Walled the Monster (1919) – Harry Clarke | Poe's Black Cat

Harry Clarke's 1919 plate for Poe's The Black Cat — the moment the wall comes down, printed as an archival art print.

He murdered his wife and walled her body up in the cellar, and he was proud of the workmanship. When the police came, he rapped confidently on the very wall that hid her. A sound answered from inside — first muffled, then a long, loud, continuous wail — and the wall fell to show the corpse upright, the cat on its head with its red mouth open. Clarke draws the discovery: the decaying figure riddled with stippled pattern that bleeds into the detectives' garments, as if cat, wife and law have all turned on the narrator.

Clarke (1889–1931), the Dublin stained-glass artist, drew twenty-four plates for Harrap's 1919 edition of Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination, every one in black and white. The caption is the narrator's own: "I had walled the monster up within the tomb!"

It hangs well in a study, a library or a home office, anywhere the detail rewards a second look. Made to order, shipped worldwide and backed by hundreds of verified customer reviews.

Materials & craftsmanship

• Paper: 250 gsm fine art paper, matte, uncoated, natural off-white archival surface.
• Frame: oak or ash hardwood in black, white or natural wood, 20 mm profile, ready to hang.
• Protection: clear shatterproof plexiglass on framed prints.