Frans Smissaert (1862-1944) - Boer met kar in duinlandschap

Mr. Frans Alexander Evert Lodewijk Smissaert (The Hague, August 28, 1862 – Laren (NH), December 16, 1944) was a Dutch painter.

Biography
Smissaert was a descendant of the noble family Smissaert and a son of receiver jhr. Marinus Paulus Smissaert (1825-1900) and lady Elisabeth Françoise Sophia van Rappard (1826-1904), a descendant of the Van Rappard family. He grew up in The Hague and was fascinated by the Dutch landscape. His paintings often depict the dunes and the polder landscape. In 1898, he married lady Wilhelmina Frederika Martini Buys (1871-1953), a descendant of the Martini family; this marriage remained childless.

Smissaert had drawing lessons from Frid. Becker at the age of 12 but only started painting when he was thirty-eight. He attended The Hague Academy from 1900 to 1902, where he was taught by Frits Jansen. Later, he studied for five years under Willem Roelofs, who was living in Brussels at the time. He also maintained regular contact with Willem van Konijnenburg.

Smissaert moved frequently; between 1887 and 1898, he worked extensively in The Hague and Utrecht. From 1898, he lived with his wife in Voorburg until 1903. Between 1903 and 1913, he was often in Paris, where he came into contact with Eugène Burnand, who encouraged him to paint religious subjects. The municipality of Laren owns a painting he made of the cemetery. In 1914, he moved to Laren, where the Larense School gained great fame, and there he met artists such as Albert Neuhuys and Anton Mauve. His studio was at Torenlaan 45 in the villa 'Le Grand Chaumière'.

Exhibitions
Smissaert was a member of the Kunstenaarsvereniging Laren-Blaricum, Pulchri Studio, de Haagse Kunstkring, and the Société Internationale d'Aquarellistes. He exhibited in The Hague, Amsterdam, and Brussels (1910), but also in Paris (1912, 1913), Berlin, Munich, and even St. Louis. In 1912, he participated in the exhibition 'Hedendaagse Kunst' in Amsterdam.