Henri De Smeth

HENRI DE SMETH (Belgium, 1865-1940).
"Painter. 1888
Oil on panel.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 36 x 26 cm; 50 x 40 x 13.5 cm.

The pictorial style of the interiors of the Belgian painter Henri De Smeth was similar to that of Henri De Braekeleer and Alfred Elsen, which can be seen in this painting in which a painter wearing a hat and a smock seems to be correcting some pigment spillage on the canvas, already mounted in its gilded wooden frame. The subject itself is anecdotal, a mere excuse to elaborate on the description of this bourgeois and cozy room, full of fabrics and objects. In his narrative and detail-oriented zeal Smeth proves to be a solid colorist, with great mastery in the rendering of noble materials, such as porcelain, wood, carpet and glass.

Henri (Hendrik) De Smeth was born in the Belgian town of Borgerhout in 1865. At the age of 14 he became a pupil of the artist August de Lathouwer and later of Lodewijk Hendrix. Henri De Smeth's pictorial field encompasses genre and interior scenes, religious painting, portraits and landscapes. He was a member of the artistic group Als ik kan, which also included Emile Claus, Edgard Farasyn, Frans Hens and Theodore Verstraete. De Smeth was good friends with Romain Looymans and Frans Van Ballaer. Accompanied by Henry Luyten and Romain Looymans, he discovered Zeeland (Netherlands) as a place to paint. The influence of Franz Courtens is evident in his works. He participated in numerous Salons of Gand, Antwerp and Brussels between 1886 and 1904. In 1907, at the height of his career, De Smeth, forty-two years old, was affected by blindness. Henri De Smeth died in Brasschaat on November 17, 1940. His work can be found in museums in Brussels, Antwerp and Tournai (Doornik).