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Hobbe Smithartist • painter • watercolourist • draughtsmanWitmarsum 1862-1942 Amsterdam

biography of Hobbe Smith

Hobbe Smith, born in Friesland, moved to Amsterdam in 1873 with his parents. There he is trained as a lithographer at a stone printing company and in the evenings he takes drawing lessons at the arts and crafts school Quellinus. His talent for drawing is discovered and thanks to a wealthy patron and a scholarship from Queen Wilhelmina, he can follow an education at the State Academy in the capital and after this, with a subsidy from King Willem III, at the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts, where he is taught by the well-known painter Charles Verlat

Hobbe Smith painted in a loose, impressionistic touch and he tackles everything; figure paintings, nudes, still lifes, interiors, the activity in the Amsterdam and Antwerp harbours, landscapes, windmills, history paintings and sea and town views. He becomes a member of Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam and Pulchri Studio in The Hague. There he meets Jacob Maris, whom he admires and with whom he feels very close.

Hobbe becomes a valued and successful painter and moves into a house with a studio at Sarphatipark. He is then already married (1897) to Catharina Daalmeyer. In that period, until just before the turn of the century, he makes sensual and mysterious female nudes and portraits. He also paints many city and harbor views - he can often be found on the water with his boat - and commissioned portraits. In 1902 he is given a solo exhibition at Pulchri Studio in The Hague, just before his fortieth birthday.

In 1913, he receives a special assignment from the 'First Dutch Exhibition in the Shipping Area' for the celebration of a hundred years of monarchy. Hobbe Smith makes 12 enormous paintings, together more than 150 m2, inspired by the IJ, which are exhibited in the Tolhuis pavilion. The pavilion is well visited and interest in his work is now also coming from abroad.

His working life comes to an end at the age of 64. The Frisian Amsterdammer goes blind and has to stop painting. Fortunately, there is still appreciation and demand for his work and he remains financially independent.


previously for salepaintings, watercolours and drawings by Hobbe Smith


Hobbe Smith | Sailing boats from Urk leaving harbour, oil on canvas, 72.5 x 107.3 cm, signed l.l.

Hobbe Smith

painting • previously for sale

Sailing boats from Urk leaving harbour

Hobbe Smith | Sailing boats from Urk leaving harbour, oil on canvas, 72.5 x 107.3 cm, signed l.l.

Hobbe Smith

painting • previously for sale

Sailing boats from Urk leaving harbour

Hobbe Smith | Two ships, oil on panel, 20.8 x 14.1 cm, signed l.l.

Hobbe Smith

painting • previously for sale

Two ships

Hobbe Smith | Sailing with the wind, oil on panel, 13.0 x 16.9 cm, signed l.l. and with stamp on the reverse

Hobbe Smith

painting • previously for sale

Sailing with the wind

Hobbe Smith | Sailing vessels on the Zuiderzee, oil on canvas, 20.7 x 30.6 cm, signed l.r.

Hobbe Smith

painting • previously for sale

Sailing vessels on the Zuiderzee

Hobbe Smith | Sailing vessel with Amsterdam in the background, oil on panel, 13.0 x 21.1 cm, signed l.r.

Hobbe Smith

painting • previously for sale

Sailing vessel with Amsterdam in the background

Hobbe Smith | The housemaids, oil on canvas, 59.5 x 38.9 cm, signed l.r. and dated '99

Hobbe Smith

painting • previously for sale

The housemaids

Hobbe Smith | Striking a pose, oil on canvas, 43.7 x 30.0 cm, signed l.l.

Hobbe Smith

painting • previously for sale

Striking a pose

Hobbe Smith | Town view of Amsterdam with the Schreierstoren, oil on canvas, 99.0 x 150.0 cm, signed l.l.

Hobbe Smith

painting • previously for sale

Town view of Amsterdam with the Schreierstoren

Hobbe Smith | Brickyards, Woerden, Holland, oil on canvas, 25.4 x 35.4 cm, signed l.r. and with stamp on reverse

Hobbe Smith

painting • previously for sale

Brickyards, Woerden, Holland

Hobbe Smith | Windmills along a river, oil on panel, 40.1 x 29.7 cm, signed l.r.

Hobbe Smith

painting • previously for sale

Windmills along a river

Hobbe Smith | Violets in a blue vase, oil on panel, 33.1 x 22.6 cm, signed l.r.

Hobbe Smith

painting • previously for sale

Violets in a blue vase

Hobbe Smith | Violets in a jar, oil on panel, 30.9 x 20.2 cm, signed l.c.

Hobbe Smith

painting • previously for sale

Violets in a jar

Hobbe Smith | Moored shipping by a windmill, oil on canvas, 48.2 x 38.8 cm, signed l.l.

Hobbe Smith

painting • previously for sale

Moored shipping by a windmill

Hobbe Smith | A windmill in a polder landscape, oil on canvas, 21.3 x 31.8 cm, signed l.l.

Hobbe Smith

painting • previously for sale

A windmill in a polder landscape

Hobbe Smith | A barge in choppy waters on the Zuiderzee, watercolour and gouache on paper, 30.1 x 22.9 cm, signed l.r. and dated 1916

Hobbe Smith

watercolour • drawing • previously for sale

A barge in choppy waters on the Zuiderzee

Hobbe Smith | Elegant ladies strolling on the beach, Scheveningen, watercolour on paper, 45.9 x 30.4 cm, signed l.l.c. and dated '94

Hobbe Smith

watercolour • drawing • previously for sale

Elegant ladies strolling on the beach, Scheveningen

Hobbe Smith | Waving goodbye, watercolour on paper, 27.5 x 19.0 cm, signed l.l.

Hobbe Smith

watercolour • drawing • previously for sale

Waving goodbye

Hobbe Smith | Schepen on the IJ, watercolour on paper, 13.5 x 17.0 cm, signed l.r. and on the reverse

Hobbe Smith

watercolour • drawing • previously for sale

Schepen on the IJ

Hobbe Smith | A painter's model, watercolour on paper, 18.0 x 12.0 cm, signed l.c.

Hobbe Smith

watercolour • drawing • previously for sale

A painter's model

Hobbe Smith | Drie nimfen, chalk on paper, 25.5 x 22.5 cm, gesigneerd r.o. mon and gedateerd '41

Hobbe Smith

watercolour • drawing • previously for sale

Drie nimfen

Hobbe Smith | Sitting nude, ink on paper, 38.5 x 26.5 cm, signed l.r.

Hobbe Smith

watercolour • drawing • previously for sale

Sitting nude


for salepaintings, watercolours and drawings by Hobbe Smith


Hobbe Smith | Mother and child, oil on panel, 46.3 x 36.6 cm

Hobbe Smith

painting • for sale

Mother and child

Hobbe Smith | Seated nude, oil on canvas laid down on panel, 50.0 x 35.5 cm

Hobbe Smith

painting • for sale

Seated nude

Hobbe Smith | Odalisk, oil on canvas, 100.4 x 100.0 cm

Hobbe Smith

painting • for sale

Odalisk

Hobbe Smith | Playing the lute, oil on canvas, 105.7 x 60.5 cm

Hobbe Smith

painting • for sale

Playing the lute


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