Secular Glass: The Work of Harry Clarke
We look into the public artworks on display across Ireland and beyond...
By
Aoife Allen
August 30, 2023
Synonymous with craftsmanship and innovative ideas throughout his work, Harry Clarke was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. Clarke’s work was influenced by the Art Nouveau and the Art Deco movements, and his stained glass was heavily influenced by the French Symbolist movement. In fact, many go so far as to say that Clarke can be credited with reviving a medium that had suffered a serious decline in Ireland.
Son of church decorator Joshua Clarke, Harry Clarke was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1889. After leaving school he apprenticed at his father's studio as well as attending evening courses at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (currently NCAD). After the death of his father in 1921, he and his brother, Walter, took over the studio and, in his short life, Clarke created over one hundred and sixty stained glass windows. This included working within Ireland and the UK, as well as further afield in the US and Australia. As one might expect, the majority of these pieces had a religious theme, yet Clarke was also renowned for his work that did not fit within the religious canon. His secular stained glass art has been somewhat overlooked and underappreciated within his portfolio.
Perhaps most famously, you can find Harry Clarke windows nestled inside the iconic Bewley’s Cafe on Dublin's busy Grafton Street. Designed in 1927, and completed in 1928, at a cost of £60,000, these six windows lend themselves to the historical architecture of the space: formerly housing Whyte’s Academy, the building had been recently converted into a cafe by Ernest Bewley. Like much of Clarke’s work, the building's design takes influence from the Art Deco movement, as well as featuring a facade that features an Egyptian revival mosaic. Bewley’s Cafe is often described as a landmark of Dublin, allowing the work of Harry Clarke to be visible and enjoyed daily not only by Dublin locals but also by enthusiastic visitors. Some of these windows were executed within the walls of his studio, while others were completed on-site, and the room in which his work lies can be found by entering through the main door on Grafton Street and heading straight to the back wall of the ground floor. There, the main wall of the cafe displays four decorative windows.
These pieces feature classical architectural columns in the four styles—Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite—along with small butterflies, flowers, exotic birds and colourful sea creatures. On the right wall of the same room, lies the remaining two Clarke windows, employing a simplistic design of patterns, florals and wildlife. For protection, the windows are coated in a layer of clear glass, and Clarke's work is accompanied by stained glass from Jim Fitzpatrick and Pauline Bewick. Works by all artists were the subject of a
dramatic legal battle in 2020; in a dispute between the landlord, RGRE Grafton Ltd, a company of developer Johnny Ronan, and the tenant, Bewley’s Café Grafton Street (BCGS) Ltd and its subsidiary Bewley’s Ltd, it was ruled by Mr Justice Denis McDonald that four of the Clarke windows form “part and parcel” of the building meaning they are undeniably the property of the landlord, while the remaining two were ruled the property of the tenant. There is now talk of the Windows being donated to the state upon owner Paddy Campbell’s upcoming retirement. He states that "Bewley's belongs to the people of Ireland. The Harry Clarke panels, in particular, are a national treasure that we would love to see move into public ownership through a donation to a suitable institution.” The windows are collectively estimated to value up to one million euros.
Aside from Bewley’s Cafe which you can visit for a coffee or a spot of lunch, the secular work of Harry Clarke is also on view in the Hugh Lane Gallery. A window illustrating John Keats’ “The Eve of St. Agnes”, dating from April 1924, commissioned by Harold Jacob, resides in the gallery. This piece shows fourteen key scenes in which the drama and magic of the story are illustrated, topped by two decorative lunettes with a unifying frieze below showing the dramatis personae. Clarke included practically every stained glass technique in this work, displaying his mastery of the craft: the figures lead each other through the space of the frames, made evident from Clarke's use of architectural features such as columns. The vibrant colours are achieved by using double-layered glass, repeatedly acid-etched to produce diverse tones, with minute detail scratched into the paint layers using a needle, making the window itself the result of painstaking work of the utmost complexity.
In 1926, the Irish Free State commissioned Harry Clarke to create a stained glass window as a gift to the League of Nations in Geneva. Clarke himself had lived through a time of great political turmoil in Ireland, an era in which Celtic revival and nationalism saw a surge as Irish people attempted to find their contemporary identity, all while incorporating their past history, language and culture. These ideas were explored by Clarke in the Geneva Window, containing scenes from literature by fifteen key writers in the Irish Literary Revival. He immortalized the events of the 1916 Rising in the first pane of the piece with a poem written by Patrick Pearse - one of the rising’s leaders - the night before his execution:
“The beauty of the world hath made me sad,
This beauty that will pass;
Sometimes my heart hath shaken with great joy…”
Through the entirety of this window, Clarke achieves a striking fluidity, in a medium typically regarded for its formality. The piece is divided into vignettes that each focus on a literary scene, for example, “Playboy of the Western World” by John Millington Synge. When presented to the Irish government, this particular section stirred controversy, as there were concerns in regard to
the playboy’s tight breeches, which emphasized his “virility”. There was also apprehension about the inclusion of alcohol in a later scene, as this was not the image the newly formed Irish government was eager to present. As well as this, James Joyce was a featured writer. Considered morally corrupt by the majority of Ireland's social, political and religious leaders, Joyce’s iconic Ulysses had previously been banned for its sexual content. Due to all of these factors and many more, the window was rejected and was never installed in Geneva, and has now found a home in the Wolfsonian-FIU in Miami Beach.
Although this particular work is not available to see in Ireland, there is no shortage of Clarke’s work to view on the island. With work by the artist dotted around, galleries, churches and public buildings in almost every county in Ireland and beyond, experiencing the art of Clarke is incredibly accessible.
Synonymous with craftsmanship and innovative ideas throughout his work, Harry Clarke was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. Clarke’s work was influenced by the Art Nouveau and the Art Deco movements, and his stained glass was heavily influenced by the French Symbolist movement. In fact, many go so far as to say that Clarke can be credited with reviving a medium that had suffered a serious decline in Ireland.
Son of church decorator Joshua Clarke, Harry Clarke was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1889. After leaving school he apprenticed at his father's studio as well as attending evening courses at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (currently NCAD). After the death of his father in 1921, he and his brother, Walter, took over the studio and, in his short life, Clarke created over one hundred and sixty stained glass windows. This included working within Ireland and the UK, as well as further afield in the US and Australia. As one might expect, the majority of these pieces had a religious theme, yet Clarke was also renowned for his work that did not fit within the religious canon. His secular stained glass art has been somewhat overlooked and underappreciated within his portfolio.
Perhaps most famously, you can find Harry Clarke windows nestled inside the iconic Bewley’s Cafe on Dublin's busy Grafton Street. Designed in 1927, and completed in 1928, at a cost of £60,000, these six windows lend themselves to the historical architecture of the space: formerly housing Whyte’s Academy, the building had been recently converted into a cafe by Ernest Bewley. Like much of Clarke’s work, the building's design takes influence from the Art Deco movement, as well as featuring a facade that features an Egyptian revival mosaic. Bewley’s Cafe is often described as a landmark of Dublin, allowing the work of Harry Clarke to be visible and enjoyed daily not only by Dublin locals but also by enthusiastic visitors. Some of these windows were executed within the walls of his studio, while others were completed on-site, and the room in which his work lies can be found by entering through the main door on Grafton Street and heading straight to the back wall of the ground floor. There, the main wall of the cafe displays four decorative windows.
These pieces feature classical architectural columns in the four styles—Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite—along with small butterflies, flowers, exotic birds and colourful sea creatures. On the right wall of the same room, lies the remaining two Clarke windows, employing a simplistic design of patterns, florals and wildlife. For protection, the windows are coated in a layer of clear glass, and Clarke's work is accompanied by stained glass from Jim Fitzpatrick and Pauline Bewick. Works by all artists were the subject of a
dramatic legal battle in 2020; in a dispute between the landlord, RGRE Grafton Ltd, a company of developer Johnny Ronan, and the tenant, Bewley’s Café Grafton Street (BCGS) Ltd and its subsidiary Bewley’s Ltd, it was ruled by Mr Justice Denis McDonald that four of the Clarke windows form “part and parcel” of the building meaning they are undeniably the property of the landlord, while the remaining two were ruled the property of the tenant. There is now talk of the Windows being donated to the state upon owner Paddy Campbell’s upcoming retirement. He states that "Bewley's belongs to the people of Ireland. The Harry Clarke panels, in particular, are a national treasure that we would love to see move into public ownership through a donation to a suitable institution.” The windows are collectively estimated to value up to one million euros.
Aside from Bewley’s Cafe which you can visit for a coffee or a spot of lunch, the secular work of Harry Clarke is also on view in the Hugh Lane Gallery. A window illustrating John Keats’ “The Eve of St. Agnes”, dating from April 1924, commissioned by Harold Jacob, resides in the gallery. This piece shows fourteen key scenes in which the drama and magic of the story are illustrated, topped by two decorative lunettes with a unifying frieze below showing the dramatis personae. Clarke included practically every stained glass technique in this work, displaying his mastery of the craft: the figures lead each other through the space of the frames, made evident from Clarke's use of architectural features such as columns. The vibrant colours are achieved by using double-layered glass, repeatedly acid-etched to produce diverse tones, with minute detail scratched into the paint layers using a needle, making the window itself the result of painstaking work of the utmost complexity.
In 1926, the Irish Free State commissioned Harry Clarke to create a stained glass window as a gift to the League of Nations in Geneva. Clarke himself had lived through a time of great political turmoil in Ireland, an era in which Celtic revival and nationalism saw a surge as Irish people attempted to find their contemporary identity, all while incorporating their past history, language and culture. These ideas were explored by Clarke in the Geneva Window, containing scenes from literature by fifteen key writers in the Irish Literary Revival. He immortalized the events of the 1916 Rising in the first pane of the piece with a poem written by Patrick Pearse - one of the rising’s leaders - the night before his execution:
“The beauty of the world hath made me sad,
This beauty that will pass;
Sometimes my heart hath shaken with great joy…”
Through the entirety of this window, Clarke achieves a striking fluidity, in a medium typically regarded for its formality. The piece is divided into vignettes that each focus on a literary scene, for example, “Playboy of the Western World” by John Millington Synge. When presented to the Irish government, this particular section stirred controversy, as there were concerns in regard to
the playboy’s tight breeches, which emphasized his “virility”. There was also apprehension about the inclusion of alcohol in a later scene, as this was not the image the newly formed Irish government was eager to present. As well as this, James Joyce was a featured writer. Considered morally corrupt by the majority of Ireland's social, political and religious leaders, Joyce’s iconic Ulysses had previously been banned for its sexual content. Due to all of these factors and many more, the window was rejected and was never installed in Geneva, and has now found a home in the Wolfsonian-FIU in Miami Beach.
Although this particular work is not available to see in Ireland, there is no shortage of Clarke’s work to view on the island. With work by the artist dotted around, galleries, churches and public buildings in almost every county in Ireland and beyond, experiencing the art of Clarke is incredibly accessible.
Synonymous with craftsmanship and innovative ideas throughout his work, Harry Clarke was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. Clarke’s work was influenced by the Art Nouveau and the Art Deco movements, and his stained glass was heavily influenced by the French Symbolist movement. In fact, many go so far as to say that Clarke can be credited with reviving a medium that had suffered a serious decline in Ireland.
Son of church decorator Joshua Clarke, Harry Clarke was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1889. After leaving school he apprenticed at his father's studio as well as attending evening courses at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (currently NCAD). After the death of his father in 1921, he and his brother, Walter, took over the studio and, in his short life, Clarke created over one hundred and sixty stained glass windows. This included working within Ireland and the UK, as well as further afield in the US and Australia. As one might expect, the majority of these pieces had a religious theme, yet Clarke was also renowned for his work that did not fit within the religious canon. His secular stained glass art has been somewhat overlooked and underappreciated within his portfolio.
Perhaps most famously, you can find Harry Clarke windows nestled inside the iconic Bewley’s Cafe on Dublin's busy Grafton Street. Designed in 1927, and completed in 1928, at a cost of £60,000, these six windows lend themselves to the historical architecture of the space: formerly housing Whyte’s Academy, the building had been recently converted into a cafe by Ernest Bewley. Like much of Clarke’s work, the building's design takes influence from the Art Deco movement, as well as featuring a facade that features an Egyptian revival mosaic. Bewley’s Cafe is often described as a landmark of Dublin, allowing the work of Harry Clarke to be visible and enjoyed daily not only by Dublin locals but also by enthusiastic visitors. Some of these windows were executed within the walls of his studio, while others were completed on-site, and the room in which his work lies can be found by entering through the main door on Grafton Street and heading straight to the back wall of the ground floor. There, the main wall of the cafe displays four decorative windows.
These pieces feature classical architectural columns in the four styles—Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite—along with small butterflies, flowers, exotic birds and colourful sea creatures. On the right wall of the same room, lies the remaining two Clarke windows, employing a simplistic design of patterns, florals and wildlife. For protection, the windows are coated in a layer of clear glass, and Clarke's work is accompanied by stained glass from Jim Fitzpatrick and Pauline Bewick. Works by all artists were the subject of a
dramatic legal battle in 2020; in a dispute between the landlord, RGRE Grafton Ltd, a company of developer Johnny Ronan, and the tenant, Bewley’s Café Grafton Street (BCGS) Ltd and its subsidiary Bewley’s Ltd, it was ruled by Mr Justice Denis McDonald that four of the Clarke windows form “part and parcel” of the building meaning they are undeniably the property of the landlord, while the remaining two were ruled the property of the tenant. There is now talk of the Windows being donated to the state upon owner Paddy Campbell’s upcoming retirement. He states that "Bewley's belongs to the people of Ireland. The Harry Clarke panels, in particular, are a national treasure that we would love to see move into public ownership through a donation to a suitable institution.” The windows are collectively estimated to value up to one million euros.
Aside from Bewley’s Cafe which you can visit for a coffee or a spot of lunch, the secular work of Harry Clarke is also on view in the Hugh Lane Gallery. A window illustrating John Keats’ “The Eve of St. Agnes”, dating from April 1924, commissioned by Harold Jacob, resides in the gallery. This piece shows fourteen key scenes in which the drama and magic of the story are illustrated, topped by two decorative lunettes with a unifying frieze below showing the dramatis personae. Clarke included practically every stained glass technique in this work, displaying his mastery of the craft: the figures lead each other through the space of the frames, made evident from Clarke's use of architectural features such as columns. The vibrant colours are achieved by using double-layered glass, repeatedly acid-etched to produce diverse tones, with minute detail scratched into the paint layers using a needle, making the window itself the result of painstaking work of the utmost complexity.
In 1926, the Irish Free State commissioned Harry Clarke to create a stained glass window as a gift to the League of Nations in Geneva. Clarke himself had lived through a time of great political turmoil in Ireland, an era in which Celtic revival and nationalism saw a surge as Irish people attempted to find their contemporary identity, all while incorporating their past history, language and culture. These ideas were explored by Clarke in the Geneva Window, containing scenes from literature by fifteen key writers in the Irish Literary Revival. He immortalized the events of the 1916 Rising in the first pane of the piece with a poem written by Patrick Pearse - one of the rising’s leaders - the night before his execution:
“The beauty of the world hath made me sad,
This beauty that will pass;
Sometimes my heart hath shaken with great joy…”
Through the entirety of this window, Clarke achieves a striking fluidity, in a medium typically regarded for its formality. The piece is divided into vignettes that each focus on a literary scene, for example, “Playboy of the Western World” by John Millington Synge. When presented to the Irish government, this particular section stirred controversy, as there were concerns in regard to
the playboy’s tight breeches, which emphasized his “virility”. There was also apprehension about the inclusion of alcohol in a later scene, as this was not the image the newly formed Irish government was eager to present. As well as this, James Joyce was a featured writer. Considered morally corrupt by the majority of Ireland's social, political and religious leaders, Joyce’s iconic Ulysses had previously been banned for its sexual content. Due to all of these factors and many more, the window was rejected and was never installed in Geneva, and has now found a home in the Wolfsonian-FIU in Miami Beach.
Although this particular work is not available to see in Ireland, there is no shortage of Clarke’s work to view on the island. With work by the artist dotted around, galleries, churches and public buildings in almost every county in Ireland and beyond, experiencing the art of Clarke is incredibly accessible.
Synonymous with craftsmanship and innovative ideas throughout his work, Harry Clarke was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. Clarke’s work was influenced by the Art Nouveau and the Art Deco movements, and his stained glass was heavily influenced by the French Symbolist movement. In fact, many go so far as to say that Clarke can be credited with reviving a medium that had suffered a serious decline in Ireland.
Son of church decorator Joshua Clarke, Harry Clarke was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1889. After leaving school he apprenticed at his father's studio as well as attending evening courses at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (currently NCAD). After the death of his father in 1921, he and his brother, Walter, took over the studio and, in his short life, Clarke created over one hundred and sixty stained glass windows. This included working within Ireland and the UK, as well as further afield in the US and Australia. As one might expect, the majority of these pieces had a religious theme, yet Clarke was also renowned for his work that did not fit within the religious canon. His secular stained glass art has been somewhat overlooked and underappreciated within his portfolio.
Perhaps most famously, you can find Harry Clarke windows nestled inside the iconic Bewley’s Cafe on Dublin's busy Grafton Street. Designed in 1927, and completed in 1928, at a cost of £60,000, these six windows lend themselves to the historical architecture of the space: formerly housing Whyte’s Academy, the building had been recently converted into a cafe by Ernest Bewley. Like much of Clarke’s work, the building's design takes influence from the Art Deco movement, as well as featuring a facade that features an Egyptian revival mosaic. Bewley’s Cafe is often described as a landmark of Dublin, allowing the work of Harry Clarke to be visible and enjoyed daily not only by Dublin locals but also by enthusiastic visitors. Some of these windows were executed within the walls of his studio, while others were completed on-site, and the room in which his work lies can be found by entering through the main door on Grafton Street and heading straight to the back wall of the ground floor. There, the main wall of the cafe displays four decorative windows.
These pieces feature classical architectural columns in the four styles—Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite—along with small butterflies, flowers, exotic birds and colourful sea creatures. On the right wall of the same room, lies the remaining two Clarke windows, employing a simplistic design of patterns, florals and wildlife. For protection, the windows are coated in a layer of clear glass, and Clarke's work is accompanied by stained glass from Jim Fitzpatrick and Pauline Bewick. Works by all artists were the subject of a
dramatic legal battle in 2020; in a dispute between the landlord, RGRE Grafton Ltd, a company of developer Johnny Ronan, and the tenant, Bewley’s Café Grafton Street (BCGS) Ltd and its subsidiary Bewley’s Ltd, it was ruled by Mr Justice Denis McDonald that four of the Clarke windows form “part and parcel” of the building meaning they are undeniably the property of the landlord, while the remaining two were ruled the property of the tenant. There is now talk of the Windows being donated to the state upon owner Paddy Campbell’s upcoming retirement. He states that "Bewley's belongs to the people of Ireland. The Harry Clarke panels, in particular, are a national treasure that we would love to see move into public ownership through a donation to a suitable institution.” The windows are collectively estimated to value up to one million euros.
Aside from Bewley’s Cafe which you can visit for a coffee or a spot of lunch, the secular work of Harry Clarke is also on view in the Hugh Lane Gallery. A window illustrating John Keats’ “The Eve of St. Agnes”, dating from April 1924, commissioned by Harold Jacob, resides in the gallery. This piece shows fourteen key scenes in which the drama and magic of the story are illustrated, topped by two decorative lunettes with a unifying frieze below showing the dramatis personae. Clarke included practically every stained glass technique in this work, displaying his mastery of the craft: the figures lead each other through the space of the frames, made evident from Clarke's use of architectural features such as columns. The vibrant colours are achieved by using double-layered glass, repeatedly acid-etched to produce diverse tones, with minute detail scratched into the paint layers using a needle, making the window itself the result of painstaking work of the utmost complexity.
In 1926, the Irish Free State commissioned Harry Clarke to create a stained glass window as a gift to the League of Nations in Geneva. Clarke himself had lived through a time of great political turmoil in Ireland, an era in which Celtic revival and nationalism saw a surge as Irish people attempted to find their contemporary identity, all while incorporating their past history, language and culture. These ideas were explored by Clarke in the Geneva Window, containing scenes from literature by fifteen key writers in the Irish Literary Revival. He immortalized the events of the 1916 Rising in the first pane of the piece with a poem written by Patrick Pearse - one of the rising’s leaders - the night before his execution:
“The beauty of the world hath made me sad,
This beauty that will pass;
Sometimes my heart hath shaken with great joy…”
Through the entirety of this window, Clarke achieves a striking fluidity, in a medium typically regarded for its formality. The piece is divided into vignettes that each focus on a literary scene, for example, “Playboy of the Western World” by John Millington Synge. When presented to the Irish government, this particular section stirred controversy, as there were concerns in regard to
the playboy’s tight breeches, which emphasized his “virility”. There was also apprehension about the inclusion of alcohol in a later scene, as this was not the image the newly formed Irish government was eager to present. As well as this, James Joyce was a featured writer. Considered morally corrupt by the majority of Ireland's social, political and religious leaders, Joyce’s iconic Ulysses had previously been banned for its sexual content. Due to all of these factors and many more, the window was rejected and was never installed in Geneva, and has now found a home in the Wolfsonian-FIU in Miami Beach.
Although this particular work is not available to see in Ireland, there is no shortage of Clarke’s work to view on the island. With work by the artist dotted around, galleries, churches and public buildings in almost every county in Ireland and beyond, experiencing the art of Clarke is incredibly accessible.
Synonymous with craftsmanship and innovative ideas throughout his work, Harry Clarke was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. Clarke’s work was influenced by the Art Nouveau and the Art Deco movements, and his stained glass was heavily influenced by the French Symbolist movement. In fact, many go so far as to say that Clarke can be credited with reviving a medium that had suffered a serious decline in Ireland.
Son of church decorator Joshua Clarke, Harry Clarke was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1889. After leaving school he apprenticed at his father's studio as well as attending evening courses at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (currently NCAD). After the death of his father in 1921, he and his brother, Walter, took over the studio and, in his short life, Clarke created over one hundred and sixty stained glass windows. This included working within Ireland and the UK, as well as further afield in the US and Australia. As one might expect, the majority of these pieces had a religious theme, yet Clarke was also renowned for his work that did not fit within the religious canon. His secular stained glass art has been somewhat overlooked and underappreciated within his portfolio.
Perhaps most famously, you can find Harry Clarke windows nestled inside the iconic Bewley’s Cafe on Dublin's busy Grafton Street. Designed in 1927, and completed in 1928, at a cost of £60,000, these six windows lend themselves to the historical architecture of the space: formerly housing Whyte’s Academy, the building had been recently converted into a cafe by Ernest Bewley. Like much of Clarke’s work, the building's design takes influence from the Art Deco movement, as well as featuring a facade that features an Egyptian revival mosaic. Bewley’s Cafe is often described as a landmark of Dublin, allowing the work of Harry Clarke to be visible and enjoyed daily not only by Dublin locals but also by enthusiastic visitors. Some of these windows were executed within the walls of his studio, while others were completed on-site, and the room in which his work lies can be found by entering through the main door on Grafton Street and heading straight to the back wall of the ground floor. There, the main wall of the cafe displays four decorative windows.
These pieces feature classical architectural columns in the four styles—Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite—along with small butterflies, flowers, exotic birds and colourful sea creatures. On the right wall of the same room, lies the remaining two Clarke windows, employing a simplistic design of patterns, florals and wildlife. For protection, the windows are coated in a layer of clear glass, and Clarke's work is accompanied by stained glass from Jim Fitzpatrick and Pauline Bewick. Works by all artists were the subject of a
dramatic legal battle in 2020; in a dispute between the landlord, RGRE Grafton Ltd, a company of developer Johnny Ronan, and the tenant, Bewley’s Café Grafton Street (BCGS) Ltd and its subsidiary Bewley’s Ltd, it was ruled by Mr Justice Denis McDonald that four of the Clarke windows form “part and parcel” of the building meaning they are undeniably the property of the landlord, while the remaining two were ruled the property of the tenant. There is now talk of the Windows being donated to the state upon owner Paddy Campbell’s upcoming retirement. He states that "Bewley's belongs to the people of Ireland. The Harry Clarke panels, in particular, are a national treasure that we would love to see move into public ownership through a donation to a suitable institution.” The windows are collectively estimated to value up to one million euros.
Aside from Bewley’s Cafe which you can visit for a coffee or a spot of lunch, the secular work of Harry Clarke is also on view in the Hugh Lane Gallery. A window illustrating John Keats’ “The Eve of St. Agnes”, dating from April 1924, commissioned by Harold Jacob, resides in the gallery. This piece shows fourteen key scenes in which the drama and magic of the story are illustrated, topped by two decorative lunettes with a unifying frieze below showing the dramatis personae. Clarke included practically every stained glass technique in this work, displaying his mastery of the craft: the figures lead each other through the space of the frames, made evident from Clarke's use of architectural features such as columns. The vibrant colours are achieved by using double-layered glass, repeatedly acid-etched to produce diverse tones, with minute detail scratched into the paint layers using a needle, making the window itself the result of painstaking work of the utmost complexity.
In 1926, the Irish Free State commissioned Harry Clarke to create a stained glass window as a gift to the League of Nations in Geneva. Clarke himself had lived through a time of great political turmoil in Ireland, an era in which Celtic revival and nationalism saw a surge as Irish people attempted to find their contemporary identity, all while incorporating their past history, language and culture. These ideas were explored by Clarke in the Geneva Window, containing scenes from literature by fifteen key writers in the Irish Literary Revival. He immortalized the events of the 1916 Rising in the first pane of the piece with a poem written by Patrick Pearse - one of the rising’s leaders - the night before his execution:
“The beauty of the world hath made me sad,
This beauty that will pass;
Sometimes my heart hath shaken with great joy…”
Through the entirety of this window, Clarke achieves a striking fluidity, in a medium typically regarded for its formality. The piece is divided into vignettes that each focus on a literary scene, for example, “Playboy of the Western World” by John Millington Synge. When presented to the Irish government, this particular section stirred controversy, as there were concerns in regard to
the playboy’s tight breeches, which emphasized his “virility”. There was also apprehension about the inclusion of alcohol in a later scene, as this was not the image the newly formed Irish government was eager to present. As well as this, James Joyce was a featured writer. Considered morally corrupt by the majority of Ireland's social, political and religious leaders, Joyce’s iconic Ulysses had previously been banned for its sexual content. Due to all of these factors and many more, the window was rejected and was never installed in Geneva, and has now found a home in the Wolfsonian-FIU in Miami Beach.
Although this particular work is not available to see in Ireland, there is no shortage of Clarke’s work to view on the island. With work by the artist dotted around, galleries, churches and public buildings in almost every county in Ireland and beyond, experiencing the art of Clarke is incredibly accessible.
Synonymous with craftsmanship and innovative ideas throughout his work, Harry Clarke was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. Clarke’s work was influenced by the Art Nouveau and the Art Deco movements, and his stained glass was heavily influenced by the French Symbolist movement. In fact, many go so far as to say that Clarke can be credited with reviving a medium that had suffered a serious decline in Ireland.
Son of church decorator Joshua Clarke, Harry Clarke was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1889. After leaving school he apprenticed at his father's studio as well as attending evening courses at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (currently NCAD). After the death of his father in 1921, he and his brother, Walter, took over the studio and, in his short life, Clarke created over one hundred and sixty stained glass windows. This included working within Ireland and the UK, as well as further afield in the US and Australia. As one might expect, the majority of these pieces had a religious theme, yet Clarke was also renowned for his work that did not fit within the religious canon. His secular stained glass art has been somewhat overlooked and underappreciated within his portfolio.
Perhaps most famously, you can find Harry Clarke windows nestled inside the iconic Bewley’s Cafe on Dublin's busy Grafton Street. Designed in 1927, and completed in 1928, at a cost of £60,000, these six windows lend themselves to the historical architecture of the space: formerly housing Whyte’s Academy, the building had been recently converted into a cafe by Ernest Bewley. Like much of Clarke’s work, the building's design takes influence from the Art Deco movement, as well as featuring a facade that features an Egyptian revival mosaic. Bewley’s Cafe is often described as a landmark of Dublin, allowing the work of Harry Clarke to be visible and enjoyed daily not only by Dublin locals but also by enthusiastic visitors. Some of these windows were executed within the walls of his studio, while others were completed on-site, and the room in which his work lies can be found by entering through the main door on Grafton Street and heading straight to the back wall of the ground floor. There, the main wall of the cafe displays four decorative windows.
These pieces feature classical architectural columns in the four styles—Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite—along with small butterflies, flowers, exotic birds and colourful sea creatures. On the right wall of the same room, lies the remaining two Clarke windows, employing a simplistic design of patterns, florals and wildlife. For protection, the windows are coated in a layer of clear glass, and Clarke's work is accompanied by stained glass from Jim Fitzpatrick and Pauline Bewick. Works by all artists were the subject of a
dramatic legal battle in 2020; in a dispute between the landlord, RGRE Grafton Ltd, a company of developer Johnny Ronan, and the tenant, Bewley’s Café Grafton Street (BCGS) Ltd and its subsidiary Bewley’s Ltd, it was ruled by Mr Justice Denis McDonald that four of the Clarke windows form “part and parcel” of the building meaning they are undeniably the property of the landlord, while the remaining two were ruled the property of the tenant. There is now talk of the Windows being donated to the state upon owner Paddy Campbell’s upcoming retirement. He states that "Bewley's belongs to the people of Ireland. The Harry Clarke panels, in particular, are a national treasure that we would love to see move into public ownership through a donation to a suitable institution.” The windows are collectively estimated to value up to one million euros.
Aside from Bewley’s Cafe which you can visit for a coffee or a spot of lunch, the secular work of Harry Clarke is also on view in the Hugh Lane Gallery. A window illustrating John Keats’ “The Eve of St. Agnes”, dating from April 1924, commissioned by Harold Jacob, resides in the gallery. This piece shows fourteen key scenes in which the drama and magic of the story are illustrated, topped by two decorative lunettes with a unifying frieze below showing the dramatis personae. Clarke included practically every stained glass technique in this work, displaying his mastery of the craft: the figures lead each other through the space of the frames, made evident from Clarke's use of architectural features such as columns. The vibrant colours are achieved by using double-layered glass, repeatedly acid-etched to produce diverse tones, with minute detail scratched into the paint layers using a needle, making the window itself the result of painstaking work of the utmost complexity.
In 1926, the Irish Free State commissioned Harry Clarke to create a stained glass window as a gift to the League of Nations in Geneva. Clarke himself had lived through a time of great political turmoil in Ireland, an era in which Celtic revival and nationalism saw a surge as Irish people attempted to find their contemporary identity, all while incorporating their past history, language and culture. These ideas were explored by Clarke in the Geneva Window, containing scenes from literature by fifteen key writers in the Irish Literary Revival. He immortalized the events of the 1916 Rising in the first pane of the piece with a poem written by Patrick Pearse - one of the rising’s leaders - the night before his execution:
“The beauty of the world hath made me sad,
This beauty that will pass;
Sometimes my heart hath shaken with great joy…”
Through the entirety of this window, Clarke achieves a striking fluidity, in a medium typically regarded for its formality. The piece is divided into vignettes that each focus on a literary scene, for example, “Playboy of the Western World” by John Millington Synge. When presented to the Irish government, this particular section stirred controversy, as there were concerns in regard to
the playboy’s tight breeches, which emphasized his “virility”. There was also apprehension about the inclusion of alcohol in a later scene, as this was not the image the newly formed Irish government was eager to present. As well as this, James Joyce was a featured writer. Considered morally corrupt by the majority of Ireland's social, political and religious leaders, Joyce’s iconic Ulysses had previously been banned for its sexual content. Due to all of these factors and many more, the window was rejected and was never installed in Geneva, and has now found a home in the Wolfsonian-FIU in Miami Beach.
Although this particular work is not available to see in Ireland, there is no shortage of Clarke’s work to view on the island. With work by the artist dotted around, galleries, churches and public buildings in almost every county in Ireland and beyond, experiencing the art of Clarke is incredibly accessible.
Synonymous with craftsmanship and innovative ideas throughout his work, Harry Clarke was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. Clarke’s work was influenced by the Art Nouveau and the Art Deco movements, and his stained glass was heavily influenced by the French Symbolist movement. In fact, many go so far as to say that Clarke can be credited with reviving a medium that had suffered a serious decline in Ireland.
Son of church decorator Joshua Clarke, Harry Clarke was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1889. After leaving school he apprenticed at his father's studio as well as attending evening courses at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (currently NCAD). After the death of his father in 1921, he and his brother, Walter, took over the studio and, in his short life, Clarke created over one hundred and sixty stained glass windows. This included working within Ireland and the UK, as well as further afield in the US and Australia. As one might expect, the majority of these pieces had a religious theme, yet Clarke was also renowned for his work that did not fit within the religious canon. His secular stained glass art has been somewhat overlooked and underappreciated within his portfolio.
Perhaps most famously, you can find Harry Clarke windows nestled inside the iconic Bewley’s Cafe on Dublin's busy Grafton Street. Designed in 1927, and completed in 1928, at a cost of £60,000, these six windows lend themselves to the historical architecture of the space: formerly housing Whyte’s Academy, the building had been recently converted into a cafe by Ernest Bewley. Like much of Clarke’s work, the building's design takes influence from the Art Deco movement, as well as featuring a facade that features an Egyptian revival mosaic. Bewley’s Cafe is often described as a landmark of Dublin, allowing the work of Harry Clarke to be visible and enjoyed daily not only by Dublin locals but also by enthusiastic visitors. Some of these windows were executed within the walls of his studio, while others were completed on-site, and the room in which his work lies can be found by entering through the main door on Grafton Street and heading straight to the back wall of the ground floor. There, the main wall of the cafe displays four decorative windows.
These pieces feature classical architectural columns in the four styles—Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite—along with small butterflies, flowers, exotic birds and colourful sea creatures. On the right wall of the same room, lies the remaining two Clarke windows, employing a simplistic design of patterns, florals and wildlife. For protection, the windows are coated in a layer of clear glass, and Clarke's work is accompanied by stained glass from Jim Fitzpatrick and Pauline Bewick. Works by all artists were the subject of a
dramatic legal battle in 2020; in a dispute between the landlord, RGRE Grafton Ltd, a company of developer Johnny Ronan, and the tenant, Bewley’s Café Grafton Street (BCGS) Ltd and its subsidiary Bewley’s Ltd, it was ruled by Mr Justice Denis McDonald that four of the Clarke windows form “part and parcel” of the building meaning they are undeniably the property of the landlord, while the remaining two were ruled the property of the tenant. There is now talk of the Windows being donated to the state upon owner Paddy Campbell’s upcoming retirement. He states that "Bewley's belongs to the people of Ireland. The Harry Clarke panels, in particular, are a national treasure that we would love to see move into public ownership through a donation to a suitable institution.” The windows are collectively estimated to value up to one million euros.
Aside from Bewley’s Cafe which you can visit for a coffee or a spot of lunch, the secular work of Harry Clarke is also on view in the Hugh Lane Gallery. A window illustrating John Keats’ “The Eve of St. Agnes”, dating from April 1924, commissioned by Harold Jacob, resides in the gallery. This piece shows fourteen key scenes in which the drama and magic of the story are illustrated, topped by two decorative lunettes with a unifying frieze below showing the dramatis personae. Clarke included practically every stained glass technique in this work, displaying his mastery of the craft: the figures lead each other through the space of the frames, made evident from Clarke's use of architectural features such as columns. The vibrant colours are achieved by using double-layered glass, repeatedly acid-etched to produce diverse tones, with minute detail scratched into the paint layers using a needle, making the window itself the result of painstaking work of the utmost complexity.
In 1926, the Irish Free State commissioned Harry Clarke to create a stained glass window as a gift to the League of Nations in Geneva. Clarke himself had lived through a time of great political turmoil in Ireland, an era in which Celtic revival and nationalism saw a surge as Irish people attempted to find their contemporary identity, all while incorporating their past history, language and culture. These ideas were explored by Clarke in the Geneva Window, containing scenes from literature by fifteen key writers in the Irish Literary Revival. He immortalized the events of the 1916 Rising in the first pane of the piece with a poem written by Patrick Pearse - one of the rising’s leaders - the night before his execution:
“The beauty of the world hath made me sad,
This beauty that will pass;
Sometimes my heart hath shaken with great joy…”
Through the entirety of this window, Clarke achieves a striking fluidity, in a medium typically regarded for its formality. The piece is divided into vignettes that each focus on a literary scene, for example, “Playboy of the Western World” by John Millington Synge. When presented to the Irish government, this particular section stirred controversy, as there were concerns in regard to
the playboy’s tight breeches, which emphasized his “virility”. There was also apprehension about the inclusion of alcohol in a later scene, as this was not the image the newly formed Irish government was eager to present. As well as this, James Joyce was a featured writer. Considered morally corrupt by the majority of Ireland's social, political and religious leaders, Joyce’s iconic Ulysses had previously been banned for its sexual content. Due to all of these factors and many more, the window was rejected and was never installed in Geneva, and has now found a home in the Wolfsonian-FIU in Miami Beach.
Although this particular work is not available to see in Ireland, there is no shortage of Clarke’s work to view on the island. With work by the artist dotted around, galleries, churches and public buildings in almost every county in Ireland and beyond, experiencing the art of Clarke is incredibly accessible.
Synonymous with craftsmanship and innovative ideas throughout his work, Harry Clarke was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. Clarke’s work was influenced by the Art Nouveau and the Art Deco movements, and his stained glass was heavily influenced by the French Symbolist movement. In fact, many go so far as to say that Clarke can be credited with reviving a medium that had suffered a serious decline in Ireland.
Son of church decorator Joshua Clarke, Harry Clarke was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1889. After leaving school he apprenticed at his father's studio as well as attending evening courses at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (currently NCAD). After the death of his father in 1921, he and his brother, Walter, took over the studio and, in his short life, Clarke created over one hundred and sixty stained glass windows. This included working within Ireland and the UK, as well as further afield in the US and Australia. As one might expect, the majority of these pieces had a religious theme, yet Clarke was also renowned for his work that did not fit within the religious canon. His secular stained glass art has been somewhat overlooked and underappreciated within his portfolio.
Perhaps most famously, you can find Harry Clarke windows nestled inside the iconic Bewley’s Cafe on Dublin's busy Grafton Street. Designed in 1927, and completed in 1928, at a cost of £60,000, these six windows lend themselves to the historical architecture of the space: formerly housing Whyte’s Academy, the building had been recently converted into a cafe by Ernest Bewley. Like much of Clarke’s work, the building's design takes influence from the Art Deco movement, as well as featuring a facade that features an Egyptian revival mosaic. Bewley’s Cafe is often described as a landmark of Dublin, allowing the work of Harry Clarke to be visible and enjoyed daily not only by Dublin locals but also by enthusiastic visitors. Some of these windows were executed within the walls of his studio, while others were completed on-site, and the room in which his work lies can be found by entering through the main door on Grafton Street and heading straight to the back wall of the ground floor. There, the main wall of the cafe displays four decorative windows.
These pieces feature classical architectural columns in the four styles—Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite—along with small butterflies, flowers, exotic birds and colourful sea creatures. On the right wall of the same room, lies the remaining two Clarke windows, employing a simplistic design of patterns, florals and wildlife. For protection, the windows are coated in a layer of clear glass, and Clarke's work is accompanied by stained glass from Jim Fitzpatrick and Pauline Bewick. Works by all artists were the subject of a
dramatic legal battle in 2020; in a dispute between the landlord, RGRE Grafton Ltd, a company of developer Johnny Ronan, and the tenant, Bewley’s Café Grafton Street (BCGS) Ltd and its subsidiary Bewley’s Ltd, it was ruled by Mr Justice Denis McDonald that four of the Clarke windows form “part and parcel” of the building meaning they are undeniably the property of the landlord, while the remaining two were ruled the property of the tenant. There is now talk of the Windows being donated to the state upon owner Paddy Campbell’s upcoming retirement. He states that "Bewley's belongs to the people of Ireland. The Harry Clarke panels, in particular, are a national treasure that we would love to see move into public ownership through a donation to a suitable institution.” The windows are collectively estimated to value up to one million euros.
Aside from Bewley’s Cafe which you can visit for a coffee or a spot of lunch, the secular work of Harry Clarke is also on view in the Hugh Lane Gallery. A window illustrating John Keats’ “The Eve of St. Agnes”, dating from April 1924, commissioned by Harold Jacob, resides in the gallery. This piece shows fourteen key scenes in which the drama and magic of the story are illustrated, topped by two decorative lunettes with a unifying frieze below showing the dramatis personae. Clarke included practically every stained glass technique in this work, displaying his mastery of the craft: the figures lead each other through the space of the frames, made evident from Clarke's use of architectural features such as columns. The vibrant colours are achieved by using double-layered glass, repeatedly acid-etched to produce diverse tones, with minute detail scratched into the paint layers using a needle, making the window itself the result of painstaking work of the utmost complexity.
In 1926, the Irish Free State commissioned Harry Clarke to create a stained glass window as a gift to the League of Nations in Geneva. Clarke himself had lived through a time of great political turmoil in Ireland, an era in which Celtic revival and nationalism saw a surge as Irish people attempted to find their contemporary identity, all while incorporating their past history, language and culture. These ideas were explored by Clarke in the Geneva Window, containing scenes from literature by fifteen key writers in the Irish Literary Revival. He immortalized the events of the 1916 Rising in the first pane of the piece with a poem written by Patrick Pearse - one of the rising’s leaders - the night before his execution:
“The beauty of the world hath made me sad,
This beauty that will pass;
Sometimes my heart hath shaken with great joy…”
Through the entirety of this window, Clarke achieves a striking fluidity, in a medium typically regarded for its formality. The piece is divided into vignettes that each focus on a literary scene, for example, “Playboy of the Western World” by John Millington Synge. When presented to the Irish government, this particular section stirred controversy, as there were concerns in regard to
the playboy’s tight breeches, which emphasized his “virility”. There was also apprehension about the inclusion of alcohol in a later scene, as this was not the image the newly formed Irish government was eager to present. As well as this, James Joyce was a featured writer. Considered morally corrupt by the majority of Ireland's social, political and religious leaders, Joyce’s iconic Ulysses had previously been banned for its sexual content. Due to all of these factors and many more, the window was rejected and was never installed in Geneva, and has now found a home in the Wolfsonian-FIU in Miami Beach.
Although this particular work is not available to see in Ireland, there is no shortage of Clarke’s work to view on the island. With work by the artist dotted around, galleries, churches and public buildings in almost every county in Ireland and beyond, experiencing the art of Clarke is incredibly accessible.
Synonymous with craftsmanship and innovative ideas throughout his work, Harry Clarke was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. Clarke’s work was influenced by the Art Nouveau and the Art Deco movements, and his stained glass was heavily influenced by the French Symbolist movement. In fact, many go so far as to say that Clarke can be credited with reviving a medium that had suffered a serious decline in Ireland.
Son of church decorator Joshua Clarke, Harry Clarke was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1889. After leaving school he apprenticed at his father's studio as well as attending evening courses at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (currently NCAD). After the death of his father in 1921, he and his brother, Walter, took over the studio and, in his short life, Clarke created over one hundred and sixty stained glass windows. This included working within Ireland and the UK, as well as further afield in the US and Australia. As one might expect, the majority of these pieces had a religious theme, yet Clarke was also renowned for his work that did not fit within the religious canon. His secular stained glass art has been somewhat overlooked and underappreciated within his portfolio.
Perhaps most famously, you can find Harry Clarke windows nestled inside the iconic Bewley’s Cafe on Dublin's busy Grafton Street. Designed in 1927, and completed in 1928, at a cost of £60,000, these six windows lend themselves to the historical architecture of the space: formerly housing Whyte’s Academy, the building had been recently converted into a cafe by Ernest Bewley. Like much of Clarke’s work, the building's design takes influence from the Art Deco movement, as well as featuring a facade that features an Egyptian revival mosaic. Bewley’s Cafe is often described as a landmark of Dublin, allowing the work of Harry Clarke to be visible and enjoyed daily not only by Dublin locals but also by enthusiastic visitors. Some of these windows were executed within the walls of his studio, while others were completed on-site, and the room in which his work lies can be found by entering through the main door on Grafton Street and heading straight to the back wall of the ground floor. There, the main wall of the cafe displays four decorative windows.
These pieces feature classical architectural columns in the four styles—Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite—along with small butterflies, flowers, exotic birds and colourful sea creatures. On the right wall of the same room, lies the remaining two Clarke windows, employing a simplistic design of patterns, florals and wildlife. For protection, the windows are coated in a layer of clear glass, and Clarke's work is accompanied by stained glass from Jim Fitzpatrick and Pauline Bewick. Works by all artists were the subject of a
dramatic legal battle in 2020; in a dispute between the landlord, RGRE Grafton Ltd, a company of developer Johnny Ronan, and the tenant, Bewley’s Café Grafton Street (BCGS) Ltd and its subsidiary Bewley’s Ltd, it was ruled by Mr Justice Denis McDonald that four of the Clarke windows form “part and parcel” of the building meaning they are undeniably the property of the landlord, while the remaining two were ruled the property of the tenant. There is now talk of the Windows being donated to the state upon owner Paddy Campbell’s upcoming retirement. He states that "Bewley's belongs to the people of Ireland. The Harry Clarke panels, in particular, are a national treasure that we would love to see move into public ownership through a donation to a suitable institution.” The windows are collectively estimated to value up to one million euros.
Aside from Bewley’s Cafe which you can visit for a coffee or a spot of lunch, the secular work of Harry Clarke is also on view in the Hugh Lane Gallery. A window illustrating John Keats’ “The Eve of St. Agnes”, dating from April 1924, commissioned by Harold Jacob, resides in the gallery. This piece shows fourteen key scenes in which the drama and magic of the story are illustrated, topped by two decorative lunettes with a unifying frieze below showing the dramatis personae. Clarke included practically every stained glass technique in this work, displaying his mastery of the craft: the figures lead each other through the space of the frames, made evident from Clarke's use of architectural features such as columns. The vibrant colours are achieved by using double-layered glass, repeatedly acid-etched to produce diverse tones, with minute detail scratched into the paint layers using a needle, making the window itself the result of painstaking work of the utmost complexity.
In 1926, the Irish Free State commissioned Harry Clarke to create a stained glass window as a gift to the League of Nations in Geneva. Clarke himself had lived through a time of great political turmoil in Ireland, an era in which Celtic revival and nationalism saw a surge as Irish people attempted to find their contemporary identity, all while incorporating their past history, language and culture. These ideas were explored by Clarke in the Geneva Window, containing scenes from literature by fifteen key writers in the Irish Literary Revival. He immortalized the events of the 1916 Rising in the first pane of the piece with a poem written by Patrick Pearse - one of the rising’s leaders - the night before his execution:
“The beauty of the world hath made me sad,
This beauty that will pass;
Sometimes my heart hath shaken with great joy…”
Through the entirety of this window, Clarke achieves a striking fluidity, in a medium typically regarded for its formality. The piece is divided into vignettes that each focus on a literary scene, for example, “Playboy of the Western World” by John Millington Synge. When presented to the Irish government, this particular section stirred controversy, as there were concerns in regard to
the playboy’s tight breeches, which emphasized his “virility”. There was also apprehension about the inclusion of alcohol in a later scene, as this was not the image the newly formed Irish government was eager to present. As well as this, James Joyce was a featured writer. Considered morally corrupt by the majority of Ireland's social, political and religious leaders, Joyce’s iconic Ulysses had previously been banned for its sexual content. Due to all of these factors and many more, the window was rejected and was never installed in Geneva, and has now found a home in the Wolfsonian-FIU in Miami Beach.
Although this particular work is not available to see in Ireland, there is no shortage of Clarke’s work to view on the island. With work by the artist dotted around, galleries, churches and public buildings in almost every county in Ireland and beyond, experiencing the art of Clarke is incredibly accessible.
Synonymous with craftsmanship and innovative ideas throughout his work, Harry Clarke was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. Clarke’s work was influenced by the Art Nouveau and the Art Deco movements, and his stained glass was heavily influenced by the French Symbolist movement. In fact, many go so far as to say that Clarke can be credited with reviving a medium that had suffered a serious decline in Ireland.
Son of church decorator Joshua Clarke, Harry Clarke was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1889. After leaving school he apprenticed at his father's studio as well as attending evening courses at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (currently NCAD). After the death of his father in 1921, he and his brother, Walter, took over the studio and, in his short life, Clarke created over one hundred and sixty stained glass windows. This included working within Ireland and the UK, as well as further afield in the US and Australia. As one might expect, the majority of these pieces had a religious theme, yet Clarke was also renowned for his work that did not fit within the religious canon. His secular stained glass art has been somewhat overlooked and underappreciated within his portfolio.
Perhaps most famously, you can find Harry Clarke windows nestled inside the iconic Bewley’s Cafe on Dublin's busy Grafton Street. Designed in 1927, and completed in 1928, at a cost of £60,000, these six windows lend themselves to the historical architecture of the space: formerly housing Whyte’s Academy, the building had been recently converted into a cafe by Ernest Bewley. Like much of Clarke’s work, the building's design takes influence from the Art Deco movement, as well as featuring a facade that features an Egyptian revival mosaic. Bewley’s Cafe is often described as a landmark of Dublin, allowing the work of Harry Clarke to be visible and enjoyed daily not only by Dublin locals but also by enthusiastic visitors. Some of these windows were executed within the walls of his studio, while others were completed on-site, and the room in which his work lies can be found by entering through the main door on Grafton Street and heading straight to the back wall of the ground floor. There, the main wall of the cafe displays four decorative windows.
These pieces feature classical architectural columns in the four styles—Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite—along with small butterflies, flowers, exotic birds and colourful sea creatures. On the right wall of the same room, lies the remaining two Clarke windows, employing a simplistic design of patterns, florals and wildlife. For protection, the windows are coated in a layer of clear glass, and Clarke's work is accompanied by stained glass from Jim Fitzpatrick and Pauline Bewick. Works by all artists were the subject of a
dramatic legal battle in 2020; in a dispute between the landlord, RGRE Grafton Ltd, a company of developer Johnny Ronan, and the tenant, Bewley’s Café Grafton Street (BCGS) Ltd and its subsidiary Bewley’s Ltd, it was ruled by Mr Justice Denis McDonald that four of the Clarke windows form “part and parcel” of the building meaning they are undeniably the property of the landlord, while the remaining two were ruled the property of the tenant. There is now talk of the Windows being donated to the state upon owner Paddy Campbell’s upcoming retirement. He states that "Bewley's belongs to the people of Ireland. The Harry Clarke panels, in particular, are a national treasure that we would love to see move into public ownership through a donation to a suitable institution.” The windows are collectively estimated to value up to one million euros.
Aside from Bewley’s Cafe which you can visit for a coffee or a spot of lunch, the secular work of Harry Clarke is also on view in the Hugh Lane Gallery. A window illustrating John Keats’ “The Eve of St. Agnes”, dating from April 1924, commissioned by Harold Jacob, resides in the gallery. This piece shows fourteen key scenes in which the drama and magic of the story are illustrated, topped by two decorative lunettes with a unifying frieze below showing the dramatis personae. Clarke included practically every stained glass technique in this work, displaying his mastery of the craft: the figures lead each other through the space of the frames, made evident from Clarke's use of architectural features such as columns. The vibrant colours are achieved by using double-layered glass, repeatedly acid-etched to produce diverse tones, with minute detail scratched into the paint layers using a needle, making the window itself the result of painstaking work of the utmost complexity.
In 1926, the Irish Free State commissioned Harry Clarke to create a stained glass window as a gift to the League of Nations in Geneva. Clarke himself had lived through a time of great political turmoil in Ireland, an era in which Celtic revival and nationalism saw a surge as Irish people attempted to find their contemporary identity, all while incorporating their past history, language and culture. These ideas were explored by Clarke in the Geneva Window, containing scenes from literature by fifteen key writers in the Irish Literary Revival. He immortalized the events of the 1916 Rising in the first pane of the piece with a poem written by Patrick Pearse - one of the rising’s leaders - the night before his execution:
“The beauty of the world hath made me sad,
This beauty that will pass;
Sometimes my heart hath shaken with great joy…”
Through the entirety of this window, Clarke achieves a striking fluidity, in a medium typically regarded for its formality. The piece is divided into vignettes that each focus on a literary scene, for example, “Playboy of the Western World” by John Millington Synge. When presented to the Irish government, this particular section stirred controversy, as there were concerns in regard to
the playboy’s tight breeches, which emphasized his “virility”. There was also apprehension about the inclusion of alcohol in a later scene, as this was not the image the newly formed Irish government was eager to present. As well as this, James Joyce was a featured writer. Considered morally corrupt by the majority of Ireland's social, political and religious leaders, Joyce’s iconic Ulysses had previously been banned for its sexual content. Due to all of these factors and many more, the window was rejected and was never installed in Geneva, and has now found a home in the Wolfsonian-FIU in Miami Beach.
Although this particular work is not available to see in Ireland, there is no shortage of Clarke’s work to view on the island. With work by the artist dotted around, galleries, churches and public buildings in almost every county in Ireland and beyond, experiencing the art of Clarke is incredibly accessible.
Synonymous with craftsmanship and innovative ideas throughout his work, Harry Clarke was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. Clarke’s work was influenced by the Art Nouveau and the Art Deco movements, and his stained glass was heavily influenced by the French Symbolist movement. In fact, many go so far as to say that Clarke can be credited with reviving a medium that had suffered a serious decline in Ireland.
Son of church decorator Joshua Clarke, Harry Clarke was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1889. After leaving school he apprenticed at his father's studio as well as attending evening courses at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (currently NCAD). After the death of his father in 1921, he and his brother, Walter, took over the studio and, in his short life, Clarke created over one hundred and sixty stained glass windows. This included working within Ireland and the UK, as well as further afield in the US and Australia. As one might expect, the majority of these pieces had a religious theme, yet Clarke was also renowned for his work that did not fit within the religious canon. His secular stained glass art has been somewhat overlooked and underappreciated within his portfolio.
Perhaps most famously, you can find Harry Clarke windows nestled inside the iconic Bewley’s Cafe on Dublin's busy Grafton Street. Designed in 1927, and completed in 1928, at a cost of £60,000, these six windows lend themselves to the historical architecture of the space: formerly housing Whyte’s Academy, the building had been recently converted into a cafe by Ernest Bewley. Like much of Clarke’s work, the building's design takes influence from the Art Deco movement, as well as featuring a facade that features an Egyptian revival mosaic. Bewley’s Cafe is often described as a landmark of Dublin, allowing the work of Harry Clarke to be visible and enjoyed daily not only by Dublin locals but also by enthusiastic visitors. Some of these windows were executed within the walls of his studio, while others were completed on-site, and the room in which his work lies can be found by entering through the main door on Grafton Street and heading straight to the back wall of the ground floor. There, the main wall of the cafe displays four decorative windows.
These pieces feature classical architectural columns in the four styles—Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite—along with small butterflies, flowers, exotic birds and colourful sea creatures. On the right wall of the same room, lies the remaining two Clarke windows, employing a simplistic design of patterns, florals and wildlife. For protection, the windows are coated in a layer of clear glass, and Clarke's work is accompanied by stained glass from Jim Fitzpatrick and Pauline Bewick. Works by all artists were the subject of a
dramatic legal battle in 2020; in a dispute between the landlord, RGRE Grafton Ltd, a company of developer Johnny Ronan, and the tenant, Bewley’s Café Grafton Street (BCGS) Ltd and its subsidiary Bewley’s Ltd, it was ruled by Mr Justice Denis McDonald that four of the Clarke windows form “part and parcel” of the building meaning they are undeniably the property of the landlord, while the remaining two were ruled the property of the tenant. There is now talk of the Windows being donated to the state upon owner Paddy Campbell’s upcoming retirement. He states that "Bewley's belongs to the people of Ireland. The Harry Clarke panels, in particular, are a national treasure that we would love to see move into public ownership through a donation to a suitable institution.” The windows are collectively estimated to value up to one million euros.
Aside from Bewley’s Cafe which you can visit for a coffee or a spot of lunch, the secular work of Harry Clarke is also on view in the Hugh Lane Gallery. A window illustrating John Keats’ “The Eve of St. Agnes”, dating from April 1924, commissioned by Harold Jacob, resides in the gallery. This piece shows fourteen key scenes in which the drama and magic of the story are illustrated, topped by two decorative lunettes with a unifying frieze below showing the dramatis personae. Clarke included practically every stained glass technique in this work, displaying his mastery of the craft: the figures lead each other through the space of the frames, made evident from Clarke's use of architectural features such as columns. The vibrant colours are achieved by using double-layered glass, repeatedly acid-etched to produce diverse tones, with minute detail scratched into the paint layers using a needle, making the window itself the result of painstaking work of the utmost complexity.
In 1926, the Irish Free State commissioned Harry Clarke to create a stained glass window as a gift to the League of Nations in Geneva. Clarke himself had lived through a time of great political turmoil in Ireland, an era in which Celtic revival and nationalism saw a surge as Irish people attempted to find their contemporary identity, all while incorporating their past history, language and culture. These ideas were explored by Clarke in the Geneva Window, containing scenes from literature by fifteen key writers in the Irish Literary Revival. He immortalized the events of the 1916 Rising in the first pane of the piece with a poem written by Patrick Pearse - one of the rising’s leaders - the night before his execution:
“The beauty of the world hath made me sad,
This beauty that will pass;
Sometimes my heart hath shaken with great joy…”
Through the entirety of this window, Clarke achieves a striking fluidity, in a medium typically regarded for its formality. The piece is divided into vignettes that each focus on a literary scene, for example, “Playboy of the Western World” by John Millington Synge. When presented to the Irish government, this particular section stirred controversy, as there were concerns in regard to
the playboy’s tight breeches, which emphasized his “virility”. There was also apprehension about the inclusion of alcohol in a later scene, as this was not the image the newly formed Irish government was eager to present. As well as this, James Joyce was a featured writer. Considered morally corrupt by the majority of Ireland's social, political and religious leaders, Joyce’s iconic Ulysses had previously been banned for its sexual content. Due to all of these factors and many more, the window was rejected and was never installed in Geneva, and has now found a home in the Wolfsonian-FIU in Miami Beach.
Although this particular work is not available to see in Ireland, there is no shortage of Clarke’s work to view on the island. With work by the artist dotted around, galleries, churches and public buildings in almost every county in Ireland and beyond, experiencing the art of Clarke is incredibly accessible.
