JH Pierneef: Still life of gourds, a pomegranate and and African clay pot
JH Pierneef (1886 - 1957)
Still life of gourds, a pomegranate and and African clay pot
Oil on board
45 x 60 cm
Signed bottom left
Pierneef realised that of all the shapes used in indigenous ornamentation it was the triangle in particular that could form the basis of a South African decorative art. He began to use this shape in all sorts of ways – for example in decorative borders. He believed that this principle should be developed and refined in accordance with a personal view of art.
Gré van der Waal-Braaksma, Pierneef the artist, PG Nel (ed), JH Pierneef His life and his work, Cape Town, 1990, p 126