Jakob Smits moved to
Blaricum and in
Haarlem became director of the
Nijverheids- en Decoratieschool (E: Industry and Decoration school). He got to know
Albert Neuhuys, a painter of
The Hague School, and together they made excursions to
Drenthe and the
Campine in
Belgium. Jakob Smits became impressed by the Campine landscape and he established himself in 1888, definitively in Achterbos (Mol). He paid 2,000 Belgian francs for a small farm which he developed to his
Malvinahof. In the same year he married Malvina Dedeyn, the daughter of a Brussels lawyer, who is disinherited because of this marriage. Smits lived in poverty while he worked tirelessly for what he calls
my simple work, symbolic, poetic and real. In 1897, he received a gold medal for his exhibitions of large water-colour paintings on a
gold background in Munich and
Dresden. He also painted many portraits, especially of Malvina and of their children Boby, Marguerite and Kobe. In 1899 destiny struck: in a few days he lost his daughter Alice and his wife. In 1901, Smits married Josine Van Cauteren. In the same year he held his first individual exposition in
Antwerp. There he obtained much praise of colleagues and critics but found no buyers for his work. The exhibited work
De vader van de veroordeelde (E: the father of the convict) was acquired later that year by the
Museum of Brussels. Smits financial situation improved somewhat, but his family was put heavily on the test. In 1903 both his parents were ruined by a robbery and as a result, he had nine family members to maintain. At the request of the municipal authorities of Mol, in 1907 Smits arranged an international exhibition of artists who came to paint landscapes in Mol and its surroundings. The artist
Paula Van Rompa-Zenke belonged to the arranging committee. There were no less than 68 painters participating, with
Germans,
Dutch, and
Americans coming to Mol. The term
Molse School was born. In 1910, Smits published an album with 25 engravings, which was dedicated to
Queen Elisabeth. In 1912, the young
Dirk Baksteen became a student of Smits. In 1914, Smits stopped his production of art work. He became President of the
Comité voor hulpverlening en voedselvoorziening van het canton Mol (E: Committee for assistance and food supplies of the canton Mol). After
World War I he continued his work with a totally new vision and style as an
engraver and
painter. As from 1923 his health deteriorated. Smits suffered from a painful
cancer of his jaw. ==Death and legacy==