Notes

General Benjamin Viljoen, born in 1868, distinguished himself in key battles during the Anglo-Boer War, notably in the Vaal Krantz and later at the Battle of Helvatia, where he secured a significant victory and captured the Lady Roberts naval gun. After the war, Viljoen emigrated to the United States, where he played a pivotal role in establishing a Boer colony in Mexico with the assistance of Theodore Roosevelt and served as a military advisor during the Mexican Revolution. He passed away in 1917 in La Mesa, New Mexico.¹

The present lot portrays a young girl leaning over a wooden fence. It is believed to depict a relative of Frans Oerders' wife, Gerde Pitlo (a flower painter), whom he married after relocating to Rotterdam in 1908.

^1. Geni (no date) Generaal Ben Viljoen, online, https://www.geni.com/people/Generaal-Ben-Viljoen/6000000022245499624, accessed 30 May 2024.

Provenance

Acquired from the artist by General Benjamin Viljoen, Amsterdam.

Private Estate Sale in 1917, La Mesa, New Mexico.

Direct descent to a Private Collector, California.

The DinksFãStan Private Collection, United Kingdom.