The Life and Work of Harry Clarke

The Life and Work of Harry Clarke

Nicola Gordon Bowe

Published by Irish Academic Press, 1989

ISBN: 0 17 652452 X

• English
• Hardback, 301 pages
  
• Illustrations in black and white with some colour plates
• 19.5 x 25.5 cm
• Condition: fair, scuffed dust cover and writing on inner cover

Stained glass, Symbolism, Decadence, Celtic mysticism, National Romanticism, Art Nouveau and the Ballet Russes - all these elements claim a place in the definition of Harry Clarke. Born in the late nineteenth century, this Dublin artist worked intensely at his art and is now recognised internationally as a genius of his age. 

Art historian Nicola Gordon Bowe offers the first substantial biography of Clarke and critical survey of his oeuvre. As such it provides a chronological and contextual framework of study for his ceaseless and varied output - in Dublin, London, the Aran Islands, Glasgow, Paris and finally America. In Clarke, a fundamentally Arts and Crafts ideology is fused with Celtic Revivalist spirit seeking expression in a modern idiom, at a fascinating period in Ireland's history.

This is the story of a questing soul whose complex imagination and emotions were sublimated into his short working life as a prolific artist of outstanding originality. His skill and vision in glass have never been equalled in this century, and provide a bridge with the masterpieces of the medieval cathedrals; his exquisite ability to depict the gruesome and unspeakable is unparalleled. 

This is a second-hand book. All proceeds go directly to supporting the only museum of stained glass in the UK.

To find out more please visit www.stainedglassmuseum.com