Strauss & co - 4 June 2018, Johannesburg

210 255 Jacob Hendrik Pierneef SOUTH AFRICAN 1886–1957 Willows, 1918 signed and dated 1918 pastel on paper 33 by 44,5 cm R200 000 – 300 000 JH Pierneef is perhaps best known for his still, sky-stretching acacias in the veld, trees that more often than not formed a beautiful, natural tracery against his chosen skyscape. But Henk’s early passion was for the Highveld willow tree. Whether endlessly sketching the example that grew in his garden on De Waal Street, Pretoria, or others along the Apies River, the artist was enthralled by the tree’s ever-changing silhouette, its seasonal transformations, and its decorative potential. ‘The willow is the most beautiful tree that I know’, he declared as early as 1911, having depicted the tree in a number of linocuts that went on show that year in the first exhibition of The Individualists at the Pretoria Town Hall. 1 By the time of his first solo exhibition at the JH de Bussy Building in 1913, moreover, the recurrence of the motif, albeit it in different styles and media, allowed a delighted reviewer to recognise and then admire his ‘cult of the willow’. 2 Continuedonpage211