h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There is currently an exhibition of some of the works of the great South African Artist Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, at the South African Cultural-Historical Museum in Pretoria. Our art class went to have a look at that, after visiting our exhibition at the South African Watercolours Society.

The Cultural-Historical Museum is a large set of buildings with a nice garden fairly in the middle of Pretoria. Currently, they devote a lot of room to Pierneef's work. They also had an exhibition there of Bushman rock art, and some of their implements, and other historical exhibits as well. Because of limited time we didn't get to look at everything.

To get to Pierneef: he was a South African artist who lived from 1886 to 1957 during very interesting times in South African history, from the Boer Wars to after the World Wars. At the same time, there were interesting developments in the world of art. Pierneef took note of much of that and was one of the first South African artists to use abstraction in his work. An example you will see on my Webshots site, is a very cubistic kind of landscape painting with trees and clouds reduced to geometric shapes.

Pierneef painted, but was also a master of prints. His favourite medium was the lino cut, or sometimes spelled one word, linocut. This is like a woodcut but done with linoleum which is a softer, grain-free material. Here is a wikipedia article about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linocut

Pierneef's favourite subjects were landscapes and paintings of houses. He favoured the classic old Dutch houses, with their artfully sculpted gables. (Our guide didn't pronounce this right ... she said something like 'gubbels' and for a while I wondered whether she was referring to small desert rodents, or to Adolf Hitler's propaganda minister!)

Pierneef's landscapes often concentrated on Bushveld tree species - often with unique or contorted shapes - and other typical bushveld elements like rocky 'koppies' and termite hills. Pierneef also made a number of fine prints and paintings of one of *my* favourite subjects, Baobab trees!

There were some fine paintings and sculptures of other South African artists, also. I've included a few photos of that after Pierneef's works.

Here's the link to the photos:

http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/573143827AURWra

It was interesting that he had different style of painting. I loved some of them, others didn't stir me.

The additional artists were good too and I particularly liked the Bushman sculptures.

I think you are up there with the best of them Willem. I look forward to you really making a name for yourself.

Websailor

Geagte Willem,

Thank you for the leads to the wonderful exhibition you went to with Pa.

My parents loved all the creative arts in South Africa.

My mother was a violinst and played in the Cape Town orchestra. She gave several First Performances of works - violin concertos etc. in south Africa. She had been a student at the Paris Conservatoire in France just after the WW1.

They had a fine collection of art works by South african artists, and I have a head of my mother which was sculpted by one of the top sculptors of the early twenties - whose name - naturally due to memory loss - escapes me. I shall remember it and then let you know. I am sure that Papa and Maman had a Piernheef and several other well known South African artists. but when they left South Africa in the mid sixties Papa sold up lock stock and barrel, and went and lived on the island of Majorca in a caravan.!!Their house sale was advertised all over the South africa, and every single thing was sold. I remember being very , very cross with him about it. !I believe that my eccentricities come from him!!!And strangely enough, the older I get the more I understand him. !

Go well, Politically we are living in exctiing times in the UK and I want to write about it. !!

With affection

Christiane
AR80

Hello Websailor and AR80! How are you?

Thanks once more for looking at the pictures and for your comments. My father and I have been Pierneef fans for very long.

Websailor, stick around ... I really think I'm starting to make a name for myself here ... of course such things take lots of time, but I'm working hard. I'll soon upload some more of my recent paintings to my photo site.

Christiane, once again amazing to hear about your mother being a violinist! But sorry to hear that you lost all those paintings! My dad is also rather an art collector (but not *major*) and has some interesting works probably worth a bit.

I'm looking forward to reading what you write about those 'exciting times'!

All the best,

Willem