Richard Smeets (1955) - Molens

Richard Smeets
Title: Mills
Year: 1995
Technique: Screen print
Edition: 53/200
Sheet dimensions: 45.0 x 30.5 cm
Frame dimensions: 71.5 x 56.5 cm. Refers to a black wooden frame with a gold braid.
The frame is 4 cm wide and 2 cm high.
Condition: Good, the frame has some signs of wear. See photos

Richard Smeets (1955).
Richard Smeets (Gennep, 1955) is a Dutch sculptor and painter based in Heijen.
Richard Smeets studied at the Stadsacademie Beeldende Kunsten in Maastricht. Since the mid-1980s, his work can be described as lyrical-abstract. According to his own account, his work arises in three stages. The basis is an experience, a memory, which the painter then materializes in paint and color.
Richard Smeets makes little use of sketches, but works from the impressions stored in his memory. In that sense his works can be described as expressionist and have affinities with Willem de Kooning, Karel Appel, Pierre Alechinsky, Eugène Brands, Ger Lataster, Jef Diederen and Pieter Defesche. He also selects his themes from the tradition of art history.
At the beginning of his career, the woman was the central theme in his work. Later, his travels to, among other places, Malaysia and Indonesia (the birthplace of his mother) became the main source of inspiration. In the third period, which we can distinguish in his oeuvre, the Dutch landscape forms the primary subject. He is also inspired by the famous painting ‘The Raft of the Medusa’ by the French painter Théodore Géricault, which serves as the starting point for a series of paintings dealing with the refugee issue in the Mediterranean Sea. This project is titled ‘l’histoire se répète’ (2015 - 2018).
Smeets, like many of his contemporaries, is inspired by music, and conversely musicians Nard Reijnders (saxophone) and Bart Jan Baartmans (guitar) are inspired by Smeets’ painting, resulting in a unique exchange between these art forms, performed by, among others, the Dutch Wind Ensemble.
Richard Smeets also creates works in bronze, corten steel and polyester that are closely related to his painting. A good example are the large bronzes titled ‘Table Conversations’. Together with writer Marion Bloem, Richard Smeets produced a book in which they respond to each other’s work.
Exhibitions
• 1985 Krikhaar Gallery, Amsterdam (solo) Jubilee Exhibition Peter Stuyvesant Foundation, Zevenaar
• 1986 Krikhaar Gallery, Amsterdam Marijke Raaymakers Gallery, Grubbenvorst (solo) Krikhaar Gallery, Amsterdam (solo)
• 1987 F.I.A.C. 87 (solo), Grand Palais, Paris (F) Hanson Art Gallery, New York USA (solo) Acces Gallery, New York USA (solo)
• 1989 Kunstrai 89 Amsterdam, (solo) with Cobra Gallery, Eindhoven Civic Center, Kuching-Sarawak, Malaysia Cobra Gallery, Eindhoven (solo) Gennep Cultural Museum, Gennep (solo) Holland Art Gallery, Eindhoven (solo)
1991 Jaski Art Gallery, Amsterdam. (solo)
• 1992 Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg Denmark. Päske Tongerlohuys, Roosendaal
• 1993 Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg Denmark. (solo) Galerie Der Spiegel, Köln Germany
1994 Delta Art Gallery, Nijmegen. (solo)
• 1995 Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg Denmark. Päske Museum van der Togt, Amstelveen. (solo) Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg Denmark. (solo) Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg Denmark. PäskeDelta Art Gallery, Nijmegen
• 1998 Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg Denmark. Päske ‘Between Two Continents...’-Museum Het Markiezenhof, Bergen op Zoom
• 1999 ‘The Rose Project’ (solo) Steenks Rosen B.V. Baarlo
2000 Erasmushuis, Retrospective (solo) Djakarta, Indonesia Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg Denmark Päske
• 2001 Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg Denmark Päske
• 2002 Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg Denmark Päske
• 2003 Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg Denmark Päske Jaski Art Gallery Amsterdam, (solo) Etienne & Van Loon, Oisterwijk.
• 2004 ’Retrospective 25 years of painting’ (solo) Sparrenhorst conference resort, Nunspeet Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg Denmark Päske
• 2005 Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg Denmark Päske
• 2006 Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg Denmark (solo)
• 2007 Nico Koster – Galerie Moderne, Amsterdam (solo)
• 2010 Streekmuseum Gennep, Gennep (solo)
• 2012 Museum Jan van der Togt, Amstelveen. (solo)
• 2013 Rezan Has Museum, Istanbul – Turkey
• 2016 Stadsschouwburg, Nijmegen
• 2019 Musiom, Amersfoort
• 2023 European Parliament, Brussels – Belgium The Medusa Project