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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'THE METAL-BRIDGE, DUBLIN, 1940'
- Price Realised: €260
- Sale: 23 October 2023
- woodblock
- 6 x 4½in. (15.24 x 11.43cm)
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'MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR'
- Price Realised: €260
- Sale: 13 December 2021
- woodcut
- 4¾ x 5¾in. (12.07 x 14.61cm)
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'THE BRAZEN HEAD, DUBLIN, 1939 and ST MICHAEL'S HILL, WINETAVERN STREET, DUBLIN, 1934 (A PAIR)'
- Price Realised: €260
- Sale: 17 July 2017
- woodcut: (2)
- 7¾ x 6in. (19.69 x 15.24cm)
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'LEPRECHAUN'
- Price Realised: €250
- Sale: 13 December 2021
- woodcut
- 5 x 3¾in. (12.70 x 9.53cm)
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'THIRTY-SIX WOODCUTS (1951)'
- Price Realised: €240
- Sale: 09 December 2012
- limited edition book; (no. 22 from an edition of 400)
- 10.25 by 8in., 26.035 by 20.32cm.
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'THE METAL BRIDGE DUBLIN, 1940'
- Price Realised: €230
- Sale: 25 July 2022
- woodcut
- 6 x 4¾in. (15.24 x 12.07cm)
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'THE METAL BRIDGE DUBLIN, 1940'
- Price Realised: €220
- Sale: 30 May 2011
- woodcut
- 15 by 11cm., 6 by 4.5in.
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'TURF-BARGES, PORTOBELLO, DUBLIN, 1941'
- Price Realised: €220
- Sale: 04 October 2010
- woodcut
- 13 by 17cm., 5.25 by 6.5in.
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'Flann O'Brien, At Swim Two-Birds, Four Square, London, 1962 - Kernoff's own copy'
- Price Realised: €220
- Sale: 27 May 2006
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'DUBLIN TRAIN (NIGHT)'
- Price Realised: €210
- Sale: 28 March 2022
- monochrome woodblock
- 7¼ x 5½in. (18.42 x 13.97cm)
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'NELSON'S PILLAR, DUBLIN, G.P.O.'
- Price Realised: €210
- Sale: 28 March 2022
- monochrome woodblock
- 7½ x 5¾in. (19.05 x 14.61cm)
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'A BIRD NEVER FLEW ON ONE WING'
- Price Realised: €210
- Sale: 05 October 2020
- 9 x 10¼in. (22.86 x 26.04cm)
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'CASEMENT IN THE DOCK'
- Price Realised: €200
- Sale: 25 March 2024
- woodcut
- 8 x 5¾in. (20.32 x 14.61cm)
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'BOON COMPANIONS and IN DAVY BYRNE'S BACK SNUG, DUBLIN (A PAIR)'
- Price Realised: €200
- Sale: 17 July 2017
- woodcut; (2)
- 7¾ x 5¼in. (19.69 x 13.34cm)
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'A QUIET SMOKE'
- Price Realised: €190
- Sale: 12 December 2022
- woodcut
- 3¾ x 5¾in. (9.53 x 14.61cm)
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'A BIRD NEVER FLEW ON ONE WING OR ALCOHOLICS SYNONYMOUS'
- Price Realised: €190
- Sale: 19 November 2001
- 14 by 19cm., 5.5 by 7.5in.
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'MENDICANT FLUTE PLAYER'
- Price Realised: €180
- Sale: 18 October 2021
- woodcut
- 7¾ x 5¾in. (19.69 x 14.61cm)
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'THE OLD CLADDAGH, GALWAY, 1933'
- Price Realised: €170
- Sale: 25 July 2022
- photolithograpic print; (unframed)
- 4½ x 6in. (11.43 x 15.24cm)
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'BREACADH AN LAE / DAWN, 1929 and PROFILE OF A MAN IN SHIRT AND TIE, 1931 (A PAIR)'
- Price Realised: €170
- Sale: 04 October 2010
- woodcuts (framed)
- 25 by 19cm., 9.75 by 7.5in.
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'THE MASHER'
- Price Realised: €160
- Sale: 12 December 2022
- woodcut
- 5¾ x 3½in. (14.61 x 8.89cm)
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'FEMALE RUSSIAN JEWISH PEASANT'
- Price Realised: €150
- Sale: 12 December 2022
- woodcut; (unframed)
- 8¼ x 5¾in. (20.96 x 14.61cm)
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'FARM, ASKEATON, COUNTY LIMERICK, 1930'
- Price Realised: €150
- Sale: 25 July 2022
- woodcut
- 5¾ x 8in. (14.61 x 20.32cm)
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'A BIRD NEVER FLEW ON ONE WING'
- Price Realised: €150
- Sale: 06 December 2008
- b & w print, unframed
- 13 by 14cm., 5 by 5.5in.
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'JAMES CONNOLLY AND THE IRISH CITIZEN ARMY, DUBLIN (EXECUTED 1916)'
- Price Realised: €140
- Sale: 01 July 2024
- woodblock
- 14¼ x 10½in. (36.20 x 26.67cm)
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'A QUIET SMOKE'
- Price Realised: €140
- Sale: 25 July 2022
- woodcut
- 5 x 8in. (12.70 x 20.32cm)
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'CLOWN (MACHIAVELLIAN)'
- Price Realised: €140
- Sale: 09 December 2012
- woodcut
- 8 by 5.75in., 20.32 by 14.605cm.
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'JEWISH NEW YEAR, 1975, NELSON'S PILLAR & GPO, DUBLIN, 1935 and DAVY BYRNE'S BACK SNUG, 1936 (SET OF 3)'
- Price Realised: €140
- Sale: 09 December 2012
- woodcut; (1); print; (2)
- 4.5 by 5.5in., 11.43 by 13.97cm.
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'GRAND CANAL LOCK, DUBLIN, ACCORDIAN PLAYER, DARBY AND JOAN & AN CAILÍN'
- Price Realised: €140
- Sale: 09 December 2012
- woodcuts; (4)
- by in., 0 by 0cm.