Elands River

Elands River by South African artist JH Pierneef (1886-1957) was painted in 1927. Pierneef was obsessed with trees but rarely painted from life. He said that he was never comfortable painting outdoors and would rather sketch what he saw and then paint in his studio. This work is a typical painting of Bushveld trees, the title however is from the line of trees on the bank of the Elands river in Mpumalanga near Dullstroom. The University Purchased this work from the Vergeet-my-nie female residence in 1992. Short Biography: Jacob Hendrik (Henk) Pierneef was born in 1886 in Pretoria, South Africa. As a child, he studied art at school, along with other students who would later become well-known artists, such as Fanie Eloff for sculpture and Gordon Leith for architecture. In 1900, Pierneef went with his parents to The Netherlands as a means to avoid the hostilities of the South African War (1899-1902) where he studied at the Rotterdam Art Academy. Pierneef returned to South Africa in 1904 and studied under the prominent artists Anton van Wouw, Frans Oerder and Hugo Naude. In 1913, Pierneef had his first solo exhibition and rapidly became one of the most recognised names in South African art. In 1929 he was commissioned to create panels for the new Johannesburg Railway station, a project which today would be seen as one of his greatest achievements. Pierneef received an honorary doctorate from the University of Pretoria in 1957 in recognition of his work, shortly after in the same year he passed away in Pretoria.