Strauss & co - 11 November 2013, Johannesburg

128 198 Jacob Hendrik PIERNEEF south african 1886–1957 Lanzerac, Stellenbosch signed in pencil casein and tempera 36,5 by 54,5 cm R500 000–700 000 In the 1920s Pierneef occasionally painted with the tempera or casein mediums – a mixture of powder paint pigments, egg yolk and/or milk protein. Although these mediums bear some resemblance to gouache, they possess a much richer tonality and distinctive luminosity. Casein paint is a fast-drying, water soluble medium derived from milk protein. The term Casein stems from the Latin caseus, which means cheese, and is the name for a family of related phosphoproteins. These proteins are commonly found in mammalian milk. Casein paint is re-workable and, generally, dries to a matte finish. It has been used since ancient Egyptian times as a form of tempera paint. Unlike gouache, casein dries to an even consistency and visually it resembles oil paint more than most other water-based paints. Tempera, also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying paint medium consisting of coloured pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium. Tempera paintings are very long lasting, and examples from the 1st centuries ad still exist. Egg tempera remained a primary method of painting until about 1500 when it was superseded by oil paint. According to African Success website, it was in 1926 that JH Pierneef began to experiment along unconventional lines, ‘both divisionistic and what he referred to as ‘geometric’styles and also perfected a complex technique based on [the] casein medium’. 1 By virtue of its fast drying nature, casein assisted in developing the artist’s compositional and application techniques, similar to what working in gouache did for Irma Stern. By virtue of the nature of the mediums, both artists were obliged to thoroughly plan their subjects, compositions and application methods before preparing the paint and commencing their paintings. This view of the Lanzerac was probably painted plein-air . Coupled with the characteristics of the casein/tempera medium, this combination would have required the artist to rapidly render the painterly brushstrokes defining his view of the lilac vineyards, distant buildings, blue and green trees, mauve mountains beyond and billowing clouds above. Painting with casein or tempera paints requires a spontaneity and confidence of marking that, for Pierneef, resulted in an expressiveness arguably exceeding that of his more considered and deliberate oil paintings which were often completed in his studio. 1. http://www.africansuccess.org/visuFiche. php?id=564&lang=en