David Clarke (1920-2005)
Portrait of Josie MacAvin (1945)
Pencil, 28.5 x 25cm
Signed and dated (19)'45

Provenance: From the estate of David Clarke and thence by descent.

Set decorator and...

David Clarke (1920-2005)
Portrait of Josie MacAvin (1945)
Pencil, 28.5 x 25cm
Signed and dated (19)'45

Provenance: From the estate of David Clarke and thence by descent.

Set decorator and art director Josie Macavin (1919-2005) is the only Irish person to have been awarded an Academy award for Out of Africa 1985 - and an Emmy for the miniseries, Scarlett 1994. Both trophies are on display at the Irish Film Institute, Dublin.

Clarke (1920-2005), son of the artists Harry and Margaret Clarke, was Macavins boyfriend at the time of the portrait. They fell in love at the Dublin Ballet Club in 1941 and remained close for fifteen years. They toured the US together with The Dublin Players, but in 1955 Clarke returned to Ireland to pursue a career in art, and as a director of the Harry Clarke Stained Glass Studios. Macavin continued to work in the USA as set designer for the stage, and began working on films sets in the late nineteen fifties.

 

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