Strauss & co - 8 - 11 November 2020

115 T O P L A C E A B I D C L I C K O N T H E R E D L O T N U M B E R 883 Jacob Hendrik Pierneef SOUTH AFRICAN 1886–1957 Bushveld signed and dated 50 oil on canvas 40 by 54 cm R1 500 000 – 2 000 000 ‘What is a landscape? Is it the rough upper surface of the earth, or the effects of its internal construction? What is a tree? Is it a colourful play of sparks of light between moving roofs, or is it an organic form of life given expression in the balance of its branches and trunks?’ 1 The trees in Bushveld may well represent a whole life cycle of spring turning into summer, judging from the different shades of greens of the trees at centre, and autumn (the yellows and oranges of the trees on the left) into winter (the whites of trees on the right). 1. Gré van der Waal-Braaksma (1990) ‘Pierneef: The Artist’, in PG Nel (ed) JH Pierneef: His Life and His Work , Cape Town: Perskor, page 156.