Gert Pietersen's Work

The classical artists Rembrandt, Vermeer and Frans Hals made a lasting impression on Pietersen and had a strong influence in his masterful use of light. He studied several South African artists as well, WH Coetzer in particular, and spent many hours talking to local artists – possibly one of the greatest contributions to his work and style.

Pietersen is an extremely perceptive observer, and records a huge amount of detail in sketch books and slides during his many travels in the bush. These are then analysed to determine the characteristics of certain areas and sceneries. A painting is never an exact copy of a scene, but rather a collection of features to convey a specific impression. He might only start composing a painting depicting an area years later, using his sketches as reference material.

Pietersen prefers natural studies and landscapes in particular, although his still lifes consist of personal artefacts, often including his hat, pipe and books. The still life paintings usually reveal a definite focal point from where light is coming.

Apart from charcoal sketches of his sons, he never did portraits. His animal studies always depict the nature of the subject, and show a deep knowledge of animal anatomy where fine muscular and bone structure is emphasised.
Pietersen’s work has gone through different phases.

His earlier work included lush, green vegetation, and the animals were brightly coloured and sprightly.

His landscapes often depicted farms and the tranquil Free State grasslands.
When he moved back to the bushveld, the scenery became dryer and dustier and, apart from still lifes, showed little human connection.

During the mid eighties, the landscapes turned into barren and pessimistic scenes, and greys and morbid clouds were common.

This phase soon ended when a brain tumour was diagnosed and removed. He then started experimenting with textured canvas, night scenes where the moon in the painting gives an illusion of light in a room, and richly coloured sunsets. For a short period, very harsh shadows were incorporated in some works.

Of his more recent themes, are remarkable night scenes incorporating figures around a cooking fire, where viewers can marvel over his effective use of light. He is a master of depicting veld fires and camp fire scenes – themes that had been copied by other artists with limited success.
He has always had a great love for baobab trees, native to his home farm, and they are depicted strikingly beautiful in a variety of themes.

Pietersen is an inspired and disciplined artist. He gets up early – often before sunrise - and enjoys the company of a small campfire. As soon as the sunlight is the right intensity, he starts painting and, apart from refreshments, only stops in the afternoon when the sun turns yellow and the light is insufficient.

Viewers often ask whether a painting depicts a specific scene. Although it is never a photographic exposé of a specific sight, it is either a characteristic portrayal of a specific scene, or a ‘character study’ of an area. His work projects a remarkable realism and viewers familiar with an area, will recognise it immediately.

The Life of a South African Artist

The Artist

Gert Pietersen was born in 1930 on a farm in the Northern Transvaal. He had enjoyed creative activities for as long as he can recall, from making clay oxen as a boy, to making drawings in the ground when no equipment was available during the depression years. Even at an early age, Pietersen understood and cherished the value of nature, and often incurred the wrath of his family when he tried to protect the environment from inconsiderate destruction, which was often the norm in early farming practices. He started school at Swartwater Primary, and then attended Piet Potgieter High School in Potgietersrus. Due to the depression and the financial strains that followed, he never completed school but moved to Pretoria, where he worked at a family printing press in order to support his family back home. Pietersen later moved to Johannesburg where he studied art informally under Professor Mario Scarpa and Mr WH Coetzer. He was still working at the printing press when he got involved with the Johannesburg art society. He painted after hours and exhibited his work at Joubert Park and the Johannesburg Zoo, and was one of the founding members of the “Artists in the Sun” at Joubert Park. Pietersen began painting professionally in 1970.
In 1971, Harry Tennison, President of The International Organization for Game Conservation (Game Coin), visited South Africa in search of a Wildlife Artist – which he found in Pietersen. This led to an invitation to exhibit at the Game Coin Congress held in San Antonio. Convinced that Pietersen would become one of the world’s greatest Wildlife painters, Tennison appointing him “Artist in Residence for Game Coin”, one of only two artists who ever received this honour. Pietersen visited many art galleries overseas and several of his works are displayed at the San Antonio Art Gallery in Texas.

Pietersen, an unadorned man with a straightforward, philosophical outlook, soon became disillusioned with the art fraternity’s requirements and values. There were customs that demanded certain behaviour, and there was great pressure on artists to commercialise their work. He felt that the emphasis on painting what was fashionable would prevent him from expressing his art truthfully. He thus decided to work independently from the formal arts’ structures. Ansie Pietersen played an integral part in selling her husband’s paintings. His works sold at private exhibitions, agricultural shows and wherever else he felt comfortable with the crowd. He usually preferred to stay out of the limelight, and let his cheerful and genial wife do the talking and trading. Living in the West Rand was taxing for Pietersen, and as soon as his 2 sons left the house, he moved back to his much-loved Bushveld.

Gert Pietersen