Title: Stream through the mountains
Medium: Oil on canvas
Signed
Unframed: 63cm x 100cm
Framed: 85cm x 123cm
Tinus and his family emigrated to South Africa from the Netherlands after the first World War in 1921. After they settled in Fish Hoek, he spent a lot of time painting landscapes around the Cape Peninsula (Weckesser 2013:41). The painting, The Twelve apostles – Camps Bay, is a wonderful example of one of these paintings.
With regards to de Jong’s process, it is interesting to note that he primarily painted from nature. He had a gift for memory retention and precise powers of observation. According to Weckesser (2013:25) “needing only a brief study of a scene to enable him to store it in his memory, in exact detail and colour.” The artist would use a memorandum in the form of a pencil or charcoal or water colour sketch that illustrated the areas of tonality as well as the necessary colour scheme for him to be able to recreate the scene in his studio when completing his masterpieces.
