ADAM'S IMPORTANT IRISH ART 24th September 2025

58 34 MARGARET CLARKE RHA (NEÉ CRILLEY) (1884-1961) Portrait of Florence (Dolly) Clarke (1911) Oil on canvas, 99 x 82cm (39 x 32’’) Provenance: The Artist’s Family, by descent. Exhibited: Dublin, Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, 1913, no. 317. € 10,000 - 15,000 This serene portrait of a young woman seated at a table, open book in hand, dressed in a white gown with delicate pink, mauve and blue flower decorations on the collar, cuffs and skirt, depicts Margaret Clarke’s future sister-in- law Florence Clarke, Dolly as she was known, the sister of stained glass artist Harry Clarke. She was the youngest of the five children - Fanny (1882-1887), Kathleen (1885-1965), Walter (1888-1930), Harry (1889-1931) and Florence (1892- 1984) - of Joshua Clarke (1858-1921) and his wife Bridget, neé MacGonigal (1860-1903). Dolly grew up surrounded by the church decoration business established by her father, a family business in which both Harry and Walter worked. After their father’s death both brothers further developed the Clarke Studios producing work for Irish and interna- tional clients. Following a period living together in London, Dolly and Kathleen returned to Ireland, where in time as Harry’s health deteriorated Dolly took on an important role alongside Walter in the management of the Clarke Studios. This role continued after Walter’s untimely death with Dolly liaising between Harry and prospective clients whilst he was at a sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland. Dolly, joined by Kathleen, continued to oversee aspects of the Studios’ day-to-day management for several decades following his death, alongside Margaret Clarke as a director. This portrait of Dolly, an early work by Margaret Clarke, numbered among four paintings that were accepted at the 1913 Royal Hibernian Academy exhibition. This was Clarke’s inaugural RHA exhibition, and the works were exhibited under her maiden name Crilley. An excellent example of her skill as a portraitist, this painting was one of the ‘two portraits of distinct merit by Miss Margaret Crilley’ that were noted in The Freeman’s Journal RHA exhibition review of March 18 1913. While the portrait is undated it was probably painted two years earlier in 1911. A card, dated 15 April 1911, written by Kathleen to the artist almost certainly refers to this work: ‘Dolly will sit for you on Monday, we never go out on Bank Holidays’. Prior to their marriage on 31 October 1914, Margaret Clarke, who had met Harry while both were studying at the Dublin Metro- politan School of Art, was a frequent visitor at the Clarke family home. This light-filled scene of home-life and quiet contemplation was doubtless of a type she would have wit- nessed and shared in during those visits. The tall window, dressed with a heavy green damask curtain, and the mutely painted panelling behind Dolly are suggestive of a drawing room in the Clarke home at 33 North Frederick Street, a four-storey over basement terraced Georgian townhouse. Despite the limited interior space depicted around Dolly, a sense of air, light and spaciousness fills the scene. Notable is Clarke’s handling of the sunlight entering the room as she captures it reflecting off the polished surface of the table and through the vase of flowers and foliage, dappling on Dolly’s hands and arms, and playing across the white of her dress. An impression of the friendship and closeness between the sitter and the artist is conveyed as Clarke portrays a thoughtful Dolly, capturing a moment when she appears to momentarily pause reading to reflect on a passage in her open book. Carla Briggs, August 2025