Dark Beauty Hidden Detail in Harry Clarke’s Stained Glass

Dark Beauty focuses on the minute detail in Harry Clarke’s stained-glass windows, particularly in the borders and lower panels of his work. Clarke’s brilliance as a graphic artist is clearly visible in his book illustrations, which are imbued with precise attention to intricate designs, and he applied the same lavish focus to every facet of his stained glass. The title ‘Dark Beauty’ refers to the duality of Clarke’s work that sees delicate angels juxtaposed with macabre, grotesque figures, and represents the partially hidden details that dwell in the background of his windows—motifs, accessories, flora, fauna, and diminutive characters—which may be missed in light of the dominance of the central subjects. The authors spent many years photographing Clarke’s windows in Ireland, England, America, and Australia, and the resulting 60,000 photos have been carefully whittled down to 500 glorious images. Dark Beauty will provide lovers of Clarke’s stained glass with the opportunity to view previously obscured or unnoticed details in all their unique beauty and inspire their own travels to view Clarke’s work.

Lucy Costigan is from Wexford. Strangest Genius: The Stained Glass of Harry Clarke, by Lucy Costigan and Michael Cullen, was shortlisted for Best Irish-Published Book of the year by the Irish Book Awards in 2010 and for Book of the Decade by Dublin Book Festival in 2016. Lucy’s biography, Glenveagh Mystery: The Life, Work and Disappearance of Arthur Kingsley Porter, was a national bestseller in 2012. Lucy holds Masters’ degrees in Research and Equality Studies. Michael Cullen is a photographer and cinematographer from Wexford. He photographed the entire stained-glass work of Harry Clarke worldwide from 2008 to 2010 for Strangest Genius. In 2015 Michael’s photography was the basis for The Harry Clarke Colouring Book and he won ‘Best Caravan and Camping Video’ at the 2018 European Awards in Utrecht, Holland.