Strauss & co - 2017 Review

Although the grainy image we received of an unusual, electric-crimson JH Pierneef appeared too good to be true, it was my luck to drive down to the Lowveld to see it “in the flesh”. I will never forget the moment a woollen dog blanket was pulled away from the picture with a matador’s flourish to reveal a jaw-dropping painting, dominated by splintered shards of mauve, glowing violet and riotous candy pink. Having wrapped and boxed the work, I embarked on the return trip to Johannesburg with my precious cargo. Farm Jonkershoek with Twin Peaks Beyond, Stellenbosch is special in so many ways; it is at once instantly recognisable and breathtakingly unique. Despite being the spectacular precursor to Pierneef’s famous Stellenbosch panel for the Johannesburg Railway Station, the work has remained largely unknown to art historians. Kept in private hands for nearly 90 years, the painting had never been exhibited, nor was there any trace of the work in the literature on the artist. As Pierneef’s larger canvases tend to hang in national collections, universities, embassies or state residences, finding one of this scale (it measures 74 by 101cm) is particularly rare. Finding a painting of such decorative quality and art historical weight is rarer still. Stylistically, the picture catches the artist in a transitional moment, assimilating his then bursting avant-garde spirit with his more familiar, monumental aesthetic. With its memorable wall power, I expect it will become one of the artist’s iconic images. Despite it being such a distinctly South African picture, I love thinking about how easily it would hang in any inter-War gallery in Europe. Alastair Meredith on JH Pierneef 68