Jacob Hendrik Pierneef’s great painting “The Baobab Tree” sold on September 10 at Bonhams fourth South African art sale for $1.4 million, creating a new record price for South African art.
The presale estimate of $350/525,000 was almost tripled at the sale, and in doing so toppled the previous record holder, a painting by Irma Stern, which made around $825,000 in a previous sale. The sale total of $13.3 million is $3.5 million up on the last South African sale at Bonhams conducted on January 30.
Records were also smashed for the work of Alexis Preller, Francois Krige, Maurice van Essche, Cecil Skotnes and Eleanor Esmonde-White, with significant price increases on their previous best results.
The painting of baobab trees by Jacob Hendrik Pierneef (1886‱957) is a powerful illustration by the artist, who was selected to bring South African art to London when he decorated South Africa House in Trafalgar Square in the 1930s.
Bonhams fourth and largest sale of South African art – the 450 lots were divided into two sales, one at Bonhams in Knightsbridge on September 9 and one at Bonhams in Bond Street on September 10 – was expected to set new records and certainly did not disappoint.
“The Baobab Tree” has an interesting history. It was presented to the South African high commissioner to Britain in the 1930s, Charles te Water, as a gift after he visited Pierneef’s studio and admired the unfinished picture.
The picture was exhibited at London’s Tate Gallery in an “Overseas Exhibition of South African Art” in 1948.
While Charles te Water was serving as the South African high commissioner in London, Pierneef was given the commission to paint the murals for South Africa House in London. On June 27, 1933, the Pierneef family left Pretoria for London. Pierneef completed the murals by May 1934 and accepted a further commission from te Water to paint five works for the dining room in South Africa House. The room was officially opened on May 31, 1934, and was known as the “Pierneef Room.”
This painting is unquestionably a product of Pierneef at his finest. The majestic baobab tree stands proud, dominating the landscape, with the five people at the foot of the tree and the signs of human habitation in the background dwarfed by comparison.
The South African art sale also included the strongest collection of Irma Sterns yet seen in London, no fewer than 38 paintings. The majority of works by Stern beat their presale estimates. Among them were a number at the $500,000 mark. “Malay lady in green” made $680,000, “Still life of gladioli and a musical instrument” made $623,000, and “Two young Congolese girls” brought $580,000.
Giles Peppiatt, head of South African art at Bonhams, said of his latest sale: “We have had such a growth of interest that we have had to extend the sale to two days and two venues to allow us to exhibit the works as they deserve. We are seeing a maturing market for South African art with a greater appreciation by non-South African buyers. Increasingly, the market is demanding the best but also paying greater and greater record prices. Artists like Maggie Laubscher, Irma Stern and Pierneef are receiving prices and critical recognition which would have delighted them had they lived to see it. The 450 lots in this sale were a fantastic cross section of some of the very best South African work ever seen anywhere in the world.”
Prices reported have been converted from British pounds to US dollars and include the buyer’s premium. For information, +44 207 447 7447 or www.bonhams.com/southafrica .
