Smelik & Stokking Galleries continuity and renewal go hand in hand

Smelik & Stokking Galleries have been in business for 40 years. They represent more than a hundred national and international painters and sculptors with their branches in The Hague and Amsterdam. The majority of the collection can be classified as contemporary figurative art. Although the mutual miscellany of their work is vast, the artists share a love of figuration and their craft. Besides the fine still-lives painted in the Dutch tradition Smelik & Stokking Galleries exhibits interpretations of portraits, landscapes, interiors and cityscapes. The gallery is also renowned for their copious collection of sculptures, especially bronzes. The galleries in The Hague and Amsterdam also have beautiful sculpture gardens at their disposal.

The collection of Smelik & Stokking Galleries accedes well with their specialisation in figurative art and the recent developments within the art world, due to the increase in interest for figuration. Thanks, in part, to the accessibility and diversity of their stock the gallery represents an important podium for the artwork inside and outside of the region. 

Continuity and renewal go hand in hand

Although Smelik & Stokking is a gallery with traditions and a name that has been established for decades, their goal has always been to continually surprise the public with their new and modern art. What characterizes Smelik & Stokking is their pursuit to safeguard continual renewal as well as cohesion within the collection. Recurring solo expositions by a permanent group of artists exclusively represented by the gallery take care of continuity whilst renewal is safeguarded by the introduction of new artists.  

The gallery organises about seven consecutive expositions every year in each of their establishments, in which they usually highlight two artists per location. The majority of the expositions are solo or duo expositions in which the emphasis is laid upon the art of painting. For the last few years the gallery has also been organising a group exposition, in the summer, of sculptors in combination with an exposition of ‘Miniatures’ from various painters. Just like the solo expositions, during these summer expositions they try to display new work as much as possible so that the public is offered an overview of the most recent developments of the artists associated with the gallery. Besides these variable expositions, it is possible to view work from any of the artists connected to the gallery at anytime of the year, and also any work that the gallery has in stock can be viewed on request.   

Without losing any interest in tradition Smelik & Stokking Galleries has put more emphasis on renewal. To expand and extend the supply, new artists are regularly added to the list of permanent artists. Sometimes this concerns artists whose work qua style, choice of subject and quality is in keeping with the existing collection of the gallery but there has also been a podium created for new talent that expresses themselves in different mediums and with which the gallery is breaking new ground. More attention is given to, for instance, photography, digital art, neon and other mediums which have been paid less attention up till now, like glass and stainless steel. Furthermore, Smelik & Stokking Galleries is broadening their specialisation in sculpture; besides their supply of sculptures in familiar materials such as bronze, marble and ceramics the gallery more often exhibits three dimensional works in various materials such as steel sheeting, glass, wood and materials found. These are not infrequently work from young artists for whom the experience of exhibiting relatively new is; as a result of this the visitor is given the opportunity to follow the development of talent in the youngest generation of artists.

Diversity

Smelik & Stokking Galleries has always aspired to exhibit varied work within contemporary figurative art. During the last year the gallery has started to display abstract work and they would like to extend this during the coming year. As the dividing line between the various disciplines, such as, painting, photography and sculpting diminishes Smelik & Stokking Galleries provides more freedom for artists that experiment in media and technique. Abstract work is well suited to this inclination. In short, the collection of Smelik & Stokking Galleries is diverse in more than one way; established artists alternate with young talent, figurative work is put on display next to abstract, and work in the classic mediums stand next to work that is experimental in form as well as content.