ADAM'S IMPORTANT IRISH ART 24th September 2025

46 22 HARRY CLARKE RHA (1889-1931) The Playboy of the Western World (c.1915) Pen and ink, 47.6 x 30.5cm (18¾ x 12’’) Provenance: Private Collection, Dublin € 20,000 - 30,000 Harry Clarke had a keen interest in literature, whether poetry, plays or fiction. His first significant patron, Larky Waldron, in whose Killiney social cir- cle he socialised, leant him books from his exten- sive collection. Synge was a friend of Waldron’s, though he had died in 1909 ahead of when Clarke first encountered Waldron, however it is likely that Waldron leant him books by Synge, and Clarke featured one by Synge in the illustrative book- plate he created for Waldron in 1914. The same year, Clarke drew his first of several illustrations inspired by Synge’s controversial play, The Playboy of the Western World , [1] which had been first per- formed in Dublin in 1907. Clarke was an enthusias- tic theatre goer and it remained his favourite play. It, along with Synge’s published journals of his travels on the Aran Islands, had inspired Clarke to holiday in the islands annually for six years, initially while still an art student in 1909. [2] Harry Clarke’s biographer, Nicola Gordon Bowe, has identified the present work as being ‘prob- ably’ an illustration for Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World and has dated it to c.1915. [3] The drawing was made in pencil, pen and ink on Bristol board, and notably it is incomplete. Un- finished works by Clarke are uncommon and this one provides an insight into the artist’s working method. The pencil outline is surprisingly sparse which would suggest that Clarke had a clear vision of the end result in his head and the confidence to work directly in ink on board, a technique in which errors are not easily rectified. As with many illustrations by Clarke, the text can be a spring- board for a flight of fantasy, particularly when it came to the elaborate costumes he dressed the characters in. The main figure would appear to be the mysterious anti-hero, Christy Mahon, depict- ed centre stage in Michael Flaherty’s rural pub. Clarke has depicted him smartly dressed – possi- bly from Act II by when he has changed into his best clothes – complete with earrings, bangles and rings, and with a rakish expression. Other characters in the play, in equally improbable costumes, jostle with each other. At this stage Clarke’s style, when working in crisp black and white, was influenced by Aubrey Beardsley. One can see similarities between this illustration and other works by Clarke of the same period such as his illustrations for The Rape of the Lock which was commis- sioned by Waldron, and those for The Rime of the Ancient Mariner purchased by Waldron’s friend, Sir Robert Woods. In 1917 Clarke drew another illustration inspired by The Playboy of the Western World for a member of the same social set, this time it was a gift for Thomas Bodkin (later director of the National Gallery) and titled The Mad Mulrannies . Dr David Caron, August 2025 [1] Nicola Gordon Bowe, ‘ A Regal Blaze: Harry Clarke’s Depiction of Synge’s “Queens ”’, Irish Arts Review, Summer 2006, vol. 23, no. 2 [2] Ibid. [3] Nicola Gordon Bowe, Harry Clarke: His Graphic Art (Dublin, 1983), p. 122, plate XVIII.