Harry Clarke

Irish, 1889–1931

Harry Clarke (1889–1931) was an Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator, a leading figure of the Irish Arts and Crafts movement. His illustrations — intricate, jewel-toned and often macabre — reached their peak in editions of Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination, the fairy tales of Perrault and Hans Christian Andersen, and Goethe's Faust. Blending Art Nouveau, Symbolism and the line of Aubrey Beardsley into something wholly his own, Clarke created some of the most hauntingly beautiful illustrations of the twentieth century.

36 artworks

Landscape by the Coast, oil painting by Harry Clarke, featuring cerulean waves and golden sunlight.

Landscape by the Coast

Harry Clarke

A blood-red horse with a tense rider in a surreal landscape.

Metzengerstein (Poe)

Harry Clarke

A detailed illustration featuring a central face with a hand on the cheek, surrounded by intricate patterns and faces.

Morella (Poe)

Harry Clarke

A spectral mermaid faces a monstrous sea witch, surrounded by swirling sea creatures and intricate patterns.

The Little Mermaid (Andersen)

Harry Clarke

A dreamlike landscape with a full moon, flowering branches, musicians, and a monkey, evoking a sense of enchantment.

Arabia (The Year's at the Spring)

Harry Clarke

Two women engaged in vanity rituals, surrounded by intricate patterns and textures.

Cinderella (Perrault)

Harry Clarke

A young man in flamboyant attire stands on a chessboard floor, facing a dog with glowing green eyes atop a gilded pedestal.

The Tinder Box (Andersen)

Harry Clarke

A figure floats above a dim horizon, surrounded by distinct, mask-like faces, with a graveyard silhouette below.

The Dead (The Year's at the Spring)

Harry Clarke

A poised central figure in a patterned dress gazes at the viewer, surrounded by flowers and onlookers in a dramatic scene.

The Mystery of Marie Roget (Poe)

Harry Clarke

A harlequin figure with a cruel grin approaches a pale woman in a flowing gown, set against a patterned background.

The Travelling Companion (Andersen)

Harry Clarke

Two elegantly dressed figures converse in a misty forest filled with slender trees and ethereal floating figures.

Riquet with the Tuft (Perrault)

Harry Clarke

A central figure with wide eyes and an anguished expression, surrounded by shadowy drapery and a faint light source.

The Tell-Tale Heart (Poe)

Harry Clarke

A young woman in a delicate gown stands amidst pale emptiness, with a donkey skin to her left and a watching figure to her right.

Donkey-Skin (Perrault)

Harry Clarke

A gaunt figure in a tattered cloak navigates a decaying alley filled with bodies and a murky pool.

The Man of the Crowd (Poe)

Harry Clarke

A woman in a shimmering robe gazes hypnotically at a man recoiling in alarm, surrounded by serpentine forms.

Ligeia (Poe)

Harry Clarke

Three figures with vibrant hair hover above a mound of fantastical foliage, set against a starry night sky.

The Elf Hill (Andersen)

Harry Clarke

A dreamlike scene featuring the sleeping beauty on a canopied bed, with a prince and attendants in an enchanted setting.

The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood (Perrault)

Harry Clarke

A courtly woman in a lace-like gown floats above a golden disc, accompanied by a fantastical figure and a toy-like soldier in a dreamlike city.

Frontispiece (Andersen)

Harry Clarke

A vibrant illustration featuring pale figures mid-dance amidst a lush, colorful garden.

The Garden of Paradise: Now We Will Begin Our Dances!

Harry Clarke

A procession of spectral figures with intricate costumes and mask-like faces, embracing in a void under a luminous moon.

The Colloquy of Monos and Una (Poe)

Harry Clarke

An elegant figure with a blue-black beard stands on a terrace, surrounded by a geometrically arranged garden.

Bluebeard (Perrault)

Harry Clarke

A dramatic illustration of Mephistopheles and Faust, showcasing their contrasting figures and intricate garment details.

Mephistopheles and Faust (Goethe)

Harry Clarke

A delicate woman and a goblin-like creature atop oversized water flowers in a pale marsh.

Overheard on a Saltmarsh (The Year's at the Spring)

Harry Clarke

A ship with billowing sails rises at an impossible angle above ghostly figures in a dark sea.

MS. Found in a Bottle (Poe)

Harry Clarke

A seated, haloed figure with a key presides over a swirling landscape, surrounded by smaller figures holding sheets.

The Fiddler of Dooney (The Year's at the Spring)

Harry Clarke

A fairy in a pastel gown holds a glowing wand above a young woman by a well, surrounded by whimsical elements.

The Fairy (Perrault)

Harry Clarke

A central figure in elaborate attire gestures upward, surrounded by swirling patterns and symbols.

The Galoshes of Fortune (Andersen)

Harry Clarke

A prince in a dreamlike garden, holding a bird on his hand, with a distant gaze and melancholic expression.

The Song of the Mad Prince (The Year's at the Spring)

Harry Clarke

A confident cat in elaborate attire stands with a cane, surrounded by elegantly dressed figures in a dreamlike landscape.

Puss in Boots (Perrault)

Harry Clarke

A ship leans into the wind against a dramatic sky filled with rays and stylized clouds.

Sea Fever (The Year's at the Spring)

Harry Clarke

A bloodied figure bursts from shattered planks, while two men recoil in horror above her, and a monstrous creature writhes between them.

The Fall of the House of Usher (Poe)

Harry Clarke

A monstrous creature looms over a lifeless form in a dark room, with a knife in its paw and a shadowy figure outside a window.

The Murders in the Rue Morgue (Poe)

Harry Clarke

A swirl of luminous fairies tumbling from a serpent's mouth, with two astonished figures in a domestic setting.

The Ridiculous Wishes (Perrault)

Harry Clarke

A misty forest with tall trees and children in pointed hats walking along a winding path.

Little Thumb (Perrault)

Harry Clarke

A girl in a red cloak stands in a dreamlike forest, holding a basket and an umbrella, as a wolf approaches her.

Little Red Riding Hood (Perrault)

Harry Clarke

A masked gathering on a Venetian dock with pale figures in intricate costumes under a moonlit sky.

The Assignation (Poe)

Harry Clarke