Pienaarsrivier (Pienaars River)

Notes

Jacob Hendrik Pierneef included four scenic Transvaal locations in his celebrated Johannesburg Station panel cycle: Houtbos, Waterval Boven, Rustenburg Kloof, and Piernaar’s River. Nick Coetzee notes:

“Piernaar’s River, like the area around Meintjieskop, was one of Pierneef’s favourite haunts. It is an area on the river, north-east of Pretoria. At present there is a dam there. In the days that Pierneef used to visit the vicinity, it was still fairly unspoiled, with low rocky embankments on the river ideal for camping and fishing. It is one of those spots that Pierneef chose to paint
in the station panel. It is not clear whether the farm, Roodeplaat, on which the present dam is situated, has any special connection with the railways (the railway to the north reached the nearest station of the same name in 1896), and tourism was certainly never particularly important in the area.” ¹

This work presents a close-up of the centre of the Piernaar’s River view. The viewer is immediately confronted with a dramatic rocky outcrop and sheer cliff face – rather than the gentle, unfolding landscapes typical of many of Pierneef’s other scenes.

^1. N J Coetzee (1992) Pierneef, Land and Landscape: The Johannesburg Station Panels in Context, Johannesburg: C B M Publishing, unpaginated.

Provenance

Acquired from the artist and thence by descent.

Strauss & Co, Johannesburg, 7 November 2021, lot 146.