oil on canvas

Artwork date: 1918
Signature details: signed
Literature: Scholtz, J. du P. (1973). D.C. Boonzaier en Pieter Wenning. Verslag van ‘n Vriendskap. Cape Town: Tafelberg Uitgewers Bpk. pp.58, 62, 89, illustrated on p.122 Paintings of similar subject, Bishopscourt, Nuweland (1916) on p.15 and Skoolgebou met Wolfentgewel, Bishopscourt (1916) on p.15

(1)

31 x 39 cm

The Honourable J.M. de Villiers, Durbanville, Cape Town. Louis Schachat, Die Kunskamer, Cape Town.

Notes:

Even though Pieter Wenning never made much money from selling his paintings, he kept on painting what he liked rather than pander to a market he could not respect. During the last five years of his life, he stayed predominantly in the Cape Peninsula where he encountered sombre, misty skies and impressionistic vistas reminiscent of the Netherlands where he grew up.Between 1916 and 1919, he painted 300 to 400 canvases and eventually gained the respect he deserved.Wenning’s rendition of the school building in Bishopscourt, a painting dating from this period and praised by his friend and mentor DC Boonzaier as one of his best at the time, is indicative of the heavy, dark outlines he preferred, and his energetic brushwork in bold impasto. It was Boonzaier (Boonzaier & Lipshitz 1949:55) who referred to “grey, in all its endless nuances” as Wenning’s “favourite and most expressive colour”. However, in this depiction of the school nestling between tall fir trees, it is Wenning’s sensitive use of green that is most striking, “down to the toning of the moss on the roof” (Scholtz 1973:58).Wenning started working on this painting of the Bishopscourt school building towards the end of July 1918 after an attempt that did not satisfy Boonzaier. Of the first rendition Boonzaier wrote in his diary (Scholtz 1973:58): “The dense masses of leafless trees behind the school building he has not indicated properly, with the result that the mountain seems to be visible right down to the roof of the house.” Wenning paid attention to these comments and changed the composition to take into account Boonzaier’s sentiments.School, Bishopscourt was one of 39 paintings included in an exhibition in September that year and in his diary Boonzaier noted that this particular painting was sold to Lady De Villiers for £10-10-0.

Johan Myburg

Sources:

Boonzaier, DC and Lipschitz, IL (1949). Wenning. Unie-Volkspers Beperk: Cape Town.

Scholtz, J Du P (1973). DC Boonzaier en Pieter Wenning. Verslag van ʼn vriendskap. Tafelberg: Kaapstad.