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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'THIRTY-SIX WOODCUTS, 1951'
- Price Realised: 400
- Sale: 11 December 2011
- limited edition book; (no. 216 from an edition of 400)
- 26 by 21cm., 10.2 5 by 8.25in.
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'JAMES CONNOLLY & THE CITIZEN ARMY, DUBLIN (EXECUTED 1916) and W.B. YEATS 1865-1939'
- Price Realised: 400
- Sale: 11 December 2011
- woodcuts; (2)
- 12 by 9cm., 4.75 by 3.58in.
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'BYZANTINE MADONNA, 1935'
- Price Realised: 400
- Sale: 02 March 2009
- woodcut on paper (unframed)
- 19 by 14cm., 7.5 by 5.5in.
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'DOLPHIN'S BARN, DUBLIN, 1933 and A BIRD NEVER FLEW ON ONE WING (A PAIR)'
- Price Realised: 400
- Sale: 06 December 2008
- two woodcut prints, framed separately
- 15 by 20cm., 6 by 7.75in.
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'A PUBLIC MEETING, 1935'
- Price Realised: 380
- Sale: 18 October 2021
- woodcut
- 6½ x 8in. (16.51 x 20.32cm)
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'12 WOODCUTS'
- Price Realised: 380
- Sale: 17 February 2020
- limited edition book
- 11½ x 9in. (29.21 x 22.86cm)
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'CARAVANS, DUBLIN'
- Price Realised: 370
- Sale: 04 October 2010
- woodcut
- 10 by 12cm., 4 by 4.75in.
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'MOTHER AND CHILD GOING HOME and THE FIGHT, 1931 (A PAIR)'
- Price Realised: 350
- Sale: 30 May 2011
- woodcut
- 20 by 26cm., 8 by 10.2 5in.
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'James Connolly & The Citizen Army Dublin (Executed in 1910) and two others'
- Price Realised: 350
- Sale: 23 April 2010
- woodblock on light card
- 15 by 10cm., 5.75 by 4in.
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'JAMES JOYCE'
- Price Realised: 340
- Sale: 25 July 2022
- woodcut
- 9½ x 7Όin. (24.13 x 18.42cm)
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'THIRTY-SIX WOODCUTS, 1951'
- Price Realised: 340
- Sale: 24 October 2016
- limited edition book; (no. 126 from an edition of 400)
- 10Ό x 8Όin. (26.04 x 20.96cm)
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'THIRTY-SIX WOODCUTS (1951) and STROLLING - PLAYER'
- Price Realised: 340
- Sale: 12 March 2012
- limited edition book; (1); woodcut; (1)
- 26.035 by 20.32cm., 10.25 by 8in.
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'JAMES CONNOLLY AND THE CITIZEN ARMY, DUBLIN (EXECUTED 1916)'
- Price Realised: 320
- Sale: 25 March 2024
- woodcut
- 5 x 3½in. (12.70 x 8.89cm)
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'NELSON'S PILLAR, GPO, DUBLIN, 1935'
- Price Realised: 320
- Sale: 17 October 2022
- woodcut
- 7½ x 5½in. (19.05 x 13.97cm)
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'TURF GIRL'
- Price Realised: 320
- Sale: 09 July 2018
- hand-coloured woodcut
- 7 x 4Ύin. (17.78 x 12.07cm)
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'BYZANTINE MADONNA and CARAVANS, DUBLIN (A PAIR)'
- Price Realised: 300
- Sale: 17 October 2022
- woodcut: (2); (framed together)
- 5Ό x 4in. (13.34 x 10.16cm)
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'PORTRAIT OF DOLORES REDMOND, 1950'
- Price Realised: 300
- Sale: 11 March 2015
- pastel
- 14Ύ x 11in. (37.47 x 27.94cm)
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'VAL VOUSDEN, ENTERTAINER, 1931'
- Price Realised: 300
- Sale: 24 November 2014
- charcoal
- 19 x 14½in. (48.26 x 36.83cm)
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'THE INTERNATIONAL BAR, WICKLOW STREET, DUBLIN and TWO MEN IN DAVY BYRNE'S PUB, DUKE STREET, DUBLIN'
- Price Realised: 300
- Sale: 11 December 2011
- woodcuts, (2)
- 13 by 10cm., 5.25 by 4in.
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'TWELVE WOODCUTS'
- Price Realised: 300
- Sale: 11 December 2011
- limited edition book (no. 195 from an edition of 300)
- 30 by 23cm., 11.7 5 by 9.25in.
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'PORTOBELLO HARBOUR, DUBLIN, 1940 and BRIDGE OVER THE MALL, WESTPORT, MAYO, 1947 (A PAIR)'
- Price Realised: 300
- Sale: 17 May 2008
- woodcuts
- 15 by 20cm., 5.75 by 8in.
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'LEPRECHAUN'
- Price Realised: 290
- Sale: 25 March 2024
- woodcut
- 5Ό x 3Ύin. (13.34 x 9.53cm)
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'PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN, 1943'
- Price Realised: 290
- Sale: 05 October 2020
- pastel
- 19 x 14in. (48.26 x 35.56cm)
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'MERCHANT'S ARCH, DUBLIN'
- Price Realised: 280
- Sale: 17 October 2022
- woodcut
- 5Ύ x 4Όin. (14.61 x 10.80cm)
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'W.B. YEATS'
- Price Realised: 270
- Sale: 13 December 2023
- woodcut
- 8½ x 6in. (21.59 x 15.24cm)
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'W.B. YEATS'
- Price Realised: 270
- Sale: 25 July 2022
- woodcut
- 12 x 9in. (30.48 x 22.86cm)
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'NELSON'S PILLAR, DUBLIN and A DUBLIN CAB'
- Price Realised: 270
- Sale: 04 October 2010
- woodcuts
- 20 by 15cm., 8 by 5.75in.
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'ST. MICHAEL'S HILL, WINETAVERN STREET, DUBLIN, 1934'
- Price Realised: 260
- Sale: 25 March 2024
- 7Ύ x 9in. (19.69 x 22.86cm)