Sir Paul McCartney pays tribute to 'dear friend' Sir Brian Clarke

Sir Brian designed the cover for the former Beatles star’s 1982 solo album, Tug Of War, and was remembered as the “most important artist working in stained glass” by London’s Heni gallery, where some of his work is displayed, as it announced his death.

The artist is best known for his work at the Al Faisaliyah Centre in Riyadh, the Royal Mosque of King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia, and the 14-metre-high, stained glass pavilion, The Stamford Cone in Connecticut, having painted his first window at the age of 17.

Sir Paul said in a post on Instagram:

“Brian Clarke was a dear friend of our family whom we had known for years. Sadly, he passed away recently but we all have lovely memories of the times we had together. We always laughed.

“Brian often had some great artistic endeavours to show or talk to us about. He made some stained glass windows for us and did a great collaboration with Linda using her photographs to make stained glass pictures out of.

“He was commissioned to make stained glass for Bahrain Airport (Concordia), Stansted Airport (a collaboration with Sir Norman Foster), and Queen Victoria Street Arcade in Leeds, and these are just some of the works he was famous for.

“Ever since I met him in the 70s with Robert Fraser the art dealer, we always had the best times together. We will all miss him but have fond memories of him to cherish and his incredible artwork to remind us of Brian himself.”

Across his 50-year-career, Sir Brian also created stained glass for commemorative works including the Holocaust Memorial Synagogue (Neue Synagogue) in Darmstadt, Germany, and also designed an artwork in 2010 for the Papal Chapel of the Apostolic Nunciature in London, for Pope Benedict XVI’s state visit to the United Kingdom.

The artist was born in Oldham, Lancashire, into a working class family, with his father, Edward, a miner, while his mother, Lilian, worked at the local cotton mill, according to his official website.

He was knighted in the 2024 New Year Honours, saying:

“I’m feeling very surprised and grateful really. It’s wonderful to get noticed for one’s work, but to get honoured for it too is really very encouraging.”

A statement from Heni, announcing his death on Saturday, read:

“A visionary artist and cherished friend, he will be missed.”

Other celebrities to pay tribute to the artist included TV presenter and pianist Jools Holland, who said Sir Brian was an “extraordinary and dear man” in a post on Instagram.