1924 -

Sculptor, etcher, and designer in stained glass and mosaic, born 28 November 1924 in Darley Dale, Derbyshire. He studied at Preston School of Art, 1940-1, and Manchester School of Art, 1941-2. His studies were interrupted by the Second World War (he served in the RAF, 1943--6), after which he spent a year at Lancaster and Morecambe School of Arts and Crafts, finishing off at the Royal College of Art, 1948--52. Clarke won the Silver Medal at the Milan Triennale, 1951, and appeared at the Venice Biennales of 1952 and 1960. His first solo exhibition was at Gimpel Fils in 1952 and a touring retrospective of his works was organised by Ipswich Museums and Galleries, 1994--5. Clarke taught at Colchester School of Art, and he was head of the Light Transmission and Projection Department at the Royal College of Art (1968-73). He was central to the iron sculpture trend of the 1950s, executing an abstract sculpture in this material in 1952 for the Time-Life Building, Bond Street, London. Early public commissions include the High Altar Cross and candlesticks, Flying Cross and Crown of Thorns, 1953--62, for Coventry Cathedral, and The Spirit of Electricity, 1958, for Thorn House in London. In later works, such as the Relief (‘Bubble Chamber Tracks’), 1966--8, for the University of Liverpool, and the Relief, c.1964, for the Nottingham Playhouse, he used aluminium. He was elected ARA in 1970 and RA in 1976. Examples of his work are in the collections of the Arts Council, Tate Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, and in the Leeds Sculpture Collections.