Not to be confused with Maestro Smurf
Maestro is a character that appears in the cartoon show episode "Every Picture Smurfs A Story". He is an artist who has been trapped in a painting by an evil wizard, claiming that he had "poor taste to dislike [his] creations". Painter had encountered him trapped in that state when he had gone off into the forest after being frustrated with his inability to capture life in his paintings. Maestro offered the Smurf artist the secret of capturing life in paintings by using special spirits contained in a vial that he said would give old paintings new life, that when mixed with actual paints could make paintings come to life. In exchange, Painter gave Maestro's portrait a fresh coat of the vial's liquids to keep him preserved. However, Maestro was secretly hoping that Painter would use the paints to create a portrait of somebody else so he could escape his prison.
Painter went to work on some new paintings using the paints that had Maestro's vial of liquid in them, which impressed his fellow Smurfs as they saw how real they looked compared to anything he did previously. However, the subjects of all Painter's paintings with the new paints ended up vanishing, becoming one with the painting: Smurfette's flower, Greedy's cake, Lazy's bed, and Farmer's prized smurfberry bush. Papa Smurf found out who Painter had run into in the forest when he discovered the subjects of Painter's paintings vanishing and tried to stop Painter from doing anymore paintings, but as Painter had completed a portrait of Papa Smurf, the village leader ended up vanishing, becoming one with his painting.
Painter returned to Maestro's studio, hoping to find out how to free Papa Smurf, when he saw that Maestro was freed from the painting and ready to use his paints again. He told the Smurf artist that in a few hours, Papa Smurf would become a permanent exhibit. However, the Smurfs didn't let Maestro get far before they invited him to come to the village to show them what true artistry is. During his stay in the village, Maestro found himself entranced by the beauty of Smurfette and pursued after her to make her his eternal inspiration. However, she isn't willing to go with him and instead challenged Maestro to a contest where the artist with the better painting would have her as his eternal inspiration. During the contest, as he chased after the butterfly that was to be his subject in the contest, Maestro briefly fell asleep in mid-painting, allowing Painter to switch paints with him. However, as Maestro was soon awakened and took off with his easel, Brainy switched the paints right back. Though the Smurfs had judged Maestro to be the winner of the contest, they purposely delayed him from getting his hands on Smurfette by having Brainy present a very long-drawn award speech while Painter worked on a portrait of Maestro. However, Maestro lost his patience and found out what Painter was doing, swapping his own paints with Painter's, believing that they had the wrong paints. With Maestro's paints, Painter had completed the portrait of Maestro, trapping him back into the painting while freeing Papa Smurf from his painting.
Though Maestro's portrait was returned to the studio where it was found, Painter didn't leave him alone. Instead, he worked on a portrait of Smurfette to keep him company, which pleased him as he now had his eternal inspiration beside him.