Pieter Willem Frederick Wenning

Born in 1873 in The Hague, The Netherlands, he first worked at the Hollandsch Ijzeren Spoorweg Maatschappij in Amsterdam. After coming to South Africa, he worked in several shops, including the Van Schaik’s Bookstore in Pretoria. With his focus on painting and etching his reputation as a great South African artist grew slowly, but he often suffered from ill health. After his death at the age of 47, the status of his works kept on growing and his work showed other artists that art can by more than just a depiction of something. He is known as the predecessor of the ‘Cape Impressionism’ style.

Selected works:
Apies Rivier, The Green Farm, Panorama of Pretoria with Salvokop

Collection:
Pretoria Art Museum

Sources:
BERMAN, E. 1983. Art & Artists of South Africa. Cape Town and Rotterdam: A A Balkema.
en.wikipedia.org (accessed 29 January 2014).