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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'LIFFEY-BANK HOUSE, CHAPELIZOD, DUBLIN, 1954'
- Price Realised: 7,400
- Sale: 30 April 2007
- watercolour and pencil
- 26 by 32cm., 10.2 5 by 12.5in.
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'THE CIRCUS'
- Price Realised: 6,500
- Sale: 19 February 2002
- watercolour over pencil
- 25 by 34cm., 10 by 13.5in.
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'SET OF FOUR MASQUERADE COSTUME DESIGNS, 1928'
- Price Realised: 6,200
- Sale: 22 March 2021
- watercolour, pen and ink; (4)
- 9½ x 7Όin. (24.13 x 18.42cm)
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'DIGGES STREET, DUBLIN, 1952'
- Price Realised: 6,000
- Sale: 27 May 2019
- oil on board
- 24 x 27in. (60.96 x 68.58cm)
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'WHISKEY ROW, RINGSEND, DUBLIN, 1933'
- Price Realised: 6,000
- Sale: 30 September 2013
- watercolour
- 10 by 12in., 25 by 30cm.
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![BOLAND'S MILL [GRAND CANAL DOCK] 1931 by Harry Kernoff sold for 6,000 at Whyte's Auctions](/images/archive/20130527/032.jpg "BOLAND'S MILL [GRAND CANAL DOCK] 1931 by Harry Kernoff sold for 6,000 at Whyte's Auctions")
'BOLAND'S MILL [GRAND CANAL DOCK] 1931'
- Price Realised: 6,000
- Sale: 27 May 2013
- watercolour over pencil
- 11.5 by 16in., 28.75 by 40cm.
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'DOLLYMOUNT STRAND AT LOW TIDE'
- Price Realised: 6,000
- Sale: 21 September 2004
- watercolour
- 24 by 34cm., 9.5 by 13.5in.
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'THE HANDY SHOP AFTER RAIN, KILLARNEY'
- Price Realised: 5,900
- Sale: 28 November 2011
- watercolour
- 27 by 37cm., 10.7 5 by 14.7 5in.
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'SIC TRANSIT GLORIA MUNDI, DAVY BYRNE'S BACK BAR, 1934'
- Price Realised: 5,800
- Sale: 04 March 2024
- watercolour
- 12½ x 9Ύin. (31Ύ x 24.77cm)
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'PINK FARM BY RAILWAY BRIDGE, KILLARNEY'
- Price Realised: 5,713
- Sale: 19 November 2001
- watercolour
- 25 by 34cm., 10 by 13.5in.
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'COLIEMORE HARBOUR, DALKEY, COUNTY DUBLIN'
- Price Realised: 5,600
- Sale: 29 May 2017
- oil on card
- 7Ύ x 5Ύin. (19.69 x 14.61cm)
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'IRISH EYES, 1968'
- Price Realised: 5,600
- Sale: 21 February 2006
- wax crayon with pen and ink on card
- 21 by 16cm., 8.25 by 6.25in.
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'PINK HAWTHORN, ST STEPHEN'S GREEN, DUBLIN'
- Price Realised: 5,400
- Sale: 28 September 2015
- watercolour
- 13 x 9in. (33.02 x 22.86cm)
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'POUND ROW, LEWIS ROAD, KILLARNEY'
- Price Realised: 5,400
- Sale: 28 November 2011
- watercolour
- 23 by 34cm., 9.25 by 13.2 5in.
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'OLD GEORGIAN HOUSE OPPOSITE TOWNHALL, KILLARNEY, KERRY, 1943'
- Price Realised: 5,200
- Sale: 28 November 2011
- watercolour
- 27 by 37cm., 10.7 5 by 14.7 5in.
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'UP THE WORKERS' REPUBLIC IRELAND'
- Price Realised: 5,200
- Sale: 17 September 2007
- oil on canvas board
- 15 by 20cm., 6 by 8in.
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'NUDE'
- Price Realised: 5,000
- Sale: 04 March 2024
- oil on board
- 27½ x 31½in. (69.85 x 80.01cm)
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'VIEW FROM THE LAKE HOTEL, KILLARNEY, COUNTY KERRY, 1943'
- Price Realised: 5,000
- Sale: 07 December 2020
- oil on board
- 14½ x 19½in. (36.83 x 49.53cm)
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'OLD MILL PORTMARNOCK, c.1926'
- Price Realised: 5,000
- Sale: 12 March 2012
- oil on board
- 28.575 by 38.735cm., 11.25 by 15.25in.
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'PARK SCENE WITH FIGURES'
- Price Realised: 5,000
- Sale: 26 April 2005
- watercolour
- 25 by 30cm., 10 by 12in.
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'DOCKLANDS SCENE'
- Price Realised: 5,000
- Sale: 21 September 2004
- oil on board
- 15 by 20cm., 6 by 8in.
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'FIGURES WALKING OVER STONY GROUND TOWARDS THE SEA'
- Price Realised: 5,000
- Sale: 19 February 2002
- watercolour over pencil
- 27 by 36cm., 10.5 by 14in.
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'RUE DE SEINE, PARIS, 1931'
- Price Realised: 4,800
- Sale: 28 November 2011
- watercolour over pencil
- 38 by 29cm., 15 by 11.2 5in.
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'FIELDS, RUSH AND LUSK, COUNTY DUBLIN, 6PM, 1938'
- Price Realised: 4,800
- Sale: 31 May 2010
- watercolour over pencil
- 20 by 31cm., 8 by 12.2 5in.
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'THE GREEN CHARTREUSE DRINKER'
- Price Realised: 4,800
- Sale: 19 September 2006
- pastel on paper
- 33 by 24cm., 13 by 9.5in.
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'A TRADE UNIONIST'
- Price Realised: 4,700
- Sale: 27 April 2004
- oil on canvas
- 43 by 30cm., 17 by 12in.
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'BANDSTAND, PHOENIX PARK, DUBLIN'
- Price Realised: 4,600
- Sale: 02 October 2017
- oil on panel
- 14Ό x 19Όin. (36.20 x 48.90cm)
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'PORTRAIT OF FLANN O'BRIEN'
- Price Realised: 4,600
- Sale: 08 May 2002
- pastel on paper
- 32 by 24cm., 12.5 by 9.5in.