CHARLES ERNEST PEERS (1875-1944) PENCIL SKETCH OF THE RHONE FARMSTEAD IN THE GROOT DRAKENSTEIN VALLEY

CHARLES ERNEST PEERS (1875-1944) WAS A LISTED ARTIST FAMOUS FOR HIS LANDSCAPE AND ARCHITECTURE AS WELL AS MARITIME PAINTINGS, PENCIL SKETCHES AND LITHOGRAPHS. THIS ARTWORK IS AN ORIGINAL PENCIL DRAWING (NOT AN ETCHING).

IT IS A PENCIL SKETCH OF THE RHONE FARMSTEAD IN THE GROOT DRAKENSTEIN VALLEY NEAR PAARL IN THE WESTERN CAPE. ITS A 24CM X 17,5CM PENCIL ON PAPER (ALTHOUGH HE WAS FAMOUS FOR HIS LITHOGRAPHS THIS APPEAR TO BE A PENCIL SKETCH).

SIGNED ON LEFT BOTTOM OF DRAWING: CHAS. E. PEERS. TITLED AT BOTTOM LEFT: RHONE GROOT DRAKENSTEIN CAPE

SINCE CHARLES PEERS PASSED AWAY IN 1944 THIS ARTWORK DATES FROM BETWEEN 1904 (ARRIVAL IN SOUTH AFRICA) TO 1944 (HIS DEATH). ARTWORK SHOWS DEFINITE SIGNS OF AGE IT MIGHT WELL BE NEARLY 100 YEARS OLD.

CHARLES E PEERS:  
Charles Peers' was born in 1874 in Northern Ireland and he died in 1944 at Higgovale, Cape Town. He immigrated to South Africa in 1904 and settled in Cape Town, where his brother was a shipping agent. He studied at the Liverpool School of Art and at the Slade School of Art in London. Many of his early works were of ships, port and dock scenes of Liverpool and on the Mersey. There are also a good many Cape Town dock and shipping scenes. The biographical sketch records that he wished to become a naval architect but could not afford to study professionally.

The body of his work in South Africa dates from 1905 until his passing in 1944. Peers worked mainly in watercolor , but also produced oils and pastels as well as pencil drawings, etchings, linocuts, and lithographs. He concentrated on landscapes, architecture, and maritime subjects.

Peers died in 1944 and his work was shown retrospectively in 1948 at the Overseas Exhibition of South African Art at the Tate Gallery, London (and elsewhere); in 1953 at the Rhodes Centenary Exhibition, Bulawayo; in 1957 at Founders of Painting at the Cape since 1857 at the South African Art Gallery, Cape Town. In 1975 a prestige exhibition of 55 of his works was held at the South African National Gallery.

RHONE GROOT DRAKENSTEIN CAPE: The farm, "RHONE" with its Cape Dutch style homestead is located in the beautiful Groot-Drakenstein Valley. Neither holder of the original grants of 1691 of Rhone and Languedoc stayed on to farm his lands. In 1727 Claudine Lombard acquired the property. Throughout the last century Rhone was farmed by the Haupt family, until it was acquired by Cecil John Rhodes (Cecil John Rhodes was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896.) for his fruit farming scheme, together with Boschendal, Good Hope and other neighbouring farmlands.
 
MARKINGS: On the left RHONE GROOT DRAKENSTEIN CAPE. On the right Chas E Peers.  
 
VALUE: I SAW HIS PENCIL SKETCHES SELL FOR BETWEEN R1000 AND R2000 ONLINE. IN THIS CONDITION I WOULD SAY A FAIR VALUE IS AROUND R500.
 
SIZE: WITH FRAME 39CM WIDE 35CM HIGH
SKETCH  24CM WIDE 17,5CM HIGH
 
CONDITION: WOODEN FRAMED WITH GLASS IN FRONT AND HANGING WIRE AT BACK. SKETCH STILL IN FAIR CONDITION BUT CARDBOARD BORDER SHOWS SOME DISCOLOURATION AND MOULD MARKS.
 
PLEASE SEE MY OTHER ITEMS ON AUCTION. I HAVE 2 OTHER ORIGINAL SKETCHES BY CHARLES E PEERS ON AUCTION.