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. Kernoff’s 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 Mícheál MacLíammóir 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. Stephen’s 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 Stephen’s 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 Ireland’s leading literary and theatrical figures, some of which now hang in the Dublin Writer’s Museum among other public collections.
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'PORTRAIT OF Seán McBRIDE'
- Price Realised: €2,158
- Sale: 13 June 2001
- pastel
- 39 by 28cm., 15.5 by 11in.
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'GRAND CANAL LOCK, DUBLIN, 1933'
- Price Realised: €2,100
- Sale: 07 December 2020
- watercolour
- 10½ x 14½in. (26.67 x 36.83cm)
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'A COLLECTION OF TOPOGRAPHICAL WOODCUTS INCLUDING DÚN LAOGHAIRE, KILLINEY, BALLYBRACK, KERRY, MAYO AND LIMERICK, c.1934-1948'
- Price Realised: €2,100
- Sale: 28 May 2018
- woodcuts; (19); (unframed)
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'ST. AUDEON'S ARCH, COOK STREET, DUBLIN, 1934'
- Price Realised: €2,100
- Sale: 28 November 2016
- oil on panel
- 12 x 16in. (30.48 x 40.64cm)
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'SELF PORTRAIT, 1936'
- Price Realised: €2,100
- Sale: 24 October 2016
- chalk on tinted paper
- 17¾ x 14¾in. (45.09 x 37.47cm)
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'FOLIO OF DRAWINGS: PORTRAITS, FIGURE SKETCHES AND A STILL LIFE'
- Price Realised: €2,100
- Sale: 06 December 2008
- black crayon on paper (8) and pencil on paper (5)
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'RICHARD HAYWARD'
- Price Realised: €2,100
- Sale: 18 November 2003
- charcoal heightened with white
- 51 by 38cm., 20 by 15in.
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'HARBOUR'
- Price Realised: €2,032
- Sale: 10 October 2000
- chalk, pastel and crayon
- 22 by 29cm., 8.5 by 11.5in.
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'GEORGIAN HOUSES [HARCOURT ST.], DUBLIN, c.1926'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 31 May 2021
- oil on panel
- 15 x 20in. (38.10 x 50.80cm)
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'ABSTRACT COMPOSITION WITH BLUE, YELLOW AND RED'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 30 November 2015
- gouache
- 21¼ x 14½in. (53.98 x 36.83cm)
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'OUTHOUSES, MORNING SUNLIGHT, NEAR DUBLIN, 1930'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 28 November 2011
- watercolour
- 27 by 38cm., 10.7 5 by 15in.
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'MISS FITZGERALD, MAY 1931'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 17 September 2007
- charcoal and pencil on paper
- 51 by 41cm., 20 by 16in.
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'NOEL PURCELL, 1956'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 09 December 2006
- pastel on paper
- 38 by 27cm., 15 by 10.7 5in.
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'STILL LIFE WITH MIRROR REFLECTIONS, 1950'
- Price Realised: €2,000
- Sale: 19 September 2006
- pastel on paper mounted on board
- 27 by 37cm., 10.5 by 14.5in.
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'VILLAGE SCENE WITH CHURCH AND BUS, 1937'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 29 May 2023
- watercolour
- 10 x 13½in. (25.40 x 34.29cm)
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'VILLAGE SCENE WITH CHURCH AND BUS, 1937'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 29 May 2023
- watercolour
- 10 x 13½in. (25.40 x 34.29cm)
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'VILLAGE SCENE WITH CHURCH AND BUS, 1937'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 29 May 2023
- watercolour
- 10 x 13½in. (25.40 x 34.29cm)
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'VILLAGE SCENE WITH CHURCH AND BUS, 1937'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 29 May 2023
- watercolour
- 10 x 13½in. (25.40 x 34.29cm)
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'1916-1966 DESIGNS FOR COMMEMORATING THE EASTER RISING INCLUDING CELTIC WARRIOR'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 28 May 2018
- watercolour, pencil and woodcut; (7); (all unframed)
- 10 x 9in. (25.40 x 22.86cm)
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'LIME WORKS, DOLPHIN'S BARN, DUBLIN, 1931'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 30 May 2016
- watercolour
- 10¼ x 14¾in. (26.04 x 37.47cm)
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'ABSTRACT COMPOSITION WITH PINK, BLACK AND YELLOW, 1927'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 30 November 2015
- gouache
- 21¾ x 15in. (55¼ x 38.10cm)
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'PORTRAIT OF RICHARD GRAHAM'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 19 February 2007
- crayon on buff coloured card
- 36 by 30cm., 14 by 12in.
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'EMERGENCY 1941'
- Price Realised: €1,900
- Sale: 08 May 2002
- oil on board
- 20 by 15cm., 8 by 6in.
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'WOMAN ON A BRIDGE, 1943'
- Price Realised: €1,800
- Sale: 07 December 2020
- watercolour
- 10½ x 15in. (26.67 x 38.10cm)
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'EAMON DE VALERA, 1957'
- Price Realised: €1,800
- Sale: 07 December 2020
- pastel on buff coloured paper
- 14¾ x 10¾in. (37.47 x 27.31cm)
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'CLARE IS[LAND] FROM WESTPORT HARBOUR, TIDE OUT, 2 SEP 1949, 12.30PM'
- Price Realised: €1,800
- Sale: 24 November 2014
- watercolour over pencil
- 9½ x 12½in. (24.13 x 31¾cm)
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'AN ASPECT OF SUPERREALISM or FLOATING CUBES, (AN ESSAY IN SUPERREALISM)'
- Price Realised: €1,800
- Sale: 12 March 2012
- oil on board
- 50.8 by 54.61cm., 20 by 21.5in.
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'ABBEY THEATRE WORKER, 1935'
- Price Realised: €1,800
- Sale: 25 April 2006
- signed, dated and indistinctly inscribed lower right
- 37 by 27cm., 14.7 by 10.7in.