Notes

sold with the artist's wooden paintbox

DC Boonzaier notes in his diary that on 9 July 1916 – a Sunday afternoon – Wenning went to Mowbray to paint an old Dutch house and returned to the scene the following Sunday morning to continue working on the painting.¹ We know from written and photographic records that Wenning loved to paint en plein air, in the outdoors. Long hours were spent with his easel and paint-box to hand, painting directly from the subject so as to obtain the most vivid impression and retain the freshest quality.

Wenning was born in The Hague, where he excelled in art and languages at school. He made the most of opportunities to visit the best museums in and around Amsterdam, studying the paintings of the Old Masters as well as familiarising himself with the contemporary art of his day. He was particularly attracted to the leading artists of The Hague School such as Jozef Israels, the Maris brothers and Anton Mauve who was the uncle of Vincent van Gogh, an artist virtually unknown in those first years of the twentieth century before Wenning departed for South Africa in 1905.
One can trace in this work the marked influence of The Hague School painters who were less interested in a faithful portrayal of what they saw than in conveying the atmosphere and impression of the moment. Mood and tone take precedence over colour in this painting that so effectively captures the subdued charm of an early Cape cottage nestled amongst trees and fields.

Dr FCL Bosman was a keen art collector who owned several paintings and many drawings by Wenning. After being awarded his BA and MA degrees at the University of Cape Town (UCT), both cum laude, he received a Queen Victoria Bursary for overseas study. In 1928 he received his D.Litt degree with a thesis on South African theatre from the Free University of Amsterdam.

Throughout his distinguished career, he promoted South African art and culture both locally and internationally and authored many publications and articles on Afrikaans literature, theatre and the arts. He lectured Afrikaans-Netherlands and the history of theatre in South Africa at UCT before becoming the first full-time secretary (later director) of the South African Academy of Science and Art.
1. J du P Scholtz, DC Boonzaier en Pieter Wenning, Verslag van 'n Vriendskap, Tafelberg, Cape Town, 1973, page 30.

Provenance

Dr FCL Bosman

Literature

J du P Scholtz, DC Boonzaier en Pieter Wenning, Verslag van 'n Vriendskap, Tafelberg, Kaapstad, 1973, page 102, plate 30