Harry Kernoff
The son of Jewish parents of mixed Russian and Spanish descent, Kernoff was born in London but moved to Dublin at an early age when his father opted to begin a cabinet-making business there. Kernoffs artistic training began with night classes at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art. Upon winning the prestigious Taylor Scholarship in 1923, he became a day student and henceforth devoted all his energies to art, working also for a time on designing stage sets in the company of actors such as Mνcheαl MacLνammσir and Hilton Edwards. Some time after this he visited Paris, staying for a month painting and sketching. In 1926 Kernoff began exhibiting at the RHA, continuing to do so nearly every year for the next five decades. He joined the Dublin Society of Painters in 1927 and held many solo exhibitions at their studio in no. 7 St. Stephens Green. He also had two solo exhibitions with the Victor Waddington Galleries in 1936 and 1937 and numerous shows abroad in London, Glasgow, Paris, Amsterdam, New York, Chicago and Toronto. In 1930 he visited Russia and later published on article on his experiences there prior to the Stalinist regime. At home, from his Dublin studio at no. 13 Stamer Street, Kernoff supported himself largely through selling woodcuts; three books of these were published, the first in 1942. He also contributed to other publications such as James Stephens Crock of Gold and A Broadside (Cuala Press) among others. His depictions of working-class Dublin and smaller towns across the country are much sought after by collectors, as are his portraits of Irelands leading literary and theatrical figures, some of which now hang in the Dublin Writers Museum among other public collections.
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'BATHERS, NAYLOR'S COVE, BRAY'
- Price Realised: 82,000
- Sale: 29 November 2005
- oil on panel
- 61 by 76cm., 24 by 30in.
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'CURRAGHS, CONNEMARA'
- Price Realised: 60,000
- Sale: 26 April 2005
- oil on panel
- 66 by 97cm., 26 by 38in.
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'ANGLESEA MARKET, DUBLIN, 1933'
- Price Realised: 40,000
- Sale: 26 May 2025
- oil on board
- 38 x 25in. (96.52 x 63½cm)
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'HUBAND BRIDGE, GRAND CANAL, DUBLIN, 1936'
- Price Realised: 39,000
- Sale: 30 April 2007
- oil on panel
- 30 by 41cm., 12 by 16in.
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'KILBRIDE, COUNTY WICKLOW, 1933'
- Price Realised: 36,000
- Sale: 17 September 2007
- oil on panel
- 30 by 41cm., 12 by 16in.
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'AUTUMN DAY AT ISLAND-BRIDGE, DUBLIN'
- Price Realised: 36,000
- Sale: 27 April 2004
- oil on panel
- 61 by 91cm., 24 by 36in.
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'MASQUERADE COSTUMES - SET OF TWELVE'
- Price Realised: 33,000
- Sale: 26 April 2005
- watercolour, pen and ink; twelve works individually framed
- 23 by 18cm., 9.25 by 7in.
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'BON VIVEUR'
- Price Realised: 30,000
- Sale: 19 February 2002
- gouache with charcoal underdrawing on board
- 57 by 48cm., 22.5 by 19in.
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'DAVY BYRNE'S PUB, DUKE STREET, FROM THE BAILEY, DUBLIN, 1941'
- Price Realised: 29,000
- Sale: 01 October 2012
- watercolour
- 21.5 by 18.75in., 55 by 48cm.
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![[MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS], NORTH BRAY HARBOUR, COUNTY WICKLOW, 1935 by Harry Kernoff sold for 28,000 at Whyte's Auctions](/images/archive/20160530/36_1.jpg "[MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS], NORTH BRAY HARBOUR, COUNTY WICKLOW, 1935 by Harry Kernoff sold for 28,000 at Whyte's Auctions")
'[MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS], NORTH BRAY HARBOUR, COUNTY WICKLOW, 1935'
- Price Realised: 28,000
- Sale: 30 May 2016
- oil on board
- 27½ x 35in. (69.85 x 88.90cm)
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'DAVY BYRNE'S FROM THE BAILEY, circa 1941'
- Price Realised: 28,000
- Sale: 21 February 2006
- oil on board
- 51 by 38cm., 20 by 15in.
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'O'LOUGHLIN'S OFF-LICENCE HOUSE IN DALKEY'
- Price Realised: 25,000
- Sale: 29 November 2005
- oil on panel
- 34 by 44cm., 13.5 by 17.5in.
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'WINETAVERN STREET, DUBLIN'
- Price Realised: 24,000
- Sale: 26 November 2007
- watercolour
- 23 by 32cm., 9 by 12.7 5in.
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'BOLAND'S MILLS'
- Price Realised: 22,000
- Sale: 22 February 2005
- watercolour over pencil
- 28 by 41cm., 11.2 by 16in.
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'EGAN'S P. & H. TULLAMORE, COUNTY OFFALY'
- Price Realised: 21,000
- Sale: 21 February 2006
- watercolour over pencil
- 23 by 34cm., 9.25 by 13.25in.
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'THE GREEN DOOR'
- Price Realised: 19,045
- Sale: 09 October 2001
- oil on board
- 39 by 30cm., 15.5 by 12in.
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'LIBERTY HALL, DUBLIN (NIGHT), 1934'
- Price Realised: 19,000
- Sale: 26 September 2022
- watercolour
- 18 x 21½in. (45.72 x 54.61cm)
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'PORTOBELLO HARBOUR'
- Price Realised: 19,000
- Sale: 30 November 2009
- gouache and oil with pencil
- 38 by 51cm., 15 by 20in.
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'PORTMARNOCK, SUMMER 1928'
- Price Realised: 19,000
- Sale: 30 November 2004
- oil pastel on board
- 29 by 39cm., 11.5 by 15.5in.
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'MAKING HAY AT RENVYLE, CONNEMARA'
- Price Realised: 19,000
- Sale: 19 November 2002
- oil on panel
- 36 by 48cm., 14 by 19in.
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'THE METRO, PARIS, 1931'
- Price Realised: 18,000
- Sale: 26 September 2016
- oil on board
- 24 x 29½in. (60.96 x 74.93cm)
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'BEND IN THE ROAD, HOWTH, COUNTY DUBLIN, 1937'
- Price Realised: 16,500
- Sale: 26 September 2022
- watercolour
- 9 x 13in. (22.86 x 33.02cm)
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'THE TRAM, DUBLIN NOCTURNE,1926'
- Price Realised: 16,000
- Sale: 28 November 2016
- oil on board
- 14Ό x 19½in. (36.20 x 49.53cm)
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'QUEEN'S MEWS COURT, STORE STREET, DUBLIN, c.1939-1940'
- Price Realised: 16,000
- Sale: 30 May 2016
- oil on panel
- 21 x 20in. (53.34 x 50.80cm)
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'GRAND CANAL LOCK, DUBLIN, 1935'
- Price Realised: 15,500
- Sale: 28 September 2020
- oil on board
- 24 x 30in. (60.96 x 76.20cm)
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'LIAM O'FLAHERTY, AUTHOR'
- Price Realised: 15,000
- Sale: 30 November 2004
- oil on panel
- 51 by 38cm., 20 by 15in.
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'SAINT STEPHEN'S GREEN, c.1936'
- Price Realised: 13,500
- Sale: 15 March 2010
- watercolour over pencil
- 23 by 33cm., 9 by 13in.
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'OLD SKERRIES WINDMILL'
- Price Realised: 13,000
- Sale: 20 September 2005
- oil crayon on board
- 39 by 29cm., 15.5 by 11.5in.