HARRY KERNOFF, R.H.A. | Dublin Bay from Howth

Sotheby's, London, 18 May 2001, lot 231

The board appears to be sound. Three minor hairline cracks in the lower left corner, only visible upon close inspection. The work appears in good overall condition. UV light reveals a few minor and isolated spots of retouching in the mountains and sky in the background. A couple of further spots in the sea and along the lower edge. Held in a decorative gilt plaster frame, ready to hang.
"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."

Kernoff’s view is taken looking down on the Bailey Lighthouse, across the calm waters of Dublin Bay, with the Dublin and Wicklow mountains in the distance. In the foreground, a grassy field, and a sea gull swooping over the blue waters of the bay. Characteristic of Kernoff however is his interest in the modern everyday world, with smoke from a funnel marking the passage of a ferryboat heading across the Irish Sea. The feeling for form and rhythm too is exemplary of Kernoff's stylised and distinctive painting technique.  A keen-eyed chronicler of everyday life in Dublin city and suburbs, Harry Kernoff was born into a Jewish family that had fled from pogroms in Belarus, to the safety of London. His father, Isaac Kernoff, was a cabinet maker and when Harry was fourteen years old, the family moved from Stepney to Dublin, where Isaac joined the firm of Louis Gurevich, who had a cabinet making workshop on Capel Street. Settling in Stamer Street, in Dublin’s Jewish quarter, Kernoff, while serving an apprenticeship with his father, also attended evening classes at the Metropolitan School of Art, along with his brother Hyman. In 1923, a Taylor Scholarship enabled Kernoff to visit Paris, and to become a full time student at the Metropolitan School, where his teachers included Sean Keating, Patrick Tuohy and Harry Clarke. In 1926, the first exhibition of Kernoff’s work was held, at 7 Stephen’s Green, and over the following years he showed frequently, with the Society of Dublin Painters, the RHA and other group exhibitions and single person shows. Kernoff travelled to the USSR in 1930 and several of his paintings were reproduced in Iskusstvo y massy (Art to the Masses), a revolutionary art journal in Russia. In 1939 he travelled to New York, to paint a mural for the Irish pavilion at the World’s Fair.

Idyllic views of Dublin such as the present are rare in Kernoff's work; most of his paintings depict the working class areas of the city and suburbs of Sandymount and Dalkey.

Peter Murray