File:JH Pierneef - Agter Simonsberg KP 1930.jpg

Summary[edit]

Pierneef painted this work around 1930 when he produced many of his most accomplished and ambitious canvases. He had been awarded the commission of thirty-two panels for the Johannesburg Railway Station in 1929, which he completed in 1932, and in these years travelled extensively in South Africa sketching scenes for inclusion in this series. This painting probably depicts the werf and outbuildings of the farm Meerlust, near Simondium, with the Drakenstein mountains in the distance in dramatic evening light. He has structured the image around the pond in the werf and slightly shifted the positions of the buildings to enhance the composition. The circular band of sunlight around the pond establishes a centrifugal energy in the picture which is accentuated by the horse and carriage moving out of the shadows into the light. In contrast to these circular forms, he has set up a rhythm of diagonals with the triangular gables and angular mountain peaks which fuse in a formally balanced composition. The inclusion of the two horses and the horse-drawn carriage is most unusual for Pierneef, who seldom incorporated humans or animals in his images.

This work came from the collection of the artist Gregoire Boonzaier (along with the Maggie Laubser in this catalogue (no.8)). He inscribed the title on the reverse, presumably referring to Meerlust near Simondium, rather than the Meerlust that is the Myburgh family farm. The former Meerlust is discussed in H. Fransen and M.A. Cook, The old buildings of the Cape, Cape Town, 1980, pp.221-2. This painting is illustrated in F.L. Alexander, Art in South Africa, Cape Town, 1962, p.59 and titled 'Landscape near Stellenbosch'. Source:

Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef: Afrikaans: Agter Simonsberg KP. English: Behind Simonsberg, Cape Province.   (  )
Artist	Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef  (1886–1957)     Alternative names J.H. Pierneef Description South African painter Date of birth/death 13 August 1886  4 October 1957 Location of birth/death Pretoria Pretoria Authority file : Q3157630 VIAF: 73039275 ISNI: 0000000067085943 ULAN: 500008115 LCCN: n91102522 Open Library: OL1888070A WorldCat artist QS:P170,Q3157630
Title	Afrikaans: Agter Simonsberg KP. English: Behind Simonsberg, Cape Province.
Object type	painting object_type QS:P31,Q3305213
Date	1930 date QS:P571,+1930-00-00T00:00:00Z/9
Medium	oil on canvas medium QS:P186,Q296955;P186,Q12321255,P518,Q861259
Source/Photographer	www.michaelstevenson.com
Permission (Reusing this file)	Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse This work was first published in South Africa and is now in the public domain because its copyright protection has expired by virtue of the Copyright Act No. 98 of 1978, amended 2002. The work meets one of the following criteria: It is an anonymous work or pseudonymous work and 50 years have passed since the date of its publication. It is a broadcast or sound recording and 50 years have passed since the year the programme was published. It is a cinematographic or photographic work and 50 years have passed since the date of its creation. It is an artistic, literary or musical work created under the direction of the state or an international organization and 50 years have passed since the year the work was published. It is another kind of work, and 50 years have passed since the year of death of the author (or last-surviving author). A South African work that is in the public domain in South Africa according to this rule is in the public domain in the U.S. only if it was in the public domain in South Africa in 1996, e.g. if it was published before 1946 and no copyright was registered in the U.S. (This is the effect of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.)

Licensing[edit]

This work was first published in South Africa and is now in the public domain because its copyright protection has expired by virtue of the Copyright Act No. 98 of 1978, amended 2002. The work meets one of the following criteria: It is an anonymous work or pseudonymous work and 50 years have passed since the date of its publication. It is a broadcast or sound recording and 50 years have passed since the year the programme was published. It is a cinematographic or photographic work and 50 years have passed since the date of its creation. It is an artistic, literary or musical work created under the direction of the state or an international organization and 50 years have passed since the year the work was published. It is another kind of work, and 50 years have passed since the year of death of the author (or last-surviving author). A South African work that is in the public domain in South Africa according to this rule is in the public domain in the U.S. only if it was in the public domain in South Africa in 1996, e.g. if it was published before 1946 and no copyright was registered in the U.S. (This is the effect of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.)