Business Day Art - July 2005 Supplements

Below is the text as written for the Fair Vaue column by Harriet Hedley.

Pierneef watercolour a good place to start

The Pierneef landscape has pride of place in Henry Smith's home in Randburg.

Smith inherited the painting from his father and treasures the work However, he has always wondered what it may be worth. "Not that I am all that keen to sell," he is quick to add.

Harriet Hedley, fine art consul­tant with Gilfillan Scott-Berning, says Pierneef first discovered his appreciation of art when his family returned to Holland during the Boer War.

He studied at the Rotterdamse Kunsakademie. On his return to SA, aged 18, he was encouraged by es­tablished artists such as Anton van Wouw, Hugo Naude and Frans Oer­der. His first group exhibition in 1902 was with Van Wouw and Naude.

Hedley says Pierneef excelled at landscape portrayals of the highveld, which provided a lifelong source of inspiration for him. "His style presents a formalized and ordered view of the South African landscape, often monumen­tal in its -conception, uninhabited and influenced by the dramatic light and colour of the highveld," she says.

One of SA's leading landscape artists and the first artist whose work was conditioned, by the local envi­ronment, his distinctive style is widely recognised. Pierneef - who, Hedley says, "who was so sensitive in capturing light and atmosphere” - reduced and simplified landscape to geometric structure using flat planes, lines and colour to present harmony and order in nature."
He held his first solo exhibition in 1913 and participated in many group exhibitions. "His paintings over the past couple of years have risen sharply in value," says Hedley.

"There are a few important factors which are taken into consid­eration when valuing a painting by an artist: medium, size, date and condition. In addition to this, prove­nance is important, especially when there is doubt as to authenticity - there are fakes being offered in SA. "

On the whole, his earlier paint­ings are the most sought after, and in particular his Namibian pictures.

"I have seen an unusual painting of a still life which he must have done in his very early years as an artist, and Christie's sold an early scene of Pretoria with people, which was also unusual for him.”

"His later paintings tend to have a lighter pastel palette and work extremely well m interiors."
On the whole, his drawings and watercolours command much lower prices in comparison with his oils.

“If one were starting out as a col­lector, it is a very good place to begin. In our opinion, this particular paint­ing - which is a watercolour over pencil, 19cm x 51cm, Extensive Landscape inscribed 'Graaff Reinet Nov 52'- would fetch in the region of R10 000-R15 000 if sold at auc­tion. Because we know where the picture was painted, and there could be a couple of bidders from the area, this price could well be exceeded.”

Arts Correspondent