Image: Exhibition poster for ‘THIS IS SMITS. Nieuw in de collectie’, Jakob Smitsmuseum, Mol, 21 June – 30 August 2026. Courtesy of the Jakob Smitsmuseum, Mol.
The Jakob Smitsmuseum in Mol, Belgium, has announced the final days of ‘THIS IS SMITS’, with the exhibition, which opened on Sunday, 21 June 2026, running through Sunday, 30 August 2026. Basic admission is €5. The museum’s doors will close on the exhibition for the last time that day, bringing the presentation to an end after its summer run.
The announcement was issued by the Jakob Smitsmuseum on 18 August, urging visitors to make a final visit before the closing date. The museum is open from Wednesday to Sunday, between 1pm and 5pm. Its address is Sluis 155a in Mol, in the Belgian province of Antwerp.
One work highlighted by the museum in connection with the exhibition is ‘Meisjesportret’, a portrait of Marguerite, Jakob Smits’s daughter, dating from around 1898. The museum describes the painting as an unusually large portrait in which Smits’s admiration for Rembrandt is visible alongside his own forceful approach to painting.
According to the museum, the work is characterised by loose brushwork, marked contrasts between light and dark, and subtle shifts in colour. A recent restoration has returned greater intensity to the painting’s colours, including the blue of Marguerite’s dress. The museum also draws attention to the sitter’s direct, assertive gaze.
The closing Sunday will also offer free admission to residents of the Stuifzand region, which includes Balen, Dessel, Geel, Laakdal, Meerhout, Mol and Retie. The free-access programme runs from 1pm to 5pm and is listed by the museum as a recurring arrangement for the last Sunday of each month.
The museum has separately announced its next major exhibition, ‘Gemaakt om geschilderd te worden: Kunstenaarskolonies in de Kempen 1840-1920’, opening on Saturday, 19 September 2026, and running until Sunday, 17 January 2027. Organised across two locations—the Jakob Smitsmuseum in Mol and the Emile Van Dorenmuseum in Genk—the exhibition will examine the development of artists’ colonies in the Kempen, with works connected to artists including Adrien Joseph Heymans, Joseph Coosemans, Emile Van Doren and Jakob Smits. ‘THIS IS SMITS’ remains on view at the Jakob Smitsmuseum until 30 August, after which the museum states it will be closed from 31 August to 18 September 2026 while the new exhibition is installed.
