Strauss & co - 8 - 11 November 2020

84 847 Jacob Hendrik Pierneef SOUTH AFRICAN 1886–1957 Kaap Bloubergstrand signed, dated 5/5/34 and inscribed with the title and ‘London’ oil on artist’s board 43,5 by 58,5 cm R2 000 000 – 3 000 000 PROVENANCE Acquired from the artist at his house in Pretoria by the current owner’s father. This complex composition was painted during the artist’s stay in London in 1934 while he was engaged with the mural commission for South Africa House on Trafalgar Square, presumably based on sketches or photographs. This points to Pierneef’s extraordinary ability to create and generate finished studio paintings by the masterful deployment of colour, form and light. The use of warm ochre, green and cream tones in the foreground is played off against cool blues and greys in the background. The artist invites the viewer to wander between small dune undulations and fishing boats, alongside the historic houses of General Janssen Street and Stadler Road flanking the coastline, against the extensive backdrop of Table Mountain. A light blue halo, formed by the parting grey clouds, makes apparent the artist’s reverence for the sublime quality of the natural world. This work, rendered in the artist’s mature style, has been engineered to convey quiet contemplation of a scene whose panoramic splendour is now world-renowned.