Karen Smidth: THRILLNESS | June 1 - June 30, 2026

49 Geary, Suite 416, San Francisco, CA 94108

Maybaum Gallery is proud to present THRILLNESS, a solo exhibition from Danish painter Karen Smidth.

Through her nostalgia-tinged sight, Smidth examples the distinctive landscape and fresh, seaside color palette of Northern California. Working primarily with hilly, ocean-hewn surroundings, her compositions lead our eyes up and over into the beyond. "Thrillness," writes Smidth, "the stillness of the land— the feeling of being both alone and part of the Earth— that is for me the most thrilling state of mind and body. It puts me right in the moment."

Embodying of a characteristic tranquility, Smidth's paintings are both a reflection of her personal history and an ode to the phenomenal views encircling the Bay Area.

"The landscape gives me a wonderful excuse to paint," says Smidth of her inspirations. "It allows me to travel under the heavenly skies and search for the essential vistas and split seconds of time that will carry me through my next series of paintings."

Born in Aarhus, Denmark, Karen Smidth has never been a stranger to examining landscapes through an artful lens. At a young age, Smidth started an apprenticeship at a traditional printing house on her home country's western coast. Having moved to Copenhagen to attend design school shortly thereafter, Smidth initially set her course as the founder of her own design business.

In the mid 1980s, the opportunity to expand within the field brought her to the San Francisco Bay Area. It was here that Smidth reconnected with landscape and paint, immersing herself first at the Academy of Art University and then at the College of Marin. Smidth’s former yearning for her Danish homeland transformed into a passionate embrace of the captivating terrain of Northern California— in this new homeland, she created an expansive garden to nurture herself and her children while paralleling her new odyssey of frequent hikes along our majestic coastlands and mountains.

Merging memories of her Scandinavian home with those present in her daily life here in California, Smidth has expanded her practice with warm-colored medium to large-format oil paintings, her personal visual language evocative of her journey and a nod to both San Francisco Bay Area's figurative works & Danish still-life paintings. Having exhibited nationally and regionally, the popular appeal of Smidth’s work can be found in her rounded tones, sloping vantage points, & emotionally resonant design aesthetic.

"My paintings are not pure renditions of nature or place, rather they are paintings of a poetic moment in my memory... distilled time, and nature working like an elixir for the mind... perhaps a form of meditation. My good fortune lies in sharing these painted moments with the world, as I am most often alone when I am there experiencing them... It is a reflective process to pour these meditations into a visual form through layers of pigment, oil, linen and time," says Smidth.

"I feel very lucky and deeply grateful to live this free life as a painter."

In Bloom | Summer Selection | July 1 - August 31, 2026

Maybaum Gallery is pleased to present In Bloom, a summer selection highlighting female artists across the primary mediums of painting, weaving, pencil, wood, & stone. Opening July first and stretching through the end of August, In Bloom will feature work from artists both local and international, including Margot Becker, Audrey Ducas, Emily Kepulis, Amy Wright, & Nadia Yaron.

Moments of growth are rarely linear; they are marked by periods of dormancy, uncertainty, resilience, and release. The works in In Bloom embrace these complexities, revealing beauty in transition and strength in vulnerability. Lush palettes, layered surfaces, and organic forms evoke the energy of summer while inviting reflection on the quieter processes of change that often occur beneath the surface. The season, then, arrives as a spell of emergence—as color intensifies, growth accelerates, and the natural world reveals itself in states of abundance and transformation, In Bloom explores themes of becoming, renewal, intimacy, and the unfolding relationship between inner and outer worlds.

Together, the artists offer distinct perspectives united by a shared sensitivity to transformation. Their works celebrate the possibilities that emerge when we allow ourselves to breathe, adapt, and flourish. In Bloom is an invitation to experience the summer season, not only as a time of outward abundance, but also as a reminder of the continuous growth taking place within.

Images:

Karen Smidth, Land Meeting Sea, Oil on linen, 44 x 80 inches

Karen Smidth, Starry Coast, Oil on linen, 50 x 40 inches

Karen Smidth, Sunset Again, Oil on linen, 60 x 48 inches

Amy Wright | A Quietness Blooms Below the Surface | 52 x 63 inches