Notes

The artist’s compositional vantage point invites the viewer to approach the beach at eye level, past strewn kelp drying in rhythmic linearity, to a pair of sculptural fishing boats, backed by a row of coastal houses that provide vivid flashes of red, orange, green and cream paint against the mountain behind. The overcast scene is enlivened by selective lighting which allows a warm wash of light to fall on the sand in the fore and middle grounds, further illuminating the purple mountain behind with gentle lime green highlights.

Typical of his mature paintings and with stylistic similarities to Kaap Bloubergstrand, which was sold in November 2020 for R2,6 million, the artist employs precise draftsmanship with characteristic tonal harmonies and compositional balance.

Hout Bay was a popular subject with many 20th century South African painters, including Terence McCaw, Freida Lock, Francois Krige, David Botha and Robert Broadley, generally featuring the conventional sea view, perhaps with some fishing boats in the foreground. Pierneef does an about turn on this subject by facing inland across the
beach to the mountains beyond. It is interesting to note that many of Pierneef’s Cape paintings are atypical in that he sought alternative views to record familiar scenes.

This dramatically lit composition engages the viewer in quiet contemplation and reverie, capturing a serene moment in contrast to global events in 1942 when the world was at war.

Exhibited

Schweickerdt, Pretoria, December 1943, catalogue number 6.