Portrait of a Woman, ca. 1931

Gustave De Smet returned to Belgium in 1922 and went to live with Frits Van den Berghe in the rural surroundings of the Lys, initially in Bachte-Maria-Leerne and later in Afsnee. His large figure paintings in particular are characterised by great sobriety and classical simplicity. The agitation of his Dutch canvases gives way to a poetic atmosphere of quiet equanimity. The need for order and stability, the so-called 'retour à l'ordre', which determined the artistic climate throughout Europe after the First World War, is particularly evident in De Smet's work. In his search for balance, the artist painted strongly abstracted compositions for a number of years after 1926, with a temporary preference for motifs from the urban environment. In the 1930s, he once again takes up rural themes, such as the village, the peasants and popular entertainment in a less strict style. The human figure, in particular the musing woman, remains the main theme of his oeuvre.