Evie Hone

(Ireland, 22/04/1894 - 13/03/1955)

Born in 1894 in Dublin, Hone began her artistic training in London following the First World War, undertaking classes at the Byam Shaw School of Art and, later, the Westminster School of Art, where she first met fellow Irish artist Mainie Jellett (1897 - 1944). Together, they would become instrumental in introducing European modernist ideals to Ireland.

In the early 1920s, Hone and Jellett traveled to Paris, studying under André Lhote and later Albert Gleizes, whose theories of Cubism had a lasting impact on Hone’s early work. Her paintings from this period reflect a rigorous engagement with structure, Abstraction and form, making her as one of the first Irish artists to embrace Cubism.

Despite her early commitment to Modernist painting, Hone underwent a profound artistic and spiritual transformation in the 1930s following her conversion to Roman Catholicism. This shift redirected her creative energies toward religious expression, and she found her true vocation in the medium of stained glass. Joining An Túr Gloine (The Tower of Glass), a cooperative studio in Dublin, Hone quickly distinguished herself through her bold compositions, luminous colour palettes and ability to reconcile modernist principles with traditional craftsmanship.

Hone’s stained-glass work is characterised by its clarity of design and deep spiritual resonance. She rejected overly ornate styles in favour of simplified forms and expressive use of colour, allowing light itself to become an active component of the work. Like most stained-glass artists, her work often conveys biblical narratives and sacred themes, although the striking immediacy and emotional power of her pieces reflects her belief in art as a vehicle for transcendence.

Among her most celebrated achievements is the East Window for Eton College Chapel, completed in 1952. This monumental work, depicting the Crucifixion and Last Judgment, is widely regarded as a masterpiece of twentieth-century stained glass and exemplifies Hone’s mature style, combining monumental scale with intricate detail and a profound sense of spiritual drama.

Image: Evie Hone, A Landscape with a Tree (1943). Oil on board, 69 x 69 cm. National Gallery of Ireland.