JACOBUS HENDRIK PIERNEEF (1886-1957)
Monts-Aux-Sources (3, 282 m - 10,768 ft)
South Africa - Lesotho border
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.
