A new biography on the Kirkcudbright artist, William Hanna Clarke (1882-1924) was successfully launched, recently, in the Kirkcudbright Galleries. Written by Christine Wimbush, the event marked the completion of a project to highlight the life and career of the artist, undertaken by Christine and her late husband Peter, who was the artist’s grandson.
Clarke initially trained as a dentist and practised in Glasgow and London, but he had always had a strong interest in art, and attended night classes at the Glasgow School of Art. In 1913, he decided to give up dentistry to pursue a professional career in art, which brought him and his family to Kirkcudbright in 1915. At this time the town was recognised as a centre for artists. Here his talents were recognised and he was seen as a rising star in the Scottish art world, until his untimely death in 1924 following a tragic accident. As John Rosie, art critic of the ‘Glasgow Herald’ wrote in 1924 – ‘at his death, he had not reached the zenith of his power, but in the last year of his life he made progress in that direction which was quite extraordinary, particularly in painting in oils’.
The 64 page hardback book describes his life and career in detail and is copiously illustrated by with archive photographs and reproductions of many of the artist’s work. Priced at £15.00, proceeds from the sale of the book will go towards maintaining the Kirkcudbright Rotary Club Annual Young Artists Competition, now in its sixth year, which Peter Wimbush was responsible for establishing.
The book makes a significant addition to the body of biographies now available on Kirkcudbright’s artists and will be of particular value to anyone interested in Kirkcudbright’s artistic heritage and Scottish art history in general. It is now available from Kirkcudbright Galleries and will be in other local outlets shortly.