52 / 211
36
Harry Kernoff RHA (1900-1974)
[MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS], NORTH BRAY HARBOUR, COUNTY WICKLOW, 1935
oil on board
signed lower right
27.5 by 35in. (69.85 by 88.90cm)
Provenance:
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner’s family
Exhibited:
RHA, 1936, catalogue no. 86;
’Exhibition of Recent Paintings by Harry Kernoff RHA’, Mill’s Hall, 1 - 15 December, 1937, catalogue no. 38
While perhaps better known for his city paintings, a large section of Harry Kernoff ’s oeuvre is concerned
with the depiction of coastal resorts in close proximity to Dublin. Over the course of his long and productive
career, the artist frequently visited and painted scenes of day-trippers and holiday-makers at Howth, Dol-
lymount, Portmarnock, Dun Laoghaire, Sandymount, and as seen in this painting, Bray. As is typical of the
artist’s style, these paintings are generally painted in a bright, cheerful palette, complete with active figures
and lively details. Bray was a popular destination for visitors from home and abroad: in 1933, the Irish Times
praised the town for its ‘fine esplanade and good facilities for bathing. It is fully provided with the best of
hotels and boarding houses, and is an admirable starting place for motor and omnibus tours… .’(1)
The present work shows a busy section of the beach, replete with boats and bathers. Against a blue sky, an idle
train carriage stands on the embankment, and the frame of a gasometer (demolished in 1979) can be seen in
the upper left hand corner. While some figures rest easy, such as the girl tentatively tanning her legs from the
shadow of one of the boats or the man in a peaked cap enjoying his pipe, others are imbued with a sense of
purpose and movement: a well-dressed woman walks resolutely past the pleasure-seekers, and a boy, perhaps
fresh from the water, leaves with a towel wrapped around his shoulders. The Traveller caravan is a colourful,
if slightly anomalous addition to the composition, while the ‘Up Dev’ slogan hints at the underlying political
context of the period. Kernoff made a sketch for this painting on the 3 July, 1935 (NGI. 7766.352), and there
are few differences between his initial notation of the scene and the finished oil painting; with the pale sun-
bather and small child in the lower right-hand corner forming the only additions.
Born in London to Russian-Jewish parents, Kernoff and his family moved to Dublin in 1914. In addition to
serving as an apprentice cabinetmaker to his father, Kernoff attended the Kevin Street Technical Schools,
before graduating to evening classes at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art. Success in the Taylor Schol-
arship in 1923 allowed the young artist to attend the DMSA as a full-time student, and his first one-man
exhibition was held in ‘The Gallery’, 7 St Stephen’s Green, in 1927. For the majority of his life, the artist lived
at 13 Stamer Street, and became a well-known figure in Dublin - a reputation fastened by his dedication to
portraying the city and its environs in his art. Kernoff ’s fondness for the Irish coast and landscape is recoded
in his answer to a letter from Seán Ó’Faoláin, who wrote to the artist in August 1940 asking, ‘what is the most
beautiful thing you ever saw in Ireland?’ He replied, ‘A sunset from the top of Tibradden, away to Bray head
and the Sugar Loaf…’ (2)
Dr Kathryn Milligan
ESB Fellow, ESB Centre for the Study of Irish Art, National Gallery of Ireland
April 2016
1. ‘Holiday Attractions’, Irish Times, 12 August 1933, 13.
2. Harry Kernoff Papers, National Library of Ireland, Ms 20, 917.
€30,000-€50,000 (£23,620-£39,370 approx.)
Large Image & Place Bid Lot 36