Herman Smorenburg was born in Holland on the 7th of June, 1958. He finished his art studies in Amsterdam in 1984. In the years that followed he specialized as a fine painter. Especially influenced by nineteenth-century British symbolic and romantic art and the visionary paintings of Dutch realists Carel Willink and Johfra, his art took a more imaginative turn. In addition to portraiture, his subject matter concentrated on symbolic pictures in which the female figure played a significant role. Inspired by the philosophy and mysticism of east and west,he has now chosen for themes with a definite spiritual content, although often the meaning is hidden behind the images of his personal mythology. His aim is to create 'universal icons',archetypical images which are able to awaken a spiritual dimension in the beholder. In this sense the meaning of the paintings should rather be experienced in the heart than understood by the mind... To be able to express this timeless dimension of the imagination is the goal of his artistic pursuit; reaching the hearts of his beholders his artistic reward.