(1886 – 1957)
Jacob Hendrik Pierneef was born in 1886 in Pretoria to Dutch immigrant parents. He left South Africa for Holland as part of the deportation during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) and it was there that Pierneef attended the Rotterdam Academy before his return to Pretoria in 1902. In 1925, at the age of 39, Pierneef again returned to Europe and was exposed to the development of Post-Impressionism, a rejection or altered position from Impressionism following its halted state from the onset of the First World War in 1914, and the move into monumental decorative art.
Pierneef’s return to Europe marked the turning point in his visual and theoretical approach to composition and art making that remained in all his paintings for the entirety of his career. Mainly influenced by the school of thought developed by the Dutch artist and the oretician Willem Van Konijnenburg, which focused on the mathematical logic that should be employed when looking at a subject and then to project the underlying geometric structure into a work. These more graphical elements and styles stem from Egyptian and Assyrian art and Pierneef found a central relationship between this and African art which he translated into his landscapes. He continued to study Bushman paintings, looking at the flat surfaces as well as the schematic and geometrical principles which were used as the major part of each artwork’s construction.
Pierneef’s early works emulate these geometric principles and use simplified flat planes of colour with strong line and structural qualities. Although these principles are affluent in the development of Pierneef’s work, his greatest concern was the pursuit of harmony, order and balance which he reflected through the nature of his subject matter, primarily landscapes. Most of Pierneef’s landscapes that were completed between 1928 and 1935 exemplify his deliberate use of these geometric principles. This theory on his approach is not unlike that of Dutch born artist Piet Mondrian, whose final outcome resulted in complete abstraction. However, Pierneef was more concerned with the “decorative possibilities of his geometrical experiments and did not carry them to an abstract conclusion” (Berman, E. 1993:48), therefore marking a vital difference between his own interpretation and application introduced to him by Van Konijnenburg and his redefinition of these artistic and philosophical terms in a South African environment.
This approach gradually became less analytical and began to form Pierneef’s signature style of work in his linocuts, drawings and paintings. As Pierneef’s career advanced the philosophical and theological basis of the teachings he was influenced by were no longer deliberately delved into and completely fell away over time showing an absence of conspicuous geometry, but left a firm establishment of the equilibrium and proportion that was now forever inherent in his works.
Pierneef found a lifelong love of painting the Highveld and Transvaal areas of South Africa, rarely including figures or structures and if so it was often dwarfed into insignificance against the imposition and magnificence of the landscape rendered around it. His affluence as an artist and his passion for art as a teacher created a new outlook for landscape painting and marked a significant shift in thought and approach, making him one of the most pre-eminent old masters in South African art.
1886
Born in Pretoria
1900
Pierneef family deported to Holland via the East African Coast
1902
Returned to Pretoria with the end of the Anglo-Boer War
1910
Sold his first oil painting ‘Meintjies Kop’ to Emil Schweikerdt
1912
Appointed at the State Library in Pretoria
Exhibited with Smithard and Pieter Wenning as a member of ‘The Individualists’ Group’
1917
Elected as a member of South African Society of Artists
Drew illustrations for ‘Die Brandwag’
1920-23
Appointed lecturer in art in Pretoria and Heidelberg Normal Colleges
Showed his work in Cape Town and Stellenbosch
1923
Decided on a fulltime career in art
Painting expedition to South West Africa
1924
Divorced his first wife and remarried Marian Frances Schoop (witnessed by G.W. Pilkington)
Received his first commission, murals for a school in Ficksburg
1925
Travelled to Europe: exhibited in Amsterdam
Met Anton Hendriks – invited him to visit South Africa
Impressed by the theories of the Dutch painter, Willem van Konijnenburg
1926
Returned home via the East Coast
Painted a number of his most spontaneous impressionistic pictures such as ‘Mozambique’ in the Johannesburg Art Gallery
Began to experiment along unconventional lines – both divisionistic and what he referred to as ‘geometric’ styles, created ‘Study in Blue’.
Perfected a complex technique based on a casein medium
1929
t was announced in the press that Pierneef had received a commission for mural-panels for the new Johannesburg railway station
1932
November: The Johannesburg railway station mural-panels were completed and installed
1933
Commissioned to paint mural for South Africa House in London – spent two years in London
1935
Returned to South Africa
1936
Awarded Medal of Honour for Painting by South African Akademie
1947
Pierneef – The Man and His Workby JFW Grosskopf published
1950
Worked at the University College of Natal, Pietermaritzburg
1951
Awarded honorary Doctorate by University of Natal
1957
Died in Pretoria
1911
From this time participated in many group exhibitions in South Africa
1912-13
Exhibitions of ‘The Individualists’ in Pretoria
1913
First of many solo exhibitions held in Pretoria and The Netherlands
1920
Johannesburg Sketch Club Exhibition
South African Academy Exhibition
1921
Solo exhibitions in the Cape Province
1924
South African Art, Empire Exhibition, Wembley
1926
Solo exhibition, Amsterdam
1929
Participated in joint exhibition with Fanie Eloff, Johannesburg
1936
Empire Exhibition, Johannesburg
1948
Participated in South African Art Exhibition, Tate Gallery, London
1950
Held 25 year Retrospective Exhibition, Pieter Wenning Gallery, Johannesburg
1952
Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Exhibition, Cape Town
1953
Held Retrospective Exhibition, Potchefstroom University for Christian High Education
Rhodes Centenary Exhibition, Bulawayo
1962
Pierneef Festival, Johannesburg, Adler Fielding Gallery, Johannesburg
1965
Exhibition of Watercolours and Drawings, Johannesburg Art Gallery
1970
“The Complete Wood-Cuts of Pierneef” exhibition held, Durban Art Gallery
1972
Exhibition of Watercolours, Johannesburg Art Gallery
1973
Exhibition of the Restored Johannesburg Station panels plus associated sketches, Pretoria Art Museum
1974-75
Exhibition of the Marita J Pierneef Collection, University of Stellenbosch, Rand Afrikaans University and Potchefstroom University for Christian High Education.
1979
Station Panels installed in new Johannesburg Station Museum
‘South African Printmakers’, South African National Gallery, Cape Town
1980/81
Retrospective Exhibition of Pierneef and Van Wouw held, Pretoria Art Museum, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Durban Art Gallery, William Humphreys Art Gallery, Kimberley,
King George VI Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth and South African National Gallery, Cape Town
1982
“The Pierneef Collection” exhibited, Pretoria Art Museum
1984
Commemorative Exhibition, Pretoria Art Museum
1987
Exhibition of the Johannesburg Station Panels. Johannesburg Art Gallery
South African National Gallery, Cape Town
- Johannesburg Art Gallery
- Pretoria Art Museum
- Durban Art Gallery
- William Humphreys Gallery, Kimberley
- King George VI Gallery, Port Elizabeth
- Ann Bryant Art Gallery, East London
- Rembrandt Art Foundation, Stellenbosch
- University of South Africa, Pretoria
- University of Witwatersrand Galleries
- A C White Gallery, Bloemfontein
- Johannesburg Railway Station Museum
- Sandton Municipal Collection
- Pietersburg Collection
Public Commissions
1924
Mural, Ficksburg High School, Orange Free State
1929-32
Johannesburg Railway Station Panels
1933-35
Murals, South Africa House, London
1937
Mural, ‘ss Pretoria Castle’
1940
Two large pictures, Johannesburg Magistrates Courts
1955
Broadcast House, Johannesburg
1935
Received the first Medal of Honour for Painting awarded by the South African Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns
1951
Received Honorary Doctorate from the University of Natal
1957
Received Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy from the University of Pretoria
Made an Honorary member of the South African Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns
