Without doubt it is thanks to his friend Anton Zelling (see [PS 206]), fascinated by his literary and musical work – he considered "Rollinat’s melodies as one of the pinnacles of music"2 – that the artist discovered him. Beside this pastel and a small watercolour (see [PS 503]), of which the poet himself is the subject, other works are directly inspired by him.
"This music of Rollinat haunts me more and more, what a great poet." Philippe Smit wrote to his friend Massé in the year he executed the painting.3 Three years later René Massé dedicated to him a photograph of the poet (fig. 2).
The pastel, selected for the exhibition at Galerie Maurs in 1948, is one of the works damaged in the lorry crash.4 The statement of the damages prepared for the insurance company indicates “[a] complete mixture of the colors”.5 Philippe Smit started immediately after the accident to repair the damage. We, however, do not know if he reworked the subject on the existing support or on a new cardboard. None of the documents tell us anything about the artist’s decisions or his reasons for the various changes which one can observe comparing the actual pastel with the one photographed before the accident (fig. 1). First of all we can note that the painting of the old man in the background, of which a study still exists (see [PS 191]), was replaced by a version of the Vagabond (see [PS 218]).
To our knowledge we can exclude the possibility of the existence of two versions of Rollinat Playing the Piano before the accident.
1. Maurice Rollinat, Les Névroses, Paris: G. Charpentier, 1883.
2. "[…] les mélodies de Rollinat un des sommets de la musique […]" (Anton Zelling, "La Musique de Rollinat" in: Aux amis de Maurice Rollinat, Chateauroux: éditions Laboureur & Cie, 1958, p. 16-20, p. 19).
3. See Philippe Smit 1919c.
4. See 1948 Maurs.
5. "Statement of the damage caused at Plessis-Chenet …", n.d. [1948], 4 typewritten pages, p. [1] (LNC archives).
(Old photograph, before 1948, LNC archives)
"à Philippe Smit/ ce portrait de Maurice Rollinat, le grand/ artiste que nous aimons tant./ épreuve tirée d'après le portrait mis/ à ma disposition par Monsieur/ Gonot - Ce portrait était un de ceux qu'il aimait le mieux./ Décembre 1922 - Paris - son ami/ René Massé (to Philippe Smit, this portrait of Maurice Rollinat, the great artist we love so much. Print after the portrait that was put at my disposal by Monsieur Gonot – This portrait was one of those he liked most. December 1922 – Paris – his friend, René Massé)" (private archives, Paris).
