Pieter Wenning
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Pieter Willem Frederick Wenning (9 September 1873 – 24 January 1921) was a South African
painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
and
etcher Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...
, considered to be the progenitor of the style of Cape Impressionism.


Early life and education

Pieter Wenning was born in
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
, the son of Heerke and Elizabeth Wenning. The family moved to
Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; ; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provin ...
when Wenning was aged five years. His father owned a shop where he dealt in artists' materials, pictures and prints. He also had a cousin, Ype Wenning, who was a well known Frisian painter, thus coming into contact with painting at an early age. Wenning was sent to the
Hogere Burgerschool The ''Hogere Burgerschool'' (''HBS'') (Dutch: Higher Civic School) was a secondary school type that existed between 1863 and 1974 in the Netherlands and the Dutch Empire. These schools, with a five- or sometimes six-year program, continued in 1 ...
where the art teacher, a Mr. H. Bubberman, discerned the boy's talent and encouraged him. Despite Bubberman's persuasions, Wenning's parents were dubious and steered him towards a position at headquarters of the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg Maatschappij in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, where he gained rapid promotion and was transferred to an administrative post in
Zaandam Zaandam () is a city in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad and received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1811. It is located on the river Zaan ...
. His sympathies with the plight of the Dutch poor became his undoing, when, in 1903, he participated in a general strike in solidarity with
blue-collar A blue-collar worker is a person who performs manual labor or skilled trades. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involve manufacturing, retail, warehousing, mining, carpentry, electrical work, custodia ...
railroad workers. The strike was suppressed and he was summarily dismissed. Wenning had married a young widow, Johanna Hillegonda Kramer, on 3 September 1898, and she had two children from a previous marriage. To support his family he obtained employment with the firm of J. H. de Bussy in Amsterdam, the largest publishing house in the Netherlands. When the offer came of a position as a clerk in a bookshop in South Africa, he leapt at the opportunity. The firm of H.A.U.M. de Bussy & Jacques Dusseau appointed him to the de Bussy branch in
Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...
.


The Pretoria Bookshop

The family sailed from the East India Docks, London on 12 May 1905 and arrived at
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
on 4 June 1905. From there they sailed to Durban and travelled to Pretoria by rail, arriving in mid-June 1905. Wenning and his family lived in a wood and iron cottage in Rietfontein on the outskirts of Pretoria. He sold books, stationery, prints and artist's materials, earning £17 a month. Unable to afford the materials for painting, he drew incessantly and through diligent saving, eventually imported a second-hand etching press from the Netherlands, with which he became a pioneer in etching in South Africa. It was also at Rietfontein, around 1909, where Wenning began experimenting with oils. After four years in Rietfontein, Wenning was able to rent a property in Rissik Street, Pretoria. It was shortly after this that he contracted malaria, an insidious disease in Pretoria of the early twentieth century. He recovered, but would suffer the consequences to his heart for the rest of his life.


The Individualists

Through the bookshop, Wenning became acquainted with a number of Pretoria personalities, who decided to form a society they called ''The Individualists''. Wenning became secretary. It is known that
Pierneef Jacobus Hendrik (Henk) Pierneef (usually referred to as Pierneef) (13 August 1886 Pretoria – 4 October 1957 Pretoria), was a South African landscape artist, generally considered to be one of the best of the old South African masters. His distin ...
and George Smithard were also founding members. The group was formed towards the middle of 1911, and held their first exhibition on 20 November 1911. Other early members were Marcelle Piltan, Selina Harding, Madge Cook, Nina Murray, Sydney Stent and Mr G. Schild. In 1912, Miss G. Anderson and Mr. J.L. Gartner were added and
Fanie Eloff Fanie Eloff, (1885-1947) Stephanus Johannes Paulus Eloff was born as the sixth child and second son of Frederik Christoffel Eloff and Elsie Francina Eloff (née Kruger). They lived right next to his grandfather, President Paul Kruger of the Zuid ...
was invited to exhibit with them.


Johannesburg

When De Bussy opened a branch in Johannesburg, they approached Wenning to manage the art department. A larger salary lured him, but the monotony of the work soon proved unbearable. When, in July 1913, De Bussy's gave him an opportunity to visit the
Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...
, he welcomed it. He brought with him etchings and reproductions by French and Dutch masters, visiting leading Cape artists and collectors in the hope of interesting them. It was amongst these visits, that he became acquainted with D. C. Boonzaier who would become his patron and guiding influence. In Johannesburg he befriended Ernest Lezard, George Smithard, a leading painter in Johannesburg, the architect Joseph Michael Solomon,
Anton van Wouw Anton van Wouw (27 December 1862 30 July 1945) was a Dutch-born South African sculptor regarded as the father of South African sculpture.Burger, E. ''Die Huiselike Omstandighede van Anton van Wouw''. University of Pretoria, 1941, p. 21 Biogra ...
and Paul Methuen. After a failed attempt to start his own venture, an art shop on the corner of Eloff and Plain Streets, he took a position at his friend Van Schaik's bookshop in Pretoria. D. C. Boonzaier came to his aid by persuading several of his friends to guarantee a sum of money sufficient to enable Wenning to work in the Cape for three months. Ernest Lezard would launch a similar fund later in the year.


Cape Town

Wenning arrived at the Cape on 2 March 1916, met by Boonzaier, who had rented a large room in Government House, Newlands Avenue. Years later another South African painter, Gwelo Goodman, occupied the same house. He worked every day, painting
en plein air ''En plein air'' (; French language, French for 'outdoors'), or plein-air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein ai ...
, completing about 40 paintings on this first visit. Evenings were spent at the Boonzaier house. Boonzaier himself was an avid collector of Oriental works of art. In bad weather Wenning painted still lifes in Boonzaier's study, with objects like an old Chinese
Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...
or a
Ming The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by the Han people, t ...
bowl. One morning he came across Malta Farm, one of the Cape's earliest landmarks and was so taken that he painted the scene until nightfall. Initially thinking the picture a failure, he was persuaded by Boonzaier to complete it the next day. It is considered one of his strongest works. At the end of three month, Boonzaier arranged a private exhibition, at his studio in Keerom Street, for the guarantors. Nearly all picture were sold. After a brief return to Pretoria, Ernest Lezard, a far sighted
art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationsh ...
, set the plans in motion for further financing to return to the Cape. With these assurances, Wenning's Transvaal period came to an end. Wenning took a studio at the Vineyard Hotel, Newlands, the original home built by
Lady Anne Barnard Lady Anne Barnard (née Lindsay; 8 December 17506 May 1825) was a Scottish travel writer, artist and socialite, and the author of the ballad '' Auld Robin Gray''. Her five-year residence in Cape Town, South Africa, although brief, had a signif ...
in 1799. He was attracted to the Malay Quarter and was the first outstanding painter of it. In order to repay the donors of the Johannesburg Fund, Wenning sent forty pictures to Lezard, where they were auctioned to the public on 12 March 1917 as the ''Wenning Art Fund Sale''. The sale consisted largely of oil, watercolours and drawings of Newlands, Bishopscourt and the Malay Quarter. Proceeds were barely enough to repay the donors. Despite poor health he managed to exhibit ten more works in Cape Town, on 9 July 1917, in collaboration with Edward Roworth, Hugo Naudé and Nita Spilhaus. On 21 September 1917, he showed 54 pictures at Lezard in Johannesburg, again to be disappointed by proceeds of only £225. Trips to
Lourenco Marques Maputo () is the capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed over a land are ...
and
Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...
followed, but by the winter of 1918, Wenning was back in the Cape, where an influenza epidemic was raging. The results of an exhibition held at Ashbey's Galleries on 12 November 1918, held without reserve, could not have brightened his mood, as works were sold at very low prices. On 23 February 1919, his wife died. His health failing him, Wenning was moved to the Somerset Hospital in Cape Town on 19 July 1920. He was moved to the Zuid Afrikaanse Hospitaal in Pretoria and died there, of tuberculosis, on 24 January 1921.


His art

Pieter Wenning has the distinction of being the progenitor of a style of painting often referred to as Cape Impressionism. He excelled at the quiescent landscape, nature at rest. His method was to complete a work
en plein air ''En plein air'' (; French language, French for 'outdoors'), or plein-air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein ai ...
and with his subject before him. Yet the myth of Wenning's spontaneity is effectively exploded by the existence of a large number of studies, sketches and unfinished drawings. The freshness and delicate atmospheric qualities of his best works were achieved by hard work. In portraiture his attempts are generally considered failures, although a portrait of D. C. Boonzaier has become recognisable.


The art market

Although the artist was impoverished during his lifetime, the rise in popularity of
Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
soon conferred prestige on owning a Wenning. By 1968, Dr. Helmut Silberberg was able to stage a retrospective of 100 works in Cape Town. Wenning's ''Transvaal evening (Nelspruit)'' was priced at R9,750 and his ''Witwatersrand'' at R8,000. At the time these were unheard of prices for a South African artist. In 1970, a still life sold at Ashbey's Galleries, the scene of the disastrous 1918 sale, for R2,900.


Forgeries and fakes

Fraudulent misrepresentation of an artist's work is related to the demand for works and the ease with which the artist's style lends itself to imitation. Thus, Wenning and
Tinus de Jongh Martinus Johannes "Tinus" de Jongh (31 January 1885 in Amsterdam – 17 July 1942 in Bloemfontein) was one of South Africa's most popular painters. Career Self-taught, he began his career as a decorator in the Netherlands, and then pur ...
were frequently targets of early fakery. Between 1944 and 1947, a wave of forgeries resulted in fake Wennings making their way into the art trade. Everard Read and Anton Hendriks (director of the Johannesburg Municipal Art Gallery) brought the existence of Wenning fakes to public attention in 1963.


Major collections

Pieter Wenning's works are included in a number of major collections: *
South African National Gallery The Iziko South African National Gallery is the national art gallery of South Africa located in Cape Town. It became part of the Iziko collection of museums – as managed by the Department of Arts and Culture – in 2001. It then became an agenc ...
, Cape Town *
Johannesburg Art Gallery The Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) is an art gallery in Joubert Park in the city centre of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was once the largest gallery on the continent with a collection of more than 9000 artworks. The gallery collection is la ...
, Johannesburg *
Pretoria Art Museum The Pretoria Art Museum is an art gallery located in Arcadia, Pretoria in South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, n ...
, Pretoria *
Durban Art Gallery The Durban Art Gallery, situated in Durban, South Africa, holds the status of a municipal art gallery under the administration of the by eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. Its origins trace back to its establishment in 1892, making it a longsta ...
, Durban * William Humphreys Art Gallery, Kimberley


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wenning, Pieter 1873 births 1921 deaths Dutch painters Dutch male painters Dutch emigrants to former British colonies and protectorates in Africa Artists from The Hague 20th-century South African painters 20th-century South African male artists South African male painters