Altered landscapes: A comparison between works by J.H. Pierneef and John Clarke

The article is introduced by theoretical speculation about the "world" reve aled in a work of art, followed by discussions of landscapes by the painter Jan Hendrik Pierneef (1886-1957) and place images by the printmaker John C larke (born 1946), whose peak periods are fifty years apart, during which t ime the socio-political reality in South Africa changed radically. We hope to reveal that ideology influenced the representation of landscape and plac e in the work of these artists: Pierneef's sublime views are of a land colo nised and altered by white settlers, while Clarke's views of places are mar ked by configurations of stones and stockades which were assembled by indig enous people. The works of both artists are nostalgic in different ways in that a longing for some idealised vision of a multi-ethnic and multicultura l land with conflicting traditions imbues their representations.