Strauss & co - 10 - 11 May 2020, Cape Town

177 563 Jacob Hendrik Pierneef SOUTH AFRICAN 1886-1957 Mountain Landscape signed oil on canvas 64,5 by 49,5cm R2 000 000 - 3 000 000 PROVENANCE Acquired from the artist by the current owner’s family in the 1930s. Painted during the early to mid-1930s at the time of the Station Panels and the South Africa House commission, this work originates from the artist’s most celebrated stylistic period of production. In order to fulfil the deadline of the Station Panel commission, the artist undertook a nationwide tour to capture a diverse and rich variety of pictorial splendour reflective of the South African landscape. Such a project required great energy and discipline to conceive and complete 28 large scale works. Pierneef recorded these compositional candidates in drawings and paintings from which he would work in the studio. Whilst the drawings are fairly plentiful, paintings in this style and from this period are rare. The artist’s style evolved, due to these time constraints and scale of the project, into what has been described as massive monumental and can be identified by generally large, flatly-painted dramatic compositions employing subtle, faceted tonal graduations, unifying the composition with precise and eloquent linear expression. This work invites the viewer to wander into the composition and explore the varied textures and topography; from the soft grassy foreground and lightly wooded slopes to the majestic folded rocky cliff face above. This work viewed from the artist’s low vantage point makes full use of architectonic natural forms to generate a powerful ascending composition.