Anton Smeerdijk - circa 1930 - impressionistic oil painting - polder in Kortenhoef - signed

• Kortenhoef 1885 – 1965 Kortenhoef, Holland

The painter Anton Smeerdijk, as a scion of a laundry family from 's-Graveland, showed an artistic talent at an early age. As a child, he made sketches of the interior of the Reformed Church during a church service on Sundays, which he later developed into a Rembrandt painting. He was allowed to go to the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam, where he studied, like many others, under the professors Allebé, Dake and Van de Waay. Fellow students of his were the later 'modernists' Jan Sluyters and Leo Gestel. His early work shows that he was deeply impressed by the Hague School. His work: “Winter in Kortenhoef” is well-known, which is clearly inspired by the work of Floris Vester and Victor Bauffe. The mood of a winter afternoon is beautifully expressed, the thick layer of snow is almost tangible. However, the clear outlines of houses, bridge, lamppost and figure betray his firmness of form, which he later found difficult to let go of. Although Smeerdijk had already been able to become acquainted with Luminism, light painting, at exhibitions in Amsterdam in 1910, his eyes were only opened to modern French-oriented art in 1913. During his first study trip to France, to Paris and along the Loire, he saw the overwhelming light for the first time himself and processed it in a series of radiant studies. “The Loire at Sancerre”, a large canvas that was exhibited in the Stedelijk Museum in 1914, was immediately purchased by collector Regnault. It was also the year of experimentation: he threw himself into Pointillism, the originally French stippling technique. For example, he painted a scene of workers, who are pulling a boat along the canal with a thick rope over their shoulders.
Smeerdijk had a good taste for travelling: in 1922 he made a long journey to Germany, Austria and Italy. Three years later he sought out the bright light on the French Riviera. His southern journeys are responsible for the special colours of these paintings: the sky becomes turquoise, the houses salmon-coloured and the shadow areas blue-lilac. This can also be seen in the village views that he made back home, of his own environment.
He has exhibitions all over the world: from Barcelona to Indonesia. At home, in his house designed by Wouter Hamdorff
“De Gaard”, he exhibits in his own studio in the month of August. Smeerdijk is versatile: landscapes, village and cityscapes, flower still lifes and portraits, he has made it all. He was regularly seen, neatly dressed as a gentleman, with his easel in the meadow. He often painted Plein Air.
As the years pass, however, the flair with which he set up his canvases in his younger years disappears. His village scenes become somewhat stiff, the polder landscapes that he produces in large series, somewhat too fluently designed. His use of colour becomes harder. The large production continues until his death at the age of 83.
Source: “The imperishable view of Kortenhoef” by Drs Carole Denninger.
Info: Shin, Benezit