JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF (1886-1957)
Cathedral Peak (3,004 m - 9,856 ft)
South Africa (Natal)
The mountain
Cathedral Peak is a mountain in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is a 3,004 m (9,856 ft) high free standing mountain in the Drakensberg. The mountain is also known as Mponjwana (Little Horn) by the local Amangwanepeople. Cathedral Peak is part of the Cathedral Ridge which is at right angles to the main range. Other peaks in the spur are the Twins, also known as the Triplets, (2,899 m or 9,510 feet), the Bell (2,930 m or 9,800 feet), the Outer (3,006 m or 9,860 feet) and Inner (3,005 m or 9,858 feet) Horns, the Chessmen (2,987 m or 9,800 feet) and Mitre Peak (3,023 m or 9,919 feet).
Cathedral Peak was first climbed by D.W. Basset-Smith and R.G. Kingdon in 1917, via the gully.
The painter
Jacobus Hendrik (Henk) Pierneef (usually referred to as Pierneef) was a South African landscape artist, generally considered to be one of the best of the old South African masters. His distinctive style is widely recognized and his work was greatly influenced by the South African landscape.
Most of his landscapes were of the South African highveld, which provided a lifelong source of inspiration for him. Pierneef's style was to reduce and simplify the landscape to geometric structures, using flat planes, lines and colour to present the harmony and order in nature. This resulted in formalised, ordered and often-monumental view of the South African landscape, uninhabited and with dramatic light and colour.
Pierneef's work can be seen worldwide in many private, corporate and public collections, including the Africana Museum, Durban Art Gallery, Johannesburg Art Gallery, King George VI Art Gallery, Pierneef Museum and the Pretoria Art Gallery.
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2022 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
