Rustenburgse Kloof

The commission of the Station Panels in 1929 defined Pierneef’s career, generating enormous publicity for the artist. Twenty-eight large panels were commissioned for the new Park Station in Johannesburg, each measuring around 150 by 140 centimetres.

The works were installed in 1932, and included four smaller landscape studies of indigenous trees. For each landscape, Pierneef executed an enormous number of preliminary studies in various mediums and formats, including those of Rustenburg Kloof.

This preparatory work provided him with much additional source material for a plethora of paintings and linocuts, with different variations on each scene. This monumental study of the kloof was executed in the years after the installation of the Station Panels.

Artwork courtesy of Pretoria Art Museum.