for Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World and has dated it to c.1915.[3] The drawing was made in pencil, pen and ink on Bristol board, and notably it is incomplete. Unfinished works by Clarke are uncommon and this one provides an insight into the artist’s working method. The pencil outline is surprisingly sparse which would suggest that Clarke had a clear vision of the end result in his head and the confidence to work directly in ink on board, a technique in which errors are not easily rectified. As with many illustrations by Clarke, the text can be a springboard for a flight of fantasy, particularly when it came to the elaborate costumes he dressed the characters in. The main figure would appear to be the mysterious anti-hero, Christy Mahon, depicted centre stage in Michael Flaherty’s rural pub. Clarke has depicted him smartly dressed – possibly from Act II by when he has changed into his best clothes – complete with earrings, bangles and rings, and with a rakish expression. Other characters in the play, in equally improbable costumes, jostle with each other. At this stage Clarke’s style, when working in crisp black and white, was influenced by Aubrey Beardsley. One can see similarities between this illustration and other works by Clarke of the same period such as his illustrations for The Rape of the Lock which was commissioned by Waldron, and those for The Rime of the Ancient Mariner purchased by Waldron’s friend, Sir Robert Woods. In 1917 Clarke drew another illustration inspired by The Playboy of the Western World for a member of the same social set, this time it was a gift for Thomas Bodkin (later director of the National Gallery) and titled The Mad Mulrannies. Dr David Caron, August 2025 [1] Nicola Gordon Bowe, ‘A regal blaze: Harry Clarke’s depiction of Synge’s “Queens”’, Irish Arts Review, Summer 2006, vol. 23, no. 2 [2] Ibid. [3] Nicola Gordon Bowe, Harry Clarke: his graphic art (Dublin, 1983), p. 122, plate XVIII.
Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) Faust (1924/25) Pen, ink and watercolour, 33.5 x 23.5cm (13¼ x 9¼'') Provenance: Private Collection, Dublin Harry Clarke created illustrations for several classic books which were published by the London firm of George G. Harrap & Co., including Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales (1914), Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1919), and The Fairy Tales of Perrault (1922). His final book with Harraps, and the one with the greatest amount of illustrations, was John Anster’s translation of Goethe’s Faust (1925). The book’s protagonist, based on the legendary German, Johann Georg Faust (c.1480–1540), enjoyed a successful life, though one that left him dissatisfied, and so he made a pact with the devil to exchange his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust was a mammoth undertaking, for which Harry Clarke created ninety illustrations in all, the majority in crisp black and white, devised to be integrated within the columns of text. It appears he started work on the illustrations in June 1924 and completed the task twelve months later, while fully engaged in important stained glass commissions throughout the same period. Despite the quantity of images featured in Harrap’s deluxe limited edition, some of the illustrations Clarke had submitted were left out, including this full page illustration of a garden scene depicting Faust and Marguerite. Dr Nicola Gordon Bowe, the expert on Harry Clarke’s life and work, described Harrap’s decision to omit this ‘truly beautiful watercolour’ as inexplicable.[1] Many of Clarke’s illustrations for Faust are appropriately dark and macabre, even disturbing, though not this one and it may have been among the last tranche he sent to George Harrap, informing him that they were ‘not quite as gruesome as the first I had sent you’.[2] Clarke’s illustration depicts Faust courting Marguerite, a beautiful and innocent young girl with whom he falls madly in love, and who in turn falls in love with him – though in time, with her unexpected pregnancy and the subsequent murder of her brother, it all ends horribly. In Clarke’s illustration, wide-eyed Marguerite gazes out at the viewer while Faust’s attention is fixed on her. The scene takes place in the garden of Marguerite’s neighbour, a wealthy gentlewoman, Dame Marthe Schwerdtlein, and in the right background one can see not only Marthe’s house, depicted by Clarke as a fanciful Hindu-Gothic tempietto, but also the shadowy figures of Marthe sharing an intimate moment with the Devil in the form of Mephistopheles. Clarke was an enthusiastic attendee at the theatre and ballet, and with the elaborate costumes and simplified flat grisaille background one could be watching the two principal actors on a stage – and indeed the story of Faust was popularised in Charles Gounod’s eponymous opera. The degree of detail and imagination that Clarke has brought to Faust and Marguerite’s costumes is simply mesmerising, and Clarke who had an intense dislike for drawing ears and wrists, has, as was his habit, covered these features with elaborate headwear and gloves. Dr David Caron, August, 2025 [1] Nicola Gordon Bowe, unpublished PhD, ‘Harry Clarke 1889–1931, his life and work’, Trinity College Dublin, 1982, vol. 1, p. 690. [2] Ibid, vol 1, p. 626.
Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) The Lady of the Decoration (1914) Pen and ink and watercolour, 53.2 x 30.5cm (21 x 12'') Signed and dated 1914 Provenance: Private Collection, Dublin Joshua Clarke took great pride in his younger son, Harry’s, success and was eager to promote his dual career as illustrator and stained glass artist. Joshua’s own stained glass business also undertook church murals and his paint supplier, John Duthie of Glasgow, had become a firm friend. With Joshua negotiating, it was agreed that Harry would create a large illustration for John Duthie which, when printed, Duthie could attach a calendar to in order to promote his paint manufacturing business. When Johsua and Harry were in Paris on a short holiday in June 1914 John Duthie had planned to join them to discuss the project but Duthie had to pull out of the arrangement and a long correspondence ensued over the calendar.[1] On Saturday 31st of October 1914, after a short courtship and to everyone’s surprise, Harry quietly married Margaret Crilley who had been a fellow student at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, and the next day the couple moved into the flat above his father’s stained glass business in North Frederick Street. There was no time for a honeymoon and Harry Clarke instead immersed himself working on his calendar illustration for John Duthie. He completed it by November 10th and promptly dispatched it to Duthie in Glasgow. Joshua was eager to learn what Duthie thought of it and wanted to see proofs of the printed image to allay his concern that the printed result might not do justice to his son’s great talent, though any concerns were misplaced. Harry Clarke titled the image The Lady of the Decoration and the main figure shows an elegant lady in profile, lost in reverie. With somewhat sharp features her heavy lidded eyes are enhanced with mascara and she wears a beauty spot on her pale cheek. Her auburn hair, fashioned into a frenzy of tight curls, has been released from its emerald bonnet which is loosely fastened with a ribbon of the same colour, and which languidly trails down her back. Her blue bodice merges into her emerald, turquoise and white gown. Aside from the lady herself, the enigmatic supporting characters on the right, and the copious amount of detail, one is struck by the flat yellow background which acts as a foil for the profusion of elaborate decorative elements. Leading Clarke expert, Dr Nicola Gordon Bowe, described it as ‘a larger, more detailed and sensitive version of the coloured illustration to Hans Andersen’s ‘The Garden of Paradise’.[2] Several aspects of this illustration anticipate some of Clarke’s secular works in stained glass. The Lady herself could be considered a prototype for one of the queens in his series of nine Queens panels (1917) – inspired by Synge’s poem of that title – which he created for the Killiney library of Clarke’s great patron, Larky Waldron. The choice of a limited colour palette and flat background juxtaposed with intense decorative elements are also a feature of the Queens series. The two exotic birds in flight and the tazza, or shallow vase, heaped with assorted blooms are variants of those that would feature in his much admired four Orders of Architecture windows (1928) made for Bewley’s café in Grafton Street. Clarke signed The Lady of the Decoration in clear elongated capitals rather than his usual handwritten signature, perhaps cognisant that the carefully lettered version would have more clarity and consequently act as a better promotion for him personally. Dr David Caron, August 2025 [1] This and much of the information in this catalogue entry is derived from Nicola Gordon Bowe’s unpublished PhD, ‘Harry Clarke 1889–1931, his Life and Work’, Trinity College Dublin, 1982, vol. 1. [2] Nicola Gordon Bowe, Harry Clarke: his graphic art (Dublin, 1983), p. 37.
18" x 52" Signed Lower Right. Watercolor, Pen and Ink on paper. Beautiful work done as a Stained Glass Window Design. This lot is being offered on behalf of he New York County Public Administrators Office from the Estate of Caroline Faulkner (240523).
Beautiful Pen and Ink illustration. 5" x 6" Introduction Page from Perrault Fairy Tales. Signed on Back Harry Clarke 1921, This lot is being offered on behalf of he New York County Public Administrators Office from the Estate of Caroline Faulkner (240523).
3 1/4" x 6 1/4"" Pen and Ink Original. Signed on the back This lot is being offered on behalf of he New York County Public Administrators Office from the Estate of Caroline Faulkner (240523).
4 1/4" x 5"" Pen and Ink Original from page 200 of Faust. Signed on the back. This lot is being offered on behalf of he New York County Public Administrators Office from the Estate of Caroline Faulkner (240523).
5 1/4" x 4 3/4"" Pen and Ink Original from page 154 of Faust. Signed on the Back. This lot is being offered on behalf of he New York County Public Administrators Office from the Estate of Caroline Faulkner (240523).
4 1/2" x 3 3/4"" Pen and Ink Original from page 24 of Swinburne Selected Poems, This lot is being offered on behalf of he New York County Public Administrators Office from the Estate of Caroline Faulkner (240523).
4" x 5" Pen and Ink Original from page 166 of Swinburne Selected Poems, This lot is being offered on behalf of he New York County Public Administrators Office from the Estate of Caroline Faulkner (240523).
Harry Clarke RHA (Illus.) 'The Year's at the Spring' An Anthology of Recent Poetry compiled by L.D'O. Walters With colour and black & white illustrations by Harry Clarke, with an introduction by Harold Monro. Published by George Harrap & Co Ltd, London, 1920, First Edition. With a letter, dated Oct. 7, 1919, attached, and addressed to Miss Quigley from Harry Clarke. Provenance: Albert Ernest Wood KC (1873 - 1941), thence by descent to the current owners.
Harry Clarke RHA (Illus.) Selected Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne, With Illustrations and Decorations by Harry Clarke and an introduction by Humbert Wolfe, Photogravure plates by Nickeloid. Published by John Lane, The Bodley Head Ltd., London and Dodd, Mead and Company, New York. First Edition, 1928, magenta cloth w/water stains. Inscribed in ink: Dear V./This is my very best Blood and Guts manner./Harry C. 28. Provenance: Albert Ernest Wood KC (1873 - 1941), thence by descent to the current owners.
Irish stained glass.- Clarke (Harry) Cartoon for stained glass in The Church of Our Lady and St Richard, Ashdown Park, Leeds, black chalk, conté crayon, watercolour, on thick cream wove paper, sheet 755 x 470 mm (29 3/4 18 1/2 in), old repaired tears within the drawing, notably to the lower centre, laid onto paper support, handling creases and old folds, unframed, [circa 1925] Provenance: Private collection, London *** Powerful original cartoon by the Irish stained glass window designer, Harry Clarke (1889-1931), traditionally understood to be a design for the 'Assumption window' installed in The Church of Our Lady and St Richard, Ashdown Park, Leeds. On the Ashdown Park website, Sister Magdalen who moved to Ashdown Park to join the order of The Sisters of Notre Dame in 1961, discusses the stained glass: "When designing the windows for Ashdown Park, Harry Clarke created full size 'cartoons' of each window, meticulously detailing every aspect of the images and all the coloured pieces of glass required to create the stunningly intricate finished design... The windows were designed with a traditional medieval style in mind, depicting scenes from Mary's life; starting as a child with her own mother St Anne, to Mary being received in heaven by Jesus whilst surrounded by angels. There is however a stylistic nod to the era they were created in is visible - the iconic 1920s/30s bob style haircut can be seen adorning the female characters" [see: https://www.ashdownpark.com/sister-magdalen-talks-about-our-harry-clarke-stained-glass-windows]
Harry Clarke RHA (1889 - 1931) Hilda Luvia Lady playing a theorbo Watercolour and pencil, 34.5 x 27.5cm (13½ x 10¾) Signed and dated 1921 Provenance: Albert Ernest Wood KC (1873 - 1941), Marino, Killiney, Co. Dublin (now known as Abbey Lea, residence of H.E. The Ambassador of Australia), thence by descent to the current owners. Harry Clarke, perhaps most famous for his intensely coloured jewel-like stained glass and for his dramatic black & white illustrations and graphic work, could also, with consummate ease, create delicate pastel-coloured images such as this illustration. Although the colour palette may be less familiar, the exquisite drawing of the delicate female musician has all the hallmarks of Clarkes finesse. It is thought that this pencil and watercolour image dates to c.1921 and may have been submitted to Hodder and Staunton, though ultimately not used, for the Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault (1922), a publication for which Clarke provided twelve colour plates. The watercolour was exhibited at the sixth exhibition of the Arts and Crafts Society of Ireland in September 1921 and was jokingly titled, in Joycean mode, Hilda Luvia. The leading authority on Clarke, the late Dr Nicola Gordon Bowe, interviewed the artists friend, Victor Wood, who explained that the title was derived from an incident when Clarke, walking across Butt Bridge, saw a barge tied up below with the inscription Hilda I Luv Yer painted on her side. The title of the drawing is a blend of this with Anna Livia, the rivers familiar Dublin name, which reflects not only Clarkes irreverent sense of humour but also his ease with combining disparate references something that is apparent in the imagery of the watercolour itself. Clarke depicts the musician in a vast skirt which occupies a third of the picture, its volume rivaling the mountain peaks behind. The floral details on the skirts fabric recall the designs he had made for sets of handkerchiefs commissioned by Seftons of Belfast a few years earlier. The musician is shown playing a theorbo, a member of the lute family which was popular during the Baroque music era (16001750) as part of a small basso continuo group or as a solo instrument as depicted here. While the instrument may be associated with the Baroque period, the style of skirt came into fashion in the eighteenth century, and the bobbed hairstyle more common in nineteenth or twentieth century though notably the unevenness of the hair cut is at variance to the sophistication of her costume. In the background one can see a fairy tale hilltop town with ogee domes and spires, but the spindly, bleak tree hints at the orient with its Japonisme style. This illustration shows Clarke in eclectic mode, happy to draw on a range of sources, influences and eras, and whip them into a delicate confection. Dr David Caron November 2023 1. See Bowe, Nicola Gordon, Harry Clarke, the Life and Work 2015 ed.), p. 192. 2. Recounted to Nicola Gordon Bowe by Victor Wood in 1976 (Albert Wood, father of Victor, had bought the picture at Clarke's London exhibition in 1925). See Bowe, Nicola Gordon, Harry Clarke, the Life and Work (2015 ed), p. 344.
Harry Clarke RHA (1889 - 1931) The Colloquy of Monos and Una (1923) Pencil, ink and watercolour, 40 x 29.5cm (15¾ x 11½) Signed with initials Provenance: Albert Ernest Wood KC (1873 - 1941), Marino, Killiney, Co. Dublin (now known as Abbey Lea, residence of H.E. The Australian Ambassador), thence by descent to the current owners. The title of Edgar Allan Poes collection of stories, Tales of Mystery and Imagination, seems to encapsulate the essence of Harry Clarkes creative vision when it comes to the realm of book Illustration, and so it is no surprise that Clarke was drawn to this volume of strange and macabre tales; his diary entry for 17 March 1914 reveals that as a twenty-five year old he was reading Poes classic, already with a view to illustrating them.[1] In 1919 George G. Harrap and Company of London published an edition of Tales of Mystery and Imagination illustrated by Harry Clarke but only featuring black and white images, however this illustration, The Colloquy of Monos and Una, comes from the expanded edition of 1923 which was released with many more illustrations, including eight colour plates for which Clarke was paid £100 by Harrap.[2] The Colloquy of Monos and Una was conceived as a dialogue or colloquy between two lovers reunited after death; Una had only just joined Monos in the afterlife and her sombre mind still lingered on the mortal world, preoccupied with the thoughts that had filled her last days on earth, specifically how her lover Monos experienced his final hours. The narrative reflects on philosophical themes such as the relationship between knowledge and perception. Poignantly, while Poe was writing The Colloquy of Monos and Una, his young wife contracted tuberculosis which would eventually kill her the same disease that would claim Clarkes life eight years after he created his illustrations for the 1923 edition. Clarke depicts Monos and Una almost as one, with his hand gently supporting her arm, their heads inclined towards each other and almost touching, yet they both seem lost in their individual memories; it is an image that conveys both physical intimacy yet emotional distance. Their wide-eyed features and slender hands, typical of Clarke, emerge from their astonishing Art Deco-influenced costumes reflecting Clarkes interest in theatre with a myriad of pleats, patterns, folds and tassels. Despite the obvious substance of their costumes, the erstwhile lovers hover above the earth, accompanied by a trail of curious companions who disappear into the cosmos. In 1924, a year after the book was published, Harry Clarke sold several of the illustrations he created for Tales of Mystery and Imagination to the Crawford Art Gallery (which acquired them using the Gibson Bequest Fund). Dr David Caron, November 2023 1. Quoted in Bowe, Nicola Gordon, Harry Clarke, the Life and Work (2015 ed.), p. 69 2. Ibid., p. 208
Harry Clarke RHA (1889 - 1931) The Magic Glasses c.1927-9 Pencil and watercolour, 23 x 7.5cm (9 x 3) Harry Clarkes Geneva Window, created for the International Labour Organization and completed in 1930, was a triumph of Clarkes artistry, skill and imagination but also a personal tragedy for him as it was never installed. The rectangular window comprises Clarkes interpretations of fifteen of his favourite excerpts by contemporary Irish writers.[1] This preliminary design is inspired by George Fitzmaurices The Magic Glasses, a short one-act play which had been produced at The Abbey Theatre in 1913, a production Clarke most likely would have seen, not only because he was an avid theatre goer but also because the producer was his close friend, Lennox Robinson. The watercolour, in pinks/reds and blues, is a tell-tale indication that Clarke planned to make this panel like the other panels for the Geneva Window that comprise it from two pieces of flashed glass, one of ruby glass, one of blue glass, which when acided and plated (carefully registered together), would create myriad shades of purples and violets, and with judicious additional application of silver stain would add hues of yellow and green. The title of the play is derived from three sets of glasses which Shanahan received from a mysterious woman (Its the pleasure and diversion of the world youll hear and see in them magic glasses); each set is coloured differently and came with their own properties. Clarke decided to feature the red glasses which show nubile naked females: the purtiest women was ever seen on the globe. As with all preliminary iterations, it is interesting to note what Clarke originally had in mind, and what evolved when the panel was made. In the sketch, the principal figure, curly-haired, angelic Jamoney Shanahan appears mildly inebriated and distracted as he allows his champagne glass gently slip within his slim fingers, whereas in the panel as executed, Shanahan, is rougher-looking, hands planted firmly in pockets, and depicted with his eyes rolling about, drunk and possibly delirious. The sketch design features a total of eighteen naked females, some frolicking in glasses of champagne, some with wild unkempt hair, and one stretching to whisper enticements in his ear decorous nymphs, they are not. One can see from this sketch and the panel as executed, along with some of the other vignettes in the Geneva Window, how the Irish government of the day became uneasy about Clarkes selection of texts and even more so his daring treatment of imagery. Dr David Caron, November 2023 [1] See Bowe, Nicola Gordon, Harry Clarke The Life and Work (1989); also, Kennedy, Róisín, The Geneva Window in Harry Clarke and Artistic Visions of the New State (eds A. Griffith, M. Helmers, R. Kennedy (2019)
Harry Clarke: Strangest Genius-The Stained Glass of Harry Clarke by Lucy Costigan and Michael Cullen, 2010; Harry Clarkes illustrations for Hans Christian Andersens Fairy Tales, 2008; Harry Clarke and His Legacy-The Stained Glass in St Josephs Church Terenure by Patricia Curtin-Kelly; harry Clarke, The Eve of St Agnes by Jessica O' Donnell (4)
***PLEASE NOTE: THIS LOT HAS BEEN SOLD PRIOR TO THE AUCTION*** Sir William Orpen RA RHA (1878 - 1931) and Harry Clarke RHA (1889 - 1931) A leather bound journal belonging to Miss Norah O'Kelly RHA of Dublin, containing a double page ink drawing by Harry Clarke, signed and dated 1912; a Sir William Orpen self-portrait in ink with a humorous verse, in his hand; together with verses written by artists Letitia and Eva Hamilton, Michael J. Ryan, Percy Oswald Reeves, and others. 19 x 14.5cm (7½ x 5¾) With a loose postcard with self-portrait by Orpen inscribed 'Here's a Bill to Cure Very Ill !'. 11.5 x 8.7cm (4½ x 3½)
This is a 1925 1st edition of Goethe's "Faust" illustrated by Harry Clarke (Irish 1889-1931). Limited to one thousand copies for England and one thousand copies for the United States, of which this is No. 257 of the English issue. Signed by Harry Clarke. Includes eight full-page color plates by Clarke and intriguing black and white Art Nouveau illustration throughout in full and partial-page designs. Published by George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd of Parker Street, Kingsway, London. Printed by Walter Lewis at the University Press, Cambridge. Hardcover and deckled page edges. Harry Clarke 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. 10 3/4 x 8 1/2"
***THIS LOT IS WITHDRAWN***Harry Clarke RHA RHA (1889 - 1931) Angel of Peace and Hope (Lloyd memorial), (1918) cartoon designed for the Church of Ireland, Killiney, Co. Dublin, 1918 Charcoal and conté on paper, 206 x 58.5cm (18 x 23) Provenance: From the Collection of Patrick MacEntee SC In 1918, concurrent with designing the 2-light OKeefe memorial for the Catholic Church in Wexford town, Harry Clarke was also designing a single lancet for the Church of Ireland in Killiney. Previously thought to have been a memorial for a young soldier who died in WWI as was the case of Lieutenant OKeefes window it was commissioned in memory of a local solicitor, Clifford Bartholomew Lloyd (died 1915), by his widow, Edith.(1) The Lloyds lived in the distinctive castellated Killiney residence, Victoria Castle (since renamed Ayesha Castle), and it is almost certain that Edith was introduced to the work of Harry Clarke by the Lloyds near neighbour, Lawrence (known as Larky) Waldron of Marino (since renamed Abbey Lea). Waldron was an early champion of Clarkes stained glass and illustrations, and Clarke became a close friend and regular guest at Larkys legendary Sunday luncheons. Clarke made a stunning series of nine small stained glass panels inspired by J. M. Synges poem Queens (1917) for the prominent bay window of Waldrons study which was the largest reception room in the house and one can assume that Edith saw these exquisite panels and was smitten. As usual, after discussions with Mrs Lloyd and having inspected the south-facing location for the proposed window, Harry Clarke produced a small scale coloured design for Mrs Lloyds approval before proceeding to the full-scale monochrome cartoon. Being a single-light window, Clarkes estimate for Mrs Lloyds window was considerably less than that for the 2-light OKeefe window (£70 compared with £125), however the outcome is equally exquisite. Clarke referred to this window as both the Angel of Peace and the Angel of Hope, and his biographer, Dr Nicola Gordon Bowe, appropriately conflated the two versions so that it is now known as the Angel of Peace and Hope. Clarke and his friend, the art critic Thomas Bodkin (later director of the National Gallery), also informally referred to the Lloyd memorial window as Clarkes Beardsley window, acknowledging the likeness of the angel to the ethereal figures in profile drawn by the popular English illustrator, Aubrey Beardsley, who worked in crisp black and white.(2) Although Clarke made his stained glass windows in his fathers studio in North Frederick Street by 1918 he and his wife, the artist Margaret Crilly, had moved from the flat above the stained glass studio to a rented house on Mount Merrion Avenue, Blackrock; this came with a garden studio and it was here where Harry Clarke drew the Killiney cartoon between 14 and 22 November.(3) The sumptuously robed and winged angel stands on a little grassy island possibly meant to represent Ireland in sandalled feet and holds a standard attached to which is Flag of the Resurrection, gently rippling in the sea breeze. The angel gazes at a haloed dove, her exquisitely fine, profiled features set against a relatively simple backdrop of a diamond-patterned grid, which when Clarke made the actual window would comprise of pale translucent quarries. Although the window is not a war memorial as such, the dove with an olive sprig in its beak may represent the prospect of peace at the end of the Great War, and indeed by the time the window itself was completed in February 1919, the war had ended. Among the border of the windows cartoon are, in addition to abstract designs, some tiny vignettes, most but not all of which ended up in the window itself; two that did are of lighthouses, probably to represent beacons of hope connecting with the Angel of Hope idea but also perhaps a nod to Killineys coastal location. As with the Wexford cartoon, this one was selected by Dr Gordon Bowe due to its superb quality it was in the collection of David Clarke, son of the artist for inclusion in the important exhibition of Harry Clarkes work at Trinity Colleges Douglas Hyde Gallery which she organized in 1979. The inscription reads that it was erected in memory of Clifford B. Lloyd who died on 27 January 1915, and although there was a soldier, Clifford H. Lloyd who fought in WWI (a nephew of the solicitor), he survived the war. Nicola Gordon Bowe, Harry Clarke (monograph and catalogue of exhibition in Douglas Hyde Gallery, TCD, 1979), p. 104. Ibid. Dr David Caron, January 2023
Harry Clarke RHA (1889 - 1931) Our Lady and Child adored by St Aidan of Ferns and St Adrian (O'Keefe memorial), (1918), cartoon designed for the Catholic Church of the Assumption, Bride Street, Wexford Town A pair, Charcoal and conté on paper, 202 x 48.5 (79½ x 19) & 204 x 48.5cm (80 x 19) Provenance: From the Collection of Patrick MacEntee SC Following the rapturous reception of Harry Clarkes series of windows for Honan Hostel chapel (191517), located on the campus of UCC the commission which was largely responsible for propelling his stained glass career forward individuals began to seek him out for memorial windows. Two such commissions which arrived in 1918 were for the Church of Ireland, Killiney, County Dublin and the Catholic Church of the Assumption in the heart of Wexford town; Clarke worked on both jobs concurrently and in fact on one day in September he had a meeting with the Killiney donor in the morning and the Wexford donor in the afternoon.(1) The latter was ordered by a Matilda, wife of William OKeefe who was a merchant and maltster of Faythe House, Wexford town and the window was in memory of their second son, Lieutenant William Henry OKeefe. William Jnr was a graduate of Castleknock College and had entered the Royal College of Science, Dublin with the intention of becoming an engineer before obtaining a commission in the Royal Field Artillery. In August 1915 he went on active service in France and was killed by a German shell aged twenty-one in May 1917 at Arras where he is buried.(2) Worth noting is that his memorial window represents one of a very small number in Catholic churches to soldiers who fell in WWI compared with a significant amount in Protestant churches. For Harry Clarke, meeting a client and visiting the location was very important so that each work would be truly individual and would respond to the wishes of the donor, as well as the more practical and aesthetic considerations: the orientation of the window within the church, its height from ground level, the style of architecture, etc. A small-scale, though very precise, preliminary design, usually executed in pencil and watercolour, would then be prepared. Amendments were made if requested by the patron and the next stage was for Clarke to create a cartoon, a full-scale monochrome plan, usually drawn mainly in charcoal on a single sheet cut from a roll of paper which would accurately show the lead-lines and the key elements of the design. Clarkes cartoons from this period are remarkably detailed and indisputably works of art in their own right. Perhaps surprisingly for an artist who excelled in crisp black and white illustrations which he made in parallel with his stained glass career, his cartoons for stained glass windows are distinctly tonal and indicate how he intended to paint the different pieces of glass which would comprise the completed window. The only significant absence from these cartoons were the inscriptions though a designated space was clearly assigned for them as this was an aspect of the window which Clarke did not enjoy doing, and usually the inscriptions were executed by other artists in the studio under his direction. Details of the OKeefe coat of arms and family moto are likewise left blank on the Wexford cartoon but fully realised in the window as executed. Clarke created his cartoon for Our Lady and Child adored by St Aidan of Ferns and St Adrian in November and December 1918, and the stained glass window itself was completed in early May 1919. When the leading expert on Harry Clarke, Dr Nicola Gordon Bowe, was assembling an exhibition of his work for the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College in 1979 which was responsible for reigniting interest in Clarke she selected several of his finest cartoons from the collection of the artists son, David Clarke, and among those she chose for exhibition were his cartoons for Killiney and Wexford. In her catalogue notes accompanying the exhibition Dr Gordon Bowe eloquently wrote of the Wexford window: the alert Child sits on the lap of the demure and neat little Madonna, whose silken cloak is strewn with stars and jewels and whose pompomd slippers rest on a tasselled cushion. They hover over the coastline of Ireland, adored by the kneeling, devout Aiden of Ferns (with tiny replica of the early Cathedral and settlement he founded and a splendid crozier), while behind him the proud, graceful St Adrian stands with a jewelled and chased cross in a Burne-Jones helmet. The sea, at whose edge they worship and the sky around them are lightly inscribed with a wealth of tiny symbolic motifs, amongst which are tiny perfectly detailed scenes of a Crucifixion and the Ascension, a chalice set in a flaming aureole, an exquisite tiny galleon, one of Clarkes favourite motifs, another chalice, symbolic of the young mans sacrifice after great suffering, one triangle set with an eye, another struck by lightning, the young mans initials (W.O.K.) and a delightful vignette of Bride Street Church as seen across Wexford Harbour When he had time, his personal deeply religious, poetic and unique vision permeated in intricate detail everything he touched. (3) Dr David Caron Nicola Gordon Bowe, Harry Clarke the Life and Work (second edition, 2012), p. 146. I am grateful to Reiltín Murphy for information on the OKeefe family. Nicola Gordon Bowe, Harry Clarke (monograph and catalogue of exhibition in Douglas Hyde Gallery, TCD, 1979), pp. 10607.
Harry Clarke, Illustrator: Selected Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne, with Introduction by Humber Wolfe. roy 8vo Lond. (John Lane & Bodley Head) & N. York 1928. First Edn. Stamped Presentation Copy. Hf. title, decor. title, 111 full page illus. (include. frontis), unopened, gilt decor. purple cloth, & orig. d.w. (1)
Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) St Hubert, St Luke and St George (1927) Colour Scheme for the memorial window, St. Brigid's Church of Ireland, Castleknock Watercolour, 34.5 x 22cm (13½ x 8¾'') Provenance: With Grants Fine Art Gallery, label verso; with The Fine Art Society, label verso. Exhibited: 'The Stained Glass of Harry Clarke', The fine Art Society, 1988, catalogue no.46. In May 1927 when the commission for the Brooke memorial window for St Brigids Church of Ireland, Castleknock had been confirmed Harry Clarke noted in his diary bear in mind to give the maximum light and rich colour. Excellent light and position. Will stand rich colour and treatment Subjects in base could be seen.(1) When Harry Clarke and other stained glass artists of the period were in the process of designing a window, a key aspect was the creation of small-scale designs (usually made at the scale of one inch to the foot) to establish the composition and to determine the colour scheme; this example falls into the latter category. Raymond Brooke had commissioned Clarke to create a window to commemorate military, hunting and artistic members of his family. Three male saints were selected: St Hubert is depicted in the centre light and is in memory of Sir George Frederick Brooke, 1st Baronet of Summerton (the name of their home in Castleknock) who although a wine merchant and banker preferred to spend his time hunting, maintaining a prestigious pack of harriers that later became the North Kildare Harriers, and hence the choice of St Hubert, patron saint of hunters (note also Clarkes inclusion of a poised hunting dog in profile). According to his daughter Rose Brooke, Sir George was a great admirer of Harry Clarkes work and often used to go into his studio.(2) The left light depicts St George, and it was in memory of the only son from Sir Georges first marriage, also named George, who was a member of the Irish Guards and who died at the Battle of Aisne in 1914. The choice of St George being appropriate not only as it is the deceased soldiers name but also of course as he is a notable soldier saint, who along with St Michael, is one of the most popular saints for war memorial depictions. The right light was erected in memory of Sir Georges second wife Emily Alma (née Barton) a deeply religious and artistic individual who died several years ahead of both her husband and step-son. In addition to the full-length depictions of the three saints, each of the lights contain a predella panel at the base, and the one beneath St Luke shows the saint in his role as patron saint of artists, standing at an easel painting a portrait of the Virgin and Child. The apex of each light accommodates an angel bearing an heraldic shield, and behind and above them, in the three spandrels which comprise the tracery, is what the late Dr Nicola Gordon Bowe (the leading authority on Harry Clarke), referred to as a deep blue sky threaded with gossamer and brightly coloured galactic phenomena, a visual device she noted that Clarke had employed in his previous window for Tullycross Church but used here, in her opinion, to even greater effect.(3) Dr David Caron Quoted in Nicola Gordon Bowe, Harry Clarke 18891931: His Life and Work, PhD thesis, University of Dublin, 1991, vol. 2, p. 743. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 769 (quoting a letter from Rose Brooke to Nicola Gordon Bowe, 24 February 1974). Nicola Gordon Bowe, Harry Clarke, The Life and Work (Dublin: The History Press, 2018), p. 268.
Studio of Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) UNTITLED (ASIAN THEME) stained glass panel h:16 w:6.75 in. Provenance: Given to Peter Brennan, potter, when working in the Clarke Studio while at art school, on esummer, mid 1930s; Thence by descent.
![[CLARKE, Harry (1889-1931), illustrator]. ANDERSEN, Hans Christian (1805-1875). Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen. New York: Brentano's, [1916].](https://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/Potter_Potter/27/814827/H4052-L440237300.jpg)
![[CLARKE, Harry (1889-1931), illustrator]. GOETHE [Wolfgang von (1749-1832)]. Faust. From the German of John Anster... London: George G. Harrap & Compa](https://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/Potter_Potter/27/814827/H4052-L440236260.jpg)
![[CLARKE, Harry (1889-1931), subject]. BOWE, Nicola Gordon (...](https://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/Potter_Potter/79/802779/H4052-L420816250.jpg)
![[CLARKE, Harry (1889-1931), illustrator]. POE, Edgar Allan ...](https://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/Potter_Potter/79/802779/H4052-L420816253.jpg)
![Irish stained glass.- Clarke (Harry) Cartoon for the 'Assumption Window' at Ashdown park & Notre Dame, Leeds, chalks, [c. 1925]](https://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/Forum-Auctions/23/764823/H20198-L362678508.jpg)
