Harry Kernoff RHA (1900-1974)
'Gaiety Girls'
Oil on board, 50 x 37cm (19¾ x 14½")
Signed and dated 1931

Harry Kernoff was of London/Russian extraction, and is primarily remembered for his...

Harry Kernoff RHA (1900-1974)
'Gaiety Girls'
Oil on board, 50 x 37cm (19¾ x 14½")
Signed and dated 1931

Harry Kernoff was of London/Russian extraction, and is primarily remembered for his interest in Dublin and its people. He regularly depicted street and pub scenes, as well as Dublin cultural landmarks such as the present work, a partial view of a burlesque performance at the Gaiety Theatre where we, as viewers, are amongst the audience in one of the boxes to the edge of the stage. Kernoff has however, depicted himself, amusingly, peering out from behind the stage curtains.

Designed by architect C.J. Phipps and built in under 7 months, the Gaiety Theatre was opened on 27 November 1871 with the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland as guest of honour and a double bill of the comedy She Stoops to Conquer and a burlesque version of La Belle Sauvage. Extended by theatre architect Frank Matcham in 1883, the Gaiety still retains many of its Victorian era features and remains Dublins longest-established, continuously producing theatre.

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