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 TURFCUTTER'
- Price Realised: €140
- Sale: 06 December 2008
- woodcut print
- 8 by 13cm., 3 by 5in.
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'THE ACCORDION PLAYER'
- Price Realised: €127
- Sale: 26 June 2000
- woodcut
- 23 by 20cm., 9 by 8in.
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'A BIRD NEVER FLEW ON ONE WING'
- Price Realised: €120
- Sale: 03 April 2023
- 7½ x 9½in. (19.05 x 24.13cm)
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'TURFCUTTER'
- Price Realised: €100
- Sale: 25 March 2024
- woodcut
- 3 x 5in. (7.62 x 12.70cm)
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'MADAME COGLEY'
- Price Realised: €100
- Sale: 03 April 2023
- monochrome lithograph postcard; (unframed)
- 5½ x 3½in. (13.97 x 8.89cm)
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'MADAME COGLEY'
- Price Realised: €100
- Sale: 03 April 2023
- monochrome lithograph postcard; (unframed)
- 5½ x 3½in. (13.97 x 8.89cm)
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'A BIRD NEVER FLEW ON ONE WING'
- Price Realised: €100
- Sale: 17 October 2022
- colour print
- 8¼ x 9¼in. (20.96 x 23½cm)
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'CURRACH, CONNEMARA'
- Price Realised: €100
- Sale: 25 July 2022
- woodcut
- 5 x 7in. (12.70 x 17.78cm)
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'COLLEEN OF WEST KERRY'
- Price Realised: €100
- Sale: 25 July 2022
- woodcut
- 8 x 5½in. (20.32 x 13.97cm)
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'THE LADY, THE SQUIRE AND THE SERVING MAID, 1933 and THREE OTHER WORKS'
- Price Realised: €100
- Sale: 15 March 2010
- coloured prints; (4) (framed)
- 13 by 13cm., 5 by 5in.
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'JAMES CONNOLLY, LIBERTY HALL, DUBLIN (EXECUTED 1916)'
- Price Realised: €85
- Sale: 17 October 2022
- 20 x 16in. (50.80 x 40.64cm)
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'MAYO COLLEEN and MAN OF ZION (A PAIR)'
- Price Realised: €75
- Sale: 10 July 2023
- woodcut; (2)
- 6¾ x 5¼in. (17.15 x 13.34cm)