?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000
JOSEPH FRANCIS KERNAN Reeling in a Swordfish. Most likely advertisement illustration for beer, c. 1950. 533x311 mm; 21x12 1/4 inches. Oil on canvas, adhered to cardboard.
Joseph Francis Kernan's work graced the covers and pages of nearly every major magazine, as well as advertisements and calendars produced between the 1920s and 1950s. His illustrations often featured what he called "the human side of outdoor sports, hunting, fishing and dogs." Being an outdoor sportsman himself, he was able to keenly produce accurate and detailed representations of these activities. These "masculine" subjects made him a favorite artist for beer advertisers including DB&M's Royal Bohemian Beer, Falstaff, and Burger Brewing Company. It is very likely that this illustration of three men swordfishing and enjoying beer together was one such advertisement.
