Anton Smit, The Walk of Life

About

The collaboration between Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens and renowned South African sculptor, Anton Smit began in late 2019 and flows from a long-standing professional relationship between Smit and Leonardslee owner, Penny Streeter.

The unique woodland gardens breathe life into the sculptures for art lovers, visitors and collectors alike to enjoy as a journey, an exhibition titled, ‘The Walk of Life’.

One of the largest sculpture parks in Europe by a single artist, the exhibition comprises over eighty individual, monumental works made from bronze, resin and steel, thoughtfully placed in harmony with the gardens, creating new vistas across the valley and our seven lakes. Including a selection of Smit’s signature colossal heads, human figures and masks, the showcase allows visitors to experience the artist’s extraordinary practice in the stunning setting of Leonardslee.

Widely revered for his overwhelming heads and monumental African sculptures, evoking themes of suffering, reconciliation, glory and sublimation, Anton Smit's works grace public and private collections countrywide and internationally.

Spoken verse, the echoes of emotive lyrics and the rasping of sculptures in progress are customary sounds emitted from his studio. Larger than life, Anton Smit is the embodiment of poetry, an apt term for this sculptor, derived from the term “making”.

“Man himself then is mouthpiece, medium and meaning all in one, and his challenge as an artist is to create himself over and over again, finding new connotations and new concepts in given shapes, figures and faces.

Man emulates and assimilates nature, producing poetry in word and form.”

Some observers have noted that this is why so many of his pieces, even the most abstract ones, manage to communicate powerfully and emotionally and why his work is possessed of a raw, earthy power that feels innately African. His body of work comprises towering human figures, nudes, impressive heads, masks, hands, angels, floating and stretching figures, warriors as well as abstract works, using mostly steel, metal, fiberglass and bronze.