Charcoal and pastel on paper – 5th to 9th February, 2026
Biography – August Smits
The art of drawing has always been an integral part of my working life. Set designer in television (1990 -95) , Art work for the television reality program “ The Renovators” (2012), Interiors, architecture and product design (1995 – 2024)
My Inspiration – those that look beyond the obvious. Those that see beauty in a rough diamond. The unapologetics – whoever you are.
Tenebrism is a style I aim for in many of my drawings, with the use of extreme, “dramatic illumination” and extreme contrasts between light and dark to create a powerful, dramatic effect.
My influence, with humility – Drama in Caravaggio’s paintings, Auguste Rodin’s poetic linework, the brutality in Lucian Freud’s nudes. The works of Gustave Moreau French artist and an important figure in the Symbolist movement.
https://www.augustsmits.com/