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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'WORKMEN PAINTING BUTT BRIDGE'
- Price Realised: 4,400
- Sale: 26 April 2005
- watercolour over pencil
- 27 by 36cm., 10.5 by 14in.
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'CIRCUS, 1934'
- Price Realised: 4,200
- Sale: 24 November 2014
- watercolour and pencil
- 9½ x 12in. (24.13 x 30.48cm)
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'WET STREET, KILLARNEY, 1943'
- Price Realised: 4,200
- Sale: 28 November 2011
- watercolour over pencil
- 27 by 37cm., 10.7 5 by 14.5in.
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'COTTAGES, NEAR RENVYLE, CONNEMARA'
- Price Realised: 4,200
- Sale: 17 September 2002
- watercolour
- 25 by 36cm., 10 by 14in.
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'WATLING STREET, DUBLIN, 1933'
- Price Realised: 4,000
- Sale: 29 February 2016
- watercolour
- 10½ x 14in. (26.67 x 35.56cm)
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'OLD HUGUENOT HOUSE, DIGGS [SIC] ST. OFF REDMOND'S HILL, DUBLIN, c.1952-1957'
- Price Realised: 4,000
- Sale: 30 May 2011
- oil with gouache and pastel on card
- 29 by 38cm., 11.2 5 by 15in.
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'EXTENSIVE LAKE AND MOUNTAIN LANDSCAPE'
- Price Realised: 4,000
- Sale: 26 April 2005
- watercolour over pencil
- 24 by 33cm., 9.5 by 13in.
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'PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG GIRL WITH PLAITS'
- Price Realised: 3,809
- Sale: 13 June 2001
- pastel
- 51 by 39cm., 20 by 15.5in.
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'LARKFIELD HOUSE, KIMMAGE, DUBLIN, 1926'
- Price Realised: 3,800
- Sale: 02 October 2023
- oil on board
- 12 x 16in. (30.48 x 40.64cm)
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'DUBLIN CABBY or "I'LL LEAVE IT TO YOURSELF, SIR"'
- Price Realised: 3,800
- Sale: 29 November 2010
- pastel and pencil on buff-coloured paper
- 34 by 28cm., 13.5 by 11in.
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'PORTRAIT OF LENA, THE ARTIST'S SISTER'
- Price Realised: 3,800
- Sale: 21 September 2004
- oil pastel on card
- 51 by 38cm., 20 by 15in.
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'THE CROCK OF GOLD'
- Price Realised: 3,800
- Sale: 16 September 2003
- watercolour, pen and ink
- 30 by 19cm., 12 by 7.5in.
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''HOLY MACKERAL' (CONNEMARA FISHERMAN, RENVYLE, WALSH), 1960'
- Price Realised: 3,600
- Sale: 26 November 2018
- oil on board
- 24 x 20in. (60.96 x 50.80cm)
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'PORTRAIT OF DELIA MURPHY'
- Price Realised: 3,600
- Sale: 02 October 2017
- pastel
- 20 x 13½in. (50.80 x 34.29cm)
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'HE WASN'T A SQUARE or ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS'
- Price Realised: 3,555
- Sale: 10 October 2000
- oil on board
- 14 by 19cm., 5.5 by 7.5in.
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'THE ONLY WAY [PEACE SCROLL] 1972'
- Price Realised: 3,400
- Sale: 26 February 2018
- oil and gouache on board
- 25 x 20in. (63½ x 50.80cm)
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'SEVEN CUBES IN A CUBE'
- Price Realised: 3,400
- Sale: 22 February 2005
- oil crayon over pencil on card
- 50 by 39cm., 19.5 by 15.5in.
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'THE HELL FIRE CLUB, 1931'
- Price Realised: 3,300
- Sale: 21 May 2012
- watercolour
- 11 by 15.5in., 27.94 by 39.37cm.
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'EVENING TWILIGHT, BAGGOT STREET, DUBLIN, 1936'
- Price Realised: 3,200
- Sale: 06 March 2023
- watercolour
- 10½ x 14Ύin. (26.67 x 37.47cm)
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'LAVENDER MAN, 1957'
- Price Realised: 3,000
- Sale: 01 October 2018
- pastel
- 14½ x 11in. (36.83 x 27.94cm)
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'FIGURES DINING IN AN OUTDOOR CAFE, PARIS, c.1931'
- Price Realised: 3,000
- Sale: 28 November 2011
- oil on board
- 30 by 41cm., 12 by 16in.
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'YOUNG MEXICAN GIRL, 1974'
- Price Realised: 3,000
- Sale: 26 May 2007
- oil crayon
- 43 by 35cm., 17 by 13.7 5in.
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'CYRIL CUSACK, 1942'
- Price Realised: 3,000
- Sale: 25 April 2006
- signed and dated lower left; inscribed lower right
- 39 by 30cm., 15.5 by 12in.
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'ABSTRACT WITH PRISMS'
- Price Realised: 3,000
- Sale: 25 April 2006
- signed lower right
- 30 by 41cm., 12 by 16in.
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'ABSTRACT DESIGN OF CIRCLES'
- Price Realised: 3,000
- Sale: 25 April 2006
- signed on reverse beneath backing board
- 33 by 24cm., 13 by 9.5in.
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'ISRAELI BOY, 1970'
- Price Realised: 2,900
- Sale: 29 November 2021
- oil on board
- 22½ x 17½in. (57.15 x 44.45cm)
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'TURF GIRL, CONNEMARA'
- Price Realised: 2,900
- Sale: 31 May 2021
- oil on board
- 8 x 6Όin. (20.32 x 15.88cm)
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'BRENDAN BEHAN, 1960'
- Price Realised: 2,900
- Sale: 29 February 2016
- pastel
- 15½ x 11in. (39.37 x 27.94cm)