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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'MAUREEN O'SULLIVAN, ACTRESS'
- Price Realised: 1,800
- Sale: 30 November 2004
- pastel on buff coloured paper
- 51 by 36cm., 20 by 14in.
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'IRISH EYES'
- Price Realised: 1,800
- Sale: 18 November 2003
- oil pastel on card
- 21 by 16cm., 8.25 by 6.25in.
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'INTERVAL'
- Price Realised: 1,700
- Sale: 01 October 2012
- oil on board
- 8 by 5.75in., 20 by 15cm.
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'THE THREE ABSOLUTES FROM 'CROCK OF GOLD' BY JAMES STEPHENS,1925'
- Price Realised: 1,600
- Sale: 04 March 2024
- watercolour
- 12 x 8in. (30.48 x 20.32cm)
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'PORTRAIT OF PEADAR O'DONNELL, 1934'
- Price Realised: 1,600
- Sale: 01 October 2018
- pastel
- 14½ x 11½in. (36.83 x 29.21cm)
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'MAN WITH A RED PARAKEET'
- Price Realised: 1,600
- Sale: 28 May 2018
- oil on board
- 8 x 6in. (20.32 x 15.24cm)
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'UP THE WORKERS' REPUBLIC, IRELAND'
- Price Realised: 1,600
- Sale: 27 February 2017
- watercolour
- 5Ύ x 7Ύin. (14.61 x 19.69cm)
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'SELF PORTRAIT IN TIN HAT, 1940'
- Price Realised: 1,600
- Sale: 04 October 2010
- watercolour over pencil
- 8 by 6cm., 3.25 by 2.25in.
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'PORTRAIT OF A MAN, POSSIBLY SEAMUS KELLY, THEATRE CRITIC FOR THE IRISH TIMES, 1941'
- Price Realised: 1,600
- Sale: 17 May 2008
- pastel on buff-coloured paper
- 50 by 37cm., 19.5 by 14.7 5in.
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'12 Woodcuts'
- Price Realised: 1,600
- Sale: 12 June 2005
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'PORTRAIT OF A. J. LEVENTHAL'
- Price Realised: 1,600
- Sale: 12 June 2005
- pastel on buff coloured paper
- 41 by 30cm., 16 by 12in.
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'PORTRAIT OF RIA MOONEY, 1928'
- Price Realised: 1,500
- Sale: 01 October 2018
- pastel
- 15Ό x 10½in. (38.74 x 26.67cm)
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'ABSTRACT COLLECTION'
- Price Realised: 1,500
- Sale: 28 May 2018
- watercolours; (26); photograph; (1); woodcut; (1); manifesto; (1)
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'AUDIENCE OF ONE, 1963'
- Price Realised: 1,500
- Sale: 30 May 2016
- pastel on card
- 8 x 6Όin. (20.32 x 15.88cm)
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'CONNEMARA SUMMER, RENVYLE, IRELAND, 1933'
- Price Realised: 1,500
- Sale: 28 November 2011
- watercolour
- 25 by 36cm., 10 by 14.2 5in.
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'JEWISH WOMAN IN A FUR WRAP, 1936'
- Price Realised: 1,500
- Sale: 17 May 2008
- pastel
- 37 by 27cm., 14.5 by 10.5in.
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'CANAL SCENE, DUBLIN, 1928'
- Price Realised: 1,500
- Sale: 15 December 2007
- pencil
- 25 by 28cm., 10 by 11in.
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'EGYPTIAN'
- Price Realised: 1,500
- Sale: 20 September 2005
- watercolour over pencil
- 23 by 18cm., 9.25 by 7in.
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'TWELVE ASSORTED PRINTS AND A PROOF PRINTING OF ONE OF THE ARTIST'S POEMS'
- Price Realised: 1,500
- Sale: 29 April 2003
- black & white linocuts an lithographs, some mounted on card
- 0 by 0cm., 0 by 0in.
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'THE MANAGER'
- Price Realised: 1,400
- Sale: 26 November 2012
- oil on board; (1); print; (1)
- 7.75 by 5.5in., 19.685 by 13.97cm.
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'HER LADYSHIP [THE CLOSEST LINK TO MAN]'
- Price Realised: 1,300
- Sale: 13 December 2021
- oil pastel
- 16 x 12in. (40.64 x 30.48cm)
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'BRAVE NEW WORLD, 1935'
- Price Realised: 1,300
- Sale: 29 November 2021
- pencil and watercolour
- 14½ x 10½in. (36.83 x 26.67cm)
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'CUBES'
- Price Realised: 1,300
- Sale: 30 November 2015
- oil on board
- 11Ύ x 15Ύin. (29.85 x 40.01cm)
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'JAMES CONNOLLY AND LIBERTY HALL, DUBLIN'
- Price Realised: 1,270
- Sale: 26 June 2000
- woodcut, handcoloured
- 37 by 28cm., 14.5 by 11in.
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'RABBI'
- Price Realised: 1,200
- Sale: 12 December 2022
- pastel
- 13Ό x 9½in. (33.66 x 24.13cm)
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'ROGER CASEMENT IN THE DOCK'
- Price Realised: 1,200
- Sale: 25 May 2020
- oil on paper
- 7Ύ x 5Ύin. (19.69 x 14.61cm)
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'PORTRAIT OF THE ABBEY THEATRE'S SCENE PAINTER'
- Price Realised: 1,200
- Sale: 08 May 2002
- oil on baord
- 30 by 20cm., 12 by 8in.
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'ONE SWALLOW DOES NOT MAKE A SUMMER'
- Price Realised: 1,150
- Sale: 30 September 2013
- oil on board
- 8 by 6in., 20 by 15cm.