In a small, darkened room in Dublin’s Hugh Lane Gallery, there is an installation of mesmeric stained-glass art. These illuminated pieces depict scenes from Keats’ poem The Eve of St. Agnes. Born around the corner from where his art is now on permanent display, Harry Clarke would go on to become one of Ireland’s most talented and widely recognised stained-glass artists.
Known for his incredibly detailed illustrations and stained-glass art, Clarke’s striking artistic style was influenced by movements across Ireland and beyond. Alongside religious themes, he often based his work on folklore and literature, such as myths, fairy tales, poems, and books, delving into themes of mysticism, the macabre, and imagination.
Background and History
Harry Patrick Clarke was born on North Fredrick Street in North Dublin’s inner city in the spring of 1889. He came of age against the backdrop of an Ireland in the midst of reviving a sense of its national identity. The Celtic revival was in full swing throughout most of his life, a movement that championed Celtic culture, history and languages. Sometimes referred to as the ‘Celtic Twilight’, a name taken from a W. B. Yeats book of folklore and fairy tales, the revival led to a kind of renaissance of Irish culture, most notably through the mediums of literature, mythology and art.
Clark’s work incorporates many elements that derive from his Irish identity and upbringing: mythical storytelling, the importance of the Church as an influence and patron of his work, and a reinvention of Celtic design. He was even born on St. Patrick’s day.
Style and Inspiration
A childhood spent in his father’s decorating company, Joseph Clarke and Sons Co., later renamed Harry Clarke Studios, became the portal through which he was first able to connect with a range of artistic movements and styles. It was this decorating company that gave him the background and skills required to become the craftsman and artist that he is remembered as today. From contemporary movements like Art Nouveau to Byzantine mosaics and French Gothic cathedrals, many of these styles would serve as major sources of inspiration to his work.
Art Nouveau’s wide range of materials, asymmetric lines and curves, and Art Deco’s bright colours and stylised imagery are just a sample of the artistic elements that can be seen to have influenced Clarke’s work. Both movements blended the worlds of fine art and applied art. Both were famous for their interior design, posters, furniture, textiles, metal work and jewellery. His studies in fine art at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, alongside working an apprenticeship at his father’s business, equipped Clarke with the tools and background to merge the art and design. As a result, Clarke would go on to become one fo the leading members of the Irish Arts and Crafts movement.
In particular, the French Symbolism movement was a major inspiration for his, in both style and meaning. This movement was a reaction against the cold, austere style and messaging of Realism and Naturalism. These artists believed art should represent the gritty realities of the world. In juxtaposition, Symbolism represented ideals of imagination, mysticism and the subjectivity of emotions. They approached art as a refuge from the world. This influence can be seen in Clarke’s transportive settings, vivid colours and evocative scenes and imagery, filled with dancing figures, lines of poetry and glittering, dream-like scenes.
Symbolism emerged in the late 19th century, with its manifesto being published in 1886, just three years before his birth. In many ways, it was like Clarke came of age with the movement, immersed in the worlds created by its artists.
Stain Glass
The Irish are revered, if for nothing else, for their storytelling ability. Clark’s artwork, whether stained-glass or illustrations, demonstrates his innate capacity for storytelling, expressed not only through imagery and subject matter but through artistic style.
Known for his pieces based around poetry and folk tales, his artistic style mirrored his subject matter as his work took on other worldly, medieval and ethereal qualities. Its medieval qualities can be traced back to his studying medieval stained glass in France upon being awarded a scholarship to study abroad. Despite this religion influence, Clarke would oftentimes come into conflict with ecclesiastical patrons who thought his secular subjects were verging on ‘pagan’.
Working with a medium under explored outside of Church sponsorship, he created secular stained-glass works alongside his many religious pieces. One of these pieces that demonstrated the extent of his talent was the aforementioned The Eve of St Agnes (1924). Based on the John Keats poem (1819), from which it takes its name, Clarke used vivid colours to match the poem’s descriptions and added his characteristically intricate detailing across the 22 panels. It tells the tale of Madeline and her forbidden love for Porphyro across the 2 windows. It is a tale of love, legends, and rival families.
The intricate details, textures, lights, expressions and emotions that Clarke was skilfully able to convey add depth and narrative to the piece. Magnificent blues fill the panels, accented with corals, pinks and deep blood-reds. Lines from the poem are etched into corners and crevices of the glass. Long, slender characters in gothic splendour are brought to life by the settings Clarke builds around them. Jewellery boxes, swords, cloaks, bodices, blankets, and even a stained-glass window are some of the many details that allow viewers to immerse themselves in his artwork.
With its fine line details, botanical motifs and sparkling colours, it is the jewel in the crown of Clarke’s body of work, bringing together a lifetime of his work, practices and experiments.
He brought his techniques, influences and individuality to his many religious commissions. These pieces can be seen in churches and chapels across Ireland, the UK and beyond. However, his pieces also feature in museums, such as the Apparition of the Sacred Heart in Room 83 in the V&A Museum in South Kensington, London. Originally designed for St Peter’s Church in Phibsborough, Dublin, his studio reused the design for this piece when it was made in 1940.
In it, we can see his mastery of a technique called acid-etching, essential to bringing his highly detailed designs to life. We can see the influence of his background as an illustrator in details such as Christ’s hollowed cheeks, large eyes and angular features, all of which create the impression that the face is sketched. The focal piece of the window is the open, glowing heart of Christ. It is surrounded by his illuminated red cloak and accented with folds of rich purples, yellows and blues.
Illustrations
During his lifetime, however, he was best known as a book illustrator. His background as an illustrator helped demonstrate and hone this ability to bring stories to life.
One of his earliest successes as an illustrator came in the form of a commission to illustrate a copy of Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Anderson (1916), sparking a lifelong interest in the fantastical, mystical and macabre. In the piece below, The Snow Queen, her cloak is almost Celtic-inspired, with a beautiful gold brooch and dark animated details, set against the backdrop of blues and aquamarine.
The publication that set his reputation as an illustrator, however, were his illustrations for Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1919) by Edgar Allen Poe. Mostly done in black and white, these illustrations are ornate, striking and evocative and blend the line between beauty and foreboding. Macabre, botanical and brimming with life, these illustrations were remarkably true to the mysticism of the original stories, and set the tone and style of his work for the rest of his career.
Whether his childhood roots or French Symbolism, Clarke serves as an excellent demonstration of the value of studying historical and artistic context to art as a way of gaining insight and value which would otherwise be lost to the viewer.
References
Symbolism (2007), The MET.
Stained Glass Room, Hugh Lane Gallery.
Harry Clarke’s Spectacular Illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe (2016), Flashbak.
Alien spaceship, Hammer horror? The pulsating visions of Harry Clarke (2019), Guardian.
Clarke, Harry (Henry Patrick) (2009), The Dictionary of Irish Biography.
An Túr Gloine: Artists and the Collective, The National Gallery of Ireland.
Celtic Revival (2017), Routledge.
National Gallery of Ireland acquires Harry Clarke artwork for national collection (2024), The National Gallery of Ireland.
Margaret Clarke’s portrait work steps out of the stained glass shadows (2017), The Irish Times.
How Harry Clarke became one of Ireland’s best loved artists (2024), RTÉ.
Apparition of the Sacred Heart (1998), V&A.
The Eve of St Agnes, Hugh Lane Gallery.