Clarke was born Margaret Crilley in 1884 in Newry, now in Northern Ireland. She trained as an artist in Newry and Dublin and was assistant to the portrait painter William Orpen. During the interwar years Clarke became established as one of Ireland’s most prominent portrait painters. Her sitters included the Irish president Éamon de Valera. The earlier of these two portraits shows David as a baby; the later one shows him as a teenager. They now join the collection of Newry & Mourne Museum in Margaret Clarke’s hometown.

Provenance

David Clarke; bequeathed to Fiana Griffin, 2005