182
143 Harry Kernoff RHA (1900-1974)
The Twins: “There’s only a few of us left”
Oil on board, 61 x 75.5cm (24 x 29¾”)
Signed, signed again verso and inscribed
Exhibited :
A Time and a Place - Two Centuries of Irish Social Life,
National Gallery of Ireland Oct 2006 - Jan
2007 Cat. No. 71;
The Moderns
, IMMA Oct 2010 - Feb 2011 Cat. No. 44; and
Ireland Her People and Landscape,
The Ava Gallery June - September 2012, Cat. No. 24.
Literature:
A Time and a Place - Two Centuries of Irish Social Life
National Gallery of Ireland 2006 Illustrated
p.134;
The Moderns
IMMA 2011 Full page illustration p.72; and
Ireland Her People and Landscape,
2012 Illustrated p.31
Kernoff was born in London yet his ties to Ireland were firmly cemented when the family moved to Dublin,
and he attended the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, where he was influenced by Sean Keating and studied
alongside Maurice MacGonigal.
Typical of the hardy characters Kernoff often chose to paint, the twins present a united front and look introspec-
tively like two halves of the same whole.They raise their pints of Guinness as a kind of barrier, while at the same
time casting a sharp but not unamused eye towards the artist, and consequently the viewer.Wearing their patched
frieze coats, hats and collars turned up at the neck (despite being inside) they look as though they are surveying
their surroundings before settling in completely.The betting slip tucked into a cuff, the pipe and walking stick add
more descriptive details. Kernoff represents himself with the ubiquitous diminutive stemmed glass, as seen in his
other paintings including ‘In Davy’s Back Snug’ (1936) and ‘In Davy’s Parlour Snug’.
This painting is an important example of Kernoff ’s keen eye and empathy for the warmth and personality of
Dublin and its people.The subtitle ‘There’s only a few of us left’ could as easily refer to the rarity of twins as to the
disappearance of these kinds of ‘characters’ who inhabited Dublin’s pubs on a regular basis.
€40,000 - 60,000
