Ravenswaaij
Ravenswaaij is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Buren, and lies about 10 km northwest of Tiel.
It was first mentioned in 1139 as Raueneswade, and means "fordable place of Raven (person)". Rav ...
) is a Dutch painter.
Lukas Smits was born in Ravenswaaij (Buren) and studied both at the Academy of Art and Design in Den Bosch and at the Jan van Eyck-Academy in Maastricht. In 1959 he received the Royal Subsidy for Painting, which was followed by the City of Maastricht Prize (1962), another Royal Subsidy for Painting (1962) and a travel grant from the French government (1964). Smits travelled to Spain, Italy (regularly), France, Mexico, the United States and Indonesia to complete his studies. He specialised as painter, collagist, draftsman, designer and sculptor.
Among his works, non-figurative mixed media wall–paintings, glass mosaics, and wooden and metal sculptures can be seen with the number three as a constant element. Three is an important number for Smits, as it disposes the amount of different media mixed on the art work (three media), the parts in which the composition is divided (tripartite composition), and the physicality of the support (triptych). The subject-matter of Smits’ work explores the relationship between nature and culture. In this sense, he explored culture itself in a daily life context with the exhibition.Tot lering en vermaak (To education and enjoyment, Van Abbemuseum 1970)
Smits attempted with Ad Snijders and Johan Lennarts to bring art closer to people and make it more understandable.
Smits has worked as a lecturer at the Fine Arts Academy in Tilburg and has collaborated in environment projects. He has also been a member of the Brabantse Stichting voor Beeldende Kunst en Edelambacht and of the B.B.K. Amsterdam. Smits has displayed his work in the Barreira Galerry, Valencia, Spain and in the Loewy Galerie, Los Angeles, United States, in Arti en Amicitiae, Amsterdam and the Centre Cultureel, Toulousse, France (1986), in the Galerie Traject, Utrecht (1988), and in La Passarelle des Arts, Chambourcy, France (1999) and both the municipalities of
Eindhoven
Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
acquired work by him (Amsterdam possesses Z.W. Kwadraat’ 1977 and Schilderij’ 1978-’ 80). In addition, he has also participated in group exhibitions, being the most remarkable the following ones: th Stedelijk Museum Het Prinsenhof
Delft
Delft () is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, and The Hague, to the northwest. Together with them, it is part of both the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan ...
Eindhoven
Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Museum Fodor
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
(1978–1979). Lukas Smits currently lives and works in Amsterdam and Kamerik.
See also
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History of painting
The history of painting reaches back in time to artifacts and artwork created by pre-historic artists, and spans all cultures. It represents a continuous, though periodically disrupted, tradition from Antiquity. Across cultures, continents, and ...
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Western painting
The history of Western painting represents a continuous, though disrupted, tradition from classical antiquity, antiquity until the present time. Until the mid-19th century it was primarily concerned with Representational art, representational ...