Notes

This dazzling watercolour by Henk Pierneef, resembling a brightly backlit Tiffany glass window, shows a carefully stylised and symmetrical beetle, seemingly fixed within geometric, emerald panes. The work is jewel-like, unusual, and early, having been executed in 1916, just three years after the young artist’s first solo show held at JH de Bussy. He was around 30 years old at the time, had been employed at the State Library in Pretoria for eight years, and had become progressively involved in cultural debates and lectures. In 1916, for instance, he delivered two important papers – Art in South Africa and The Art of the Indigenous People of South Africa – both of which were considered revolutionary. He also embedded himself within literary circles, designing countless dustcovers and bookplates, as well as illustrating magazines, books and poetry anthologies. The present lot, with its hard-edged clarity, eye-catching economy, and its commanding simplicity, should be appreciated within this context.