He was a noted Irish Sculptor.
A member of Aosdana
John Burke

Death Notice.

The death has occurred of John BURKE
Blarney Street, Cork.

The death has occurred of John BURKE, Sculptor and Member of Aosdána, of Blarney Street, Cork and O'Connell Street, Clonmel, on December 11, 2006, peacefully, at the South Infirmary. Reposing at O'Connor Bros. Funeral Home, North Gate Bridge. Removal this Tuesday evening at 6.30pm to The Cathedral. Requiem Mass tomorrow, Wednesday, at 10am. Funeral afterwards to Ardnageehy Cemetery, Watergrasshill. Rest in Peace.


See Wikipedia
John Burke


Obituary.
Published in The Tipperary Star.

The late John Burke was "a beacon of light on the art scene"

The death took place in the South Infirmary Hospital, Cork, on Monday, December 11th of John Burke, Blarney Street, Cork, son of the late Thady and Madeleine Burke, 14 O'Connell Street, Clonmel, at the age of sixty years. He had been ill for some time.

Following school in Clonmel, he began attending the Crawford School of Art in Cork in 1964. He was drawn to sculpture, attending night classes at technical school to learn welding, and began working with scrap metal.

He was influenced by the cubists and by British and American sculptors, in particular David Smith.

After three years studying in Cork, he won the Macauley Fellowship and travelled to London. There he worked in the studio of the Manx-born sculptor Brian Kneale for three days a week.

He spent another two days in the life drawing room at the Royal Academy.

He then travelled for a year in North Africa and the Greek Islands and returned to Ireland by way of Holland and Italy – completing a journey that retraced much of the history of western art.

He set up a studio and workshop in a converted stable in Blarney, near Cork city. He supported himself by teaching two days a week at the Crawford School of Art. There he was an acknowledged influence on such artists as Eilis O'Connell, Vivienne Roche, Maud Cotter, James Scanlon and John Gibbons.

He ceased teaching in the late 1970s in order to work full-time as a sculptor.

His work was shown in the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, as well as at international events such as Artists 77, New York (1977); 18 European Sculptors, Munich (1978); Sculpture Europe`ene, Brussels (1979); A Sense of Ireland, London (1980); and CAN, Cork (1985), where he won the sculpture prize.

His work is included in numerous public and private collections, most notably in the collection of the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

A member of Aosdana since 1981, his death robs the country of a noted artist and teacher, familiar to the wider public by virtue of his monumental pieces such as those at the Wilton Roundabout in Cork,the Bank of Ireland on Dublin's Baggot Street and the Tipperary Institute in his native Clonmel.

His most recent public sculpture was a work donated to Cork University Hospital last year.

Speaking at the funeral oration, Richard Wood described John Burke as an artist "of strength, competence and powerful character."

He recalled the oppressive climate of the times, during which the sculptor broke free of local and national constraints: "John has been a beacon of light on the art scene during the second half of the 20th century. He forged his own path, showed a way to others, leaving a legacy of marvellous works which speak of their time with the utmost clarity. We are all the richer for his life."

Following Mass in The Cathedral in Cork, he was laid to rest in Ard na Gaoithe Cemetery, Watergrasshill, on Wednesday, December 13th.

He is survived by his daughter Eve, sister Mary, brothers Redmond and Adrian, sisters-in-law, nieces, relatives and many friends.

May he rest in peace.