KNYSNA HEADS PEINTS PAR JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF

JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF (1886-1957)
Knysna Heads (54m)
Afrique du Sud

Les reliefs de l'estuaire
Séparés par environ 300 mètres d'eau, les Knysna Heads sont les promontoires de deux péninsules qui entourent  l'estuaire de la rivière Knysna lu-même formé  au cours du Jurassique, il y a 180 millions d'années, dès l'éclatement du supercontinent Gondwana appelé aussi Pangée.
Bien qu'il existe des preuves que Knysna ait été peuplée il y a 1,5 million d'années, la découverte d'un atelier d'outils en pierre sur Western Head (révélés par les incendies de 2017) montre que The Heads était un lieu important il y a environ 300 000 ans. Les grands outils de coupe et hachoirs trouvés sur le site ont été fabriqués à une époque où le niveau de la mer était bien plus bas qu'aujourd'hui. Le littoral s'étendait à plus de 90 km au sud et la rivière Knysna coulait paresseusement à travers la plaine qui est aujourd'hui la lagune de Knysna – et dévalait à travers l'espace entre les falaises, faisant de The Heads un lieu d'embuscade idéal pour les premiers chasseurs .

Le peintre
Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef était un peintre sud-africain, issu de la communauté afrikaner. Il fut l'un des plus grands peintres de paysages sud-africains.
Pierneef est né à Pretoria dans la république sud-africaine du Transvaal. Il était le fils d'émigrés néerlandais. Sa scolarité fut interrompue par la Seconde Guerre des Boers. La famille Pierneef décida alors de se réfugier aux Pays-Bas en 1901. Hendrik Pierneef y poursuivit sa scolarité puis des études artistiques. À l'âge de 18 ans, Hendrik Pierneef revint en Afrique du Sud, dans sa ville natale de Pretoria où il fut aidé dans son entreprise artistique par son parrain, Anton van Wouw et les peintres Hugo Naudé et Frans Oerder.
En 1913, il réalise sa première exposition publique personnelle de peinture qui est un véritable succès critique. Il récidive deux ans plus tard dans la même veine. En 1918, Pierneef commence une carrière de professeur d'art au collège de Heidelberg tout en enseignant la peinture au collège académique de Pretoria.  À partir de 1923, Pierneef se consacre uniquement à la peinture. Il visite le Sud-Ouest africain en 1923 et 1924 dont il fera de splendidespeintures. En 1924 et visite l'Europe, où sa peinture fait l'objet d'une exposition aux Pays-Bas. En 1929, il accepte une commande publique consistant à décorer l'intérieur de la grande gare de Johannesburg. En 1933, il décore les panneaux muraux de la maison d'Afrique du Sud et de l'ambassade sud-africaine à Londres. Pierneef est mort en 1957 à Pretoria.
L'œuvre de Pierneef est exposé dans plusieurs musées nationaux d'Afrique du Sud comme Africana Museum, la Durban Art Gallery, la Johannesburg Art Gallery, le King George VI Art Gallery et la Pretoria Art Gallery. À Pretoria, le Pierneef Museum lui est dédié.

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2023 - Gravir les montagnes en peinture
Un blog de Francis Rousseau

 

THE WATERBERG PAINTED BY JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF

 

 

JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF (1886-1957)
The Waterberg (1, 830 m - 6, 003 ft)
South Africa (Limpopo)

In Bushveld, 1942, watercolor

The Mountains 

The Waterberg (1,830 m - 6,003 ft) (Thaba Meetse) is a mountainous massif of approximately 654,033 hectare in north Limpopo Province, South Africa. The average height of the mountain range is 600 m with a few peaks rising up to 2000 m above sea level. Vaalwater town is located just north of the mountain range. The extensive rock formation was shaped by hundreds of millions of years of riverine erosion to yield diverse bluff and butte landform. The ecosystem can be characterised as a dry deciduous forest or Bushveld. Within the Waterberg there are archaeological finds dating to the Stone Age, and nearby are early evolutionary finds related to the origin of humans. Waterberg is the first region in the northern part of South Africa to be named as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.

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.

___________________________

2022 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

CATHEDRAL PEAK PAINTED BY JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF

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.

___________________________

2022 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

ELEPHANT CASTLE PAINTED BY JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF

 

JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF (1886-1957)

Elephant Castle (400m-1,300ft) 

South Africa  

 In Elephant Castle, Selati Rivier, Phalaborwa, 1945, oil on canvas 60,5x 76cm, Private collection

The rock formation
Elephant Castle (400m-1,300ft) is part of The Lebombo Mountains, also called Lubombo Mountains are an 800 km-long (500 mi), narrow range of mountains in Southern Africa. The name of the mountains is derived from the Zulu word ubombo meaning "big nose".
They stretch from Hluhluwe in KwaZulu-Natal in the south to Punda Maria in the Limpopo Province in South Africa in the north. Parts of the mountain range are also found in Mozambique and Eswatini.
Geologically, the range is considered a monocline; part of a rifted volcanic margin. The Lebombo monocline was aligned with the Explora Escarpment off-shore Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, before the break-up of Gondwana. The Lebombo monocline strikes N-S and dips to the east. It is composed of a sequence of Jurassic age volcanic rock, both basaltic lavas and rhyolitic flows and tuffs. The sequence rests on essentially horizontal Karoo Supergroup sedimentary rocks of the Kalahari Craton to the west and is overlain by Cretaceous to recent sediments to the east. The alternating resistant rhyolite and easily eroded basalts produce a series of parallel sharp cuesta ridges separated by savanna plains.
The range is relatively low with heights between 400 m (1,300 ft) and less than 800 m (2,600 ft). The highest peak is the 776 m-high (2,546 ft) Mount Mananga. The 480 m-high (1,570 ft) Longwe is the highest point in the Lebombo Range north of the Letaba River.


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.

___________________________________________

2020 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

SIMONSBERG & SOMERSET SNEEUKOP BY JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF

JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF (1886-1957) 

Somerset Sneeukop (1,590 m - 5,220 ft) 

Simonsberg (1,399m - 4,590ft))

South Africa 

In  A view in the Stellenbosch Valley with Simonsberg and the Hottentots Holland beyond, 

oil on canvas, Private collection  

The mountains

Somerset Sneeukop (1,590 m - 5,220 ft)  is the highest point of The Hottentots Holland Mountains are part of the Cape Fold Belt in the Western Cape, South Africa. The mountain range forms a barrier between the Cape Town metropolitan area and the southern Overberg coast. 

The range is primarily composed of Table Mountain Sandstone, and forms a large range between the Cape Town outlying suburbs of Somerset West and Gordon's Bay to the west, and the large Elgin valley to the east. Sir Lowry's Pass is the only crossing, in the form of the N2 motorway. The Steenbras Dam, one of Cape Town's main supply dams, is located in the southern section of the range. This is due to the abundant rainfall experienced in the uplands, located in the Elgin Valley around the town of Grabouw on the eastern slopes.

At the start of the Great Trek in 1835 when migrants decided to leave the Cape Town area, or Cape Colony as it was then known, the first mountain range they crossed was this range. 

The climate is typically Mediterranean, however it is generally much cooler and more verdant than other areas in the Western Cape, with annual precipitation exceeding 1500 mm and summertime maxima rarely exceeding 25 °C. The surrounding lowlands have rich alluvial soils supporting viticulture and other deciduous fruit farms.

Simonsberg (1399m - ) is part of the Cape Fold Belt in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is located between the towns of Stellenbosch, Paarland Franschhoek. It is detached from the other ranges in the winelands region. Simonsberg is named after Simon van der Stel, first governor of the Cape and founder and namesake of Stellenbosch and Simon's Town.

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.

___________________________________________
2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau 

DEVIL'S PEAK PAINTED BY JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF

JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF (1886-1957)

Devil's Peak (1,000 m - 3,300 ft) 

South Africa

In  Cape Farmland, 1930, casein, 55.9 x 50.8 cm, Private collection 

The mountain
Devil's Peak (1,000 m - 3,300 ft) less high than Table Mountain (1,087 m- 3,566 ft) is part of the mountainous backdrop to Cape Town, South Africa. When looking at Table Mountain from the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, or when looking at the standard picture postcard view of the mountain, the skyline is from left to right: the spire of Devil's Peak, the flat mesa of Table Mountain, the dome of Lion's Head and Signal Hill.
Forty years before Vasco de Gama rounded the Cape in 1497, the Venetian cartographer Fra Mauro created a map of the world for King Alfonso V of Portugal, based on knowledge drawn from the Arabians. On this map, which became the definitive view of the world for the early Portuguese explorers, he named the southernmost tip of Africa, Cabo di Diab – the Devil’s Cape. It’s very likely the association with the Devil simply migrated from the Cape to the mountain that flanks it. After all, sailors are a superstitious lot and Devil’s Peak remains the path through which the Cape Southeaster howls, churning up the waves in the Cape of Storms.
The upper, rocky parts of Devil's Peak, Table Mountain and Lion's Head consist of a hard, uniform and resistant sandstone commonly known as the Table Mountain sandstone or TMS. The tough sandstone rests conformably upon a basal shale that in turn lies unconformably upon a basement of older (Late Precambrian) rocks (Malmesbury shale/slate and the Cape Granite). Millions of years of erosion have stripped all of the TMS from Signal Hill and that is why it looks very rounded compared to its sister peaks. There is a road that runs almost on the contour from the lower cable station on Table Mountain along the mountain to Devil's Peak. As it turns east around the bulk of Devil's Peak the road cuttings expose a few famous geological unconformities, which illustrate very clearly that the Malmesbury rocks were folded, baked, intruded by granite and planed down by millions of years of erosion before the area sank below the ocean and a new sequence of sediments, including the TMS, began to accumulate.

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.

___________________________________________
2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau 

THABANA NTLENYANA PAINTED (2) BY JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEFF

JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF (1886-1957)

Thabana Ntlenyana (3, 482m - 11, 424ft) 

South Africa, Lesotho 

In Maluti Mountains at Ficksburg , oil on canvas, 1910

The mountain
Thabana Ntlenyana  (3,482m - 11, 424ft)  which literally means "Beautiful little mountain" in Sesotho, is the highest point in Lesotho and the highest mountain in southern Africa. It is situated on the Mohlesi ridge of the Drakensberg/Maloti Mountains, north of Sani Pass.  The peak is usually climbed by groups completing a Grand Traverse of the Drakensberg - even though the peak is technically in the Maloti Mountains.
The Maloti Mountains, also spelled Maluti are a mountain range of the highlands of the Kingdom of Lesotho. They extend for about 100 km into the Free State. The Maloti Range is part of the Drakensberg system that includes ranges across large areas of South Africa. “Maloti” is also the plural for Loti, the currency of the Kingdom of Lesotho. The range forms the northern portion of the boundary between the Butha-Buthe District in Lesotho and South Africa’s Orange Free State.

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.

___________________________________________
2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau 

THE TWINS BY JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF

JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF (1886-1957)

The Twins  (1,494m- 4, 901 ft & 1,504 m - 4, 934ft)   

South Africa  

In Twin Peaks, Jonkershoek  mountains 

charcoal and watercolour on paper laid down on board (45 x 60,5cm) Private Collection 

The mountains 

 The Twins  (1,494m- 4, 901 ft & 1,504 m - 4, 934ft)   are two summit in the Jonkershoek mountains, with their high peaks and deep kloofs, form part of the larger Boland mountain range, part of the greater Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve, in Cape Province, South Africa..

The reserve lies north of the Hottentots-Holland Mountains within the Hottentots-Holland Mountain Catchment Area and it contains the smaller Assegaaibosch Nature Reserve. It includes the Jonkershoek Mountains and portions of the upper Jonkershoek valley. The Eerste River and Berg River have their origins in these mountains, the former also flowing through the Jonkershoek valley on its way to False Bay.

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.

_______________________________
2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau 

BRANDBERG / OMUKURUVARO PAINTED BY JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF

JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF (1886-1957), 

 The Brandberg  (2,573 m -8,442 ft)

 Namibia  

 In Purple Mountain  oil on board (10, 5 x14 cm), Private collection 

The mountain 
The Brandberg or Omukuruvaro  (2,573 m -8,442 ft)  is Namibia's highest mountain. Brandberg Mountain is located in former Damaraland, now Erongo, in the northwestern Namib Desert, near the coast, and covers an area of approximately 650 km². With its highest point, the Königstein (German for 'King's Stone'), located on the flat Namib gravel plains, on a clear day 'The Brandberg' can be seen from a great distance. There are various routes to the summit, the easiest (also steepest) being up the Ga'aseb river valley, but other routes include the Hungurob and Tsisab river valleys. The nearest settlement is Uis, roughly 30 km from the mountain.
The name Brandberg is Afrikaans, Dutch and German for Burning Mountain, which comes from its glowing color which is sometimes seen in the setting sun. The Damara name for the mountain is Dâures, which means 'burning mountain', while the Herero name, Omukuruvaro means 'mountain of the Gods'.
The Brandberg is a spiritual site of great significance to the San (Bushman) tribes. The main tourist attraction is The White Lady rock painting, located on a rock face with other art work, under a small rock overhang, in the Tsisab Ravine at the foot of the mountain. The ravine contains more than 1 000 rock shelters, as well as more than 45 000 rock paintings.
The Brandberg Massif or Brandberg Intrusion is a granitic intrusion, which forms a dome-shaped massif. It originated during Early Cretaceous rifting that led to the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean. Argon–argon dating yielded intrusive ages of 132 to 130 Ma. Remnants of Cretaceous volcanic rocks are preserved in a collar along the western and southern margins of the massif. The origins of the magmas that formed the Brandberg intrusion are related to emplacement of mantle-derived basaltic magma during continental break-up which led to partial melting of crustal rocks resulting in a hybrid granitic magma. Erosion subsequently removed the overburden rock. Apatite fission track dating indicates approximately 5 km denudation between 80 and 60 Ma.

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.

_______________________________
2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau 

STELLENBOSCH MOUNTAIN PAINTED BY JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF

 JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF (1886-1957)

 Stellenbosch mountain  (1,156 m - 3,792 ft)

 South Africa

The mountain 
The peak of Stellenbosch Mountain   (1,156 m- 3,792 ft) also called Stellenbosberg or Die Groteberg   is a mountain forming a prominent landmark, par of The Hottentots Holland Mountains, overlooking the town of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape Province  (South Africa). The mountain forms part of the Coetsenburg Estate, the Jonkershoek Nature Reserve, the Assegaaibosch Nature Reserve and the larger Hottentots-Holland Mountains Catchment Area.
The source of the Blaauwklippen  River is near the peak. The range is primarily composed of Table Mountain Sandstone. The climate is typically Mediterranean; warm and temperate. However, it is generally much cooler and more verdant than other areas in the Western Cape. Snow is not unusual on the peak during winter. The surrounding lowlands have rich alluvial soils supporting viticulture and other deciduous fruit farms.

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.

_______________________________
2018 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau 

THABANA NTLENYANA PAINTED BY JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEFF

JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF (1886-1957)

Thabana Ntlenyana (3, 482m - 11, 424ft) 

South Africa, Lesotho 

In Maluti Mountains, oil on canvas, 1929

The mountain 

Thabana Ntlenyana  (3,482m - 11, 424ft)  which literally means "Beautiful little mountain" in Sesotho, is the highest point in Lesotho and the highest mountain in southern Africa. It is situated on the Mohlesi ridge of the Drakensberg/Maloti Mountains, north of Sani Pass.  The peak is usually climbed by groups completing a Grand Traverse of the Drakensberg - even though the peak is technically in the Maloti Mountains.

The Maloti Mountains, also spelled Maluti are a mountain range of the highlands of the Kingdom of Lesotho. They extend for about 100 km into the Free State. The Maloti Range is part of the Drakensberg system that includes ranges across large areas of South Africa. “Maloti” is also the plural for Loti, the currency of the Kingdom of Lesotho. The range forms the northern portion of the boundary between the Butha-Buthe District in Lesotho and South Africa’s Orange Free State.

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.

MONTS-AUX-SOURCES BY JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF

JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF (1886-1957) 

Monts-Aux-Sources (3, 282 m - 10,768 ft)

South Africa - Lesotho border 

The mountain 
Mont-Aux-Sources (3,282 m - 10,768 ft) is a mountain in Southern Africa, forming one of the highest portions of the Drakensberg Range. It is mostly within Lesotho, with parts in the KwaZulu-Natal and Free State provinces of South Africa. The peak is accessible from the Sentinel Car Park near Witsieshoek, via chain ladders.
The Mont-Aux-Sources is part of a basalt plateau which lies at an average elevation of about 10,000 feet (3,050 m). Among the many escarpments that surround the plateau is a sheer wall of 1,000 vertical ft., known as the Amphitheatre and the Sentinel.  The highest point is a peak 3 km from the ,Drakensberg escarpment.
Since important rivers have their sources in the range, the mountainous area was named Mont-Aux- Sources (‘Fountains Mount’) by French missionaries who visited the region in 1836.
Several rivers originate in the Mont-Aux-Sources, foremost of which is the Tugela, which flows eastwards into the Indian Ocean on the KwaZulu-Natal coast. Some 7 km from the Mont-Aux-Sources, the Tugela plunges 947 m in a series of falls in the Royal Natal National Park.
This is the second-highest series of falls in the world.
The Caledon River, one of the main tributaries of the Orange River, has its sources in this massif and flows along the border with Lesotho. Also the Seati (Khubedu), one of the headwater streams of the Orange River, has its origin near Mont-aux-Sources further to the north.
Another important river is the Elands, named the Namahadi in its uppermost section in the area of the Fika-Patso Dam. The Elands flows roughly northwards into the Wilge River, one of the major tributaries of the Vaal. The Vaal River flows westwards eventually into the Orange River, which in turn flows into the Atlantic Ocean on the West coast of Southern Africa.

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.