oil on canvas

Artwork date: 1914
Signature details: signed and dated

(1)

35 x 45 cm

Gift from the artist to the current owner’s mother on the occasion of her wedding on 2 August 1923

Notes:

On their return to South Africa at the end of 1903, from self-imposed exile in the Netherlands, the Pierneef family settled once again in Pretoria where J.H. Pierneef soon became involved with the close circle of artist friends of his godfather, the sculptor Anton Van Wouw. They encouraged him to pursue his interest in art, much to his father’s dismay. He met Frans Oerder (1866-1944) who familiarised him with the finer techniques of oil painting, the Dutch-Jewish painter Eduard Frankfort (1864-1920) who specialised in portraiture, interiors and landscape painting, and the Irish artist George Smithard (1873-1919) who introduced Pierneef to the etching technique and who stressed the importance of developing a unique indigenous style.Pierneef was encouraged to work towards his first solo exhibition which took place in October 1913 at the publishers JH de Bussy where his work was well received by the public and critics alike, confirming his growing importance and popularity as an artist.It is well-known that Pierneef regularly went on drawing and painting excursions in the countryside of Pretoria where he delighted in botanising and documenting the veld around him. This interesting early painting illustrates such a trip, possibly to the north of Pretoria where he might have positioned his easel at one of the natural gateways into the town, probably Wonderboompoort or Daspoort. From there, through two cleverly placed small flowering trees, probably fruit trees, the spectator’s eye is drawn across cultivated fields towards the south overlooking the town in the distance. Dominating this otherwise tranquil scenery is an ominous advancing Highveld thunderstorm which the artist presents in swathes of grey green and black, almost consuming the lightness of colour and the cropped loose brushwork in the immediate foreground. Apart from a slight emphasis on the trunks of the flowering trees, Pierneef’s sweeping impressionistic approach to this scene creates an immense sense of visual anticipation.

Eunice Basson

Sources:

De Villiers, R. 1986. JH Pierneef. Pretorian, Transvaler, South African. Catalogue. Memorial Exhibition of Works from the Collection of the Pretoria Art Museum. Pretoria: Pretoria Art Museum.

Grosskopf, JFW. 1945. Hendrik Pierneef. Die Man en sy werk. Pretoria: JL van Schaik.

Nel. PG. 1990. JH Pierneef. His life and his work. Johannesburg: Perskor.

Proud, H. 2002. ‘The Advancement of Art’: The South African Society of Artists and its exhibitors, 1902-1950. Catalogue. Cape Town: Iziko Museums of Cape Town.

Van Niekerk, B. 1942. Kunsgeskiedenis. Skilderkuns. Kaapstad: Nasionale Pers.