Harry Kernoff, R.H.A.

Sale, John de Vere White, Dublin, 31 May 1994, lot 191, whence purchased by the present owner

The colours are fresher than the illustration suggests The canvas is lined. The original texture of the canvas is visible in areas and there are some minor scattered flecks of paint loss. There is a scuff mark approx. 6in. long in the bottom right corner, visible in the catalogue illustration, otherwise in good overall condition. Under ultraviolet light, there are scattered areas of flecked retouching throughout the composition. Held in a stained wood frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

As a young man in the 1920s and early-to-mid 1930s Harry Kernoff experimented with Modernist ideas and produced a number of compositions which are much indebted to Symbolism and Cubism. Executed circa 1934, Death clearly belongs to this period of experiment. As with the other works - Dance of Death, 1923; Vortex, 1923; War, 1923, and its companion Peace, c.1926; Jupiter and the Muses, 1934; and Bacchante, 1934, are amongst the best known - Death was conceived as a mural decoration, possibly for the Radical Club, the Studio Club or Toto Cogley's Cabaret in Harcourt Street, Dublin, although one cannot be certain of this.

The subject matter in Death, probably a comment on Kernoff's views of contemporary society, depicts the tribes of man blindly following the mores of the world to their inevitable conclusion. Yet, as has often been observed, more broadly Kernoff's pictures are a reflection of his predilection for the poor and the oppressed. 'He loves to depict ... those whose lives are one long struggle for very existence,' commented  E. A. McGuire in 1936 ('International Art News: Ireland', The Studio, vol.113, March 1936, p.163). By the mid-1930s Kernoff renounced all Modernist tendencies and settled for a more realistic form of painting in which landscapes and portraits predominate.

We are grateful to S.B. Kennedy for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.