Jakob Smits was trained as a decorative painter, but soon chose what he himself called 'the simple work', 'symbolic, poetic and real'. He settled in Achterbos near Mol in the Belgian Kempen. The life of farmers, nature and the Bible became his main sources of inspiration. From 1912 onwards, and especially after the First World War, Smits began to paint in clear colours with a typical, grainy layer of paint. This was created by constantly overpainting existing layers of paint. Remarkable for this last phase in Smits' oeuvre is the simplification of the figures and their surroundings, related to Expressionism. This painting was also known as Let the children come to me. That this is a depiction of Christ Mocked can be deduced from a similar etching and a red chalk drawing, in which the artist clearly depicted the figure of Christ gagged.
| Artist |
Jakob Smits
RKD
VIAF
Wikidata
|
|---|---|
| Title | Christ Mocked |
| Date | ca. 1926 |
| Period | 20th century |
| Collection | paintings AAT |
| Object type | oil paintings (visual works) AAT |
| Inventory number | 1951-K |
| Acquisition credit |
purchase
Van Bogaert, Carl Antwerp 1951 |
| Current whereabouts | Work on display |
| Permalink | https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1951-K |
| IIIF Manifest | https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/2264/manifest.json |
| Art & Architecture Thesaurus | 300055874 religious symbolism AAT |
|---|---|
| Keywords Iconclass |
11D
Christ
Iconclass
11D3 Christ as adult Iconclass 11D334 adult Christ together with apostles, evangelists, saints, etc. Iconclass 23R13 evening Iconclass 24A2 sunset Iconclass 25F animals Iconclass 25F2 mammals Iconclass 25G11 groups of trees Iconclass 25G3 trees Iconclass 25G4(REED) plants and herbs: reed Iconclass 25I3 farm or solitary house in landscape Iconclass 31A235 sitting figure Iconclass 31A71 male sex; man Iconclass 31A72 female sex; woman Iconclass 31D112 child Iconclass 31D14 adult man Iconclass 31D15 adult woman Iconclass 41A17 farm (building) Iconclass 41A3211 open door Iconclass 41A3321 closed window Iconclass 41A721 chairs (furniture forms) Iconclass 44G22 police Iconclass 46A14 farmers Iconclass 46AA14 farmers - AA - female farmer, farmer's wife Iconclass 47I2112 cow Iconclass 73 New Testament Iconclass 73C public life of Christ: from his baptism until the Passion Iconclass 73D Passion of Christ Iconclass 73D353 mockings of Christ, who may be blindfolded Iconclass |
| School / Style | Symbolism (artistic concept) AAT |
| Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : Catalogus schilderkunst ; Deel I: 14de - 18de eeuw ; Deel II: 19de - 20ste eeuw / Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Bruno Fornari, Ruth Monteyne. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2007 (dl. II, p. 309 (ill.)) |
| Veertig keer Smits (Tentoonstelling Mol, Gemeentelijk Jakob Smitsmuseum, 01.04.2017 - 16.07.2017) / Nathalie Ceunen, Fernand Van Gompel, Joris Van Doninck. - Mol : Gemeentelijk Jakob Smitsmuseum, 2017 (p. 20) |
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