Pieter Wenning, Landscape
Notes : These rare early works by Pieter Wenning were painted on his first trip to Johannesburg between January and December 1914. Both are striking examples of the plein air approach of The Hague School painters whose works he had studied and admired whilst living in Holland. Like the Impressionists, they favoured working outdoors to capture the immediacy of the scene and the effects of light on the landscape. We know that, at this time, his mentor, D. C. Boonzaier was reading Letters of a Post-Impressionist (Vincent van Gogh), published in 1913. They would undoubtedly have shared their enthusiasm for Van Gogh’s vision and painterly application which is clearly evident here. With their thick application of paint and energized brushwork, these Witwatersrand landscapes are uniquely different to his later Cape paintings. With their open vistas, dotted with only a few signs of settlement and industry, they are rare documents of early Johannesburg. EB
Condition_report : The condition is good. Minor surface dirt.
