Notes

Surrounding the kraal, the gardens and groups of trees were thoughtfully planned and laid out by Pierneef himself, mainly with South African species. Higher up, against the hillside, he nurses and protects the natural vegetation. Every tree and shrub, or wild flower, is known to the master and lovingly pointed out: the silvery-green stamvrug that bears its fruit strung tight along the branches, as well as the wild peach bushes, with their snow-white perfumed blossoms in spring, and gorgeous orange fruits after Christmas.

– J F W Grosskopf

In January 1939 Pierneef was putting the finishing touches on a vast painting of the Union Buildings. The work had been commissioned by the Pretoria City Council, and was destined for the dining room of the Pretoria Castle passenger liner, which was set to dock in Cape Town later that year. It was a relief having this major work behind him as he received in the same month the title deeds to section D of the farm Mopanie No. 49, a near-four-hectare patch of veld, with a gentle ridge, low koppie and mature trees, some 10km east of Church Square.

As an experienced builder – it had almost been his calling, of course, as it had been his father’s – Henk set to work on a new homestead in line with his long-standing attraction to an indigenous Highveld architecture, one characterised by simplicity of form, honest functionality, and vernacular materials. He first rebuilt the ruins of a previous stone kraal discovered at the base of the koppie, incorporating the walls into his new design, before constructing four separate huts with interleading patios and courtyards. The land provided the majority of his materials: stones from the nearby ridge were gathered, cleaned and shaped by Oubaas Stapelberg, a skilled mason; local sand was used in the plaster; and the thatch was harvested from the surrounding veld. The entrance gate was provided by Coert Steynberg, and featured a carved eland in high relief, resting, with a sunburst motif behind. Pierneef called his kraal Elangeni, a Zulu word for ‘in the sun’.

Over time, the kraal at Elangeni grew organically, with rooms, terraces and courtyards added in a similar spirit, and low walls enclosing ponds, indigenous trees and shrubs. So preoccupied was the artist with the house that he staged no exhibitions in 1939 and 1940 (although the outbreak of war was also a factor). To the south of the kraal, however, Pierneef built a large studio, perhaps with some input from his friend Norman Eaton. The studio doubled as a gallery space and, late in 1941, the artist, with his old friend Fanie Eloff, staged a major joint exhibition there.

Pierneef took great pride in his garden at Elangeni. While he left the north slope of the koppie relatively untouched, other sections were laid out with flowerbeds and stone terracing. Besides the indigenous trees he planted – the kiepersol being a favourite – he tended to native shrubs, grasses and succulents. The present lot, which shimmers with light, is a rare painted view over the artist’s garden. We see the neat pathways zigzagging through the beds, the stepped terraces throwing sharp shadows, and an explosion of warm colour as the flowers catch the sun. Painted with some confidence in an impressionist mode, with small flecks and swirls of pure colour, the surface seems to glint and vibrate. The painting brings to mind many of Hugo Naudé’s best Namaqualand views, with the seasonal flowers in full bloom. As Naudé had died just months before, one can imagine Pierneef, sitting quietly in his beloved garden, his easel set, paying some stylistic homage to his late, long-time friend. Elangeni was declared a National Monument in 1975.