English | Français
The Complete Works of Philippe Smit
by Andreas Narzt and Florence Castellani

Catalogue entry

enlarge
Photo: Christopher Burke Studios, NY; © FdDPS
Series
Series: Debussy
Keywords
Explore catalogue entries
Classification: Pastel
Theme: figurative
Medium: Pastel
Support: On cardboard
Year: 1920
PS 198 (P 3006 (3505))
Fête
Alternate title: Carnaval (Carnival)
Before 1920
Pastel on cardboard
45 1/2 x 53 13/16 in. (115.5 x 136.5 cm) (sight size)
Signed lower left: Philppe Smit
On the back: a handwritten label: Carnaval/ N° 3505/ Feodor on the protective backing board upper center and another label: Feodor/ 3505 on the frame upper center.
Collection Eshowe Pitcairn-Pennink, USA
Inventories
Inv. Berendina Hubscher, n.d. [ante 1952], s.n., private archives: no. [16] [P 3006 (3505)]: p. [1], Pastels: Fête de Carnaval, figures de pierrots
Donation Berendina Hubscher, 20-06-1952, (attestation 03-09-1953), n.p., s.n. private archives: no. [P 3505 (3006)]: A Monsieur Feodor Pitcairn: Pastels, 6- Fête de Carnaval, pierrots (1). [ms: (1) Exchanged with Eshowe for her 'Vagabond']
Inv. Pitcairn, n.d. [c.1957], n.p., LNC archives: no. P 3006 (3505): Mrs. John Pennink, Carnival (on loan to Mrs. Theodore Pitcairn), 21 x 17 1/4 [in.] [sic (cf. P 1022)].
Exhibitions
1920 Sparren
Kunsthandel De Heem, Atelier 'de Sparren', Laren, Netherlands, Tentoonstelling Phillippe Smit, October 03–11, 1920, no. 46, as Fête.
Literature & Primary Sources
Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant 1920
"Uit het Gooi." Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant (Rotterdam), 05-10-1920, p. 5 ("… dat groote avondfeest van Pierrots …").
De Gooi- en Eemlander 1920a
H. v. C. "Schilderkunst: Tentoonstelling van schilderijen en pastels door Philippe Smit." De Gooi- en Eemlander (Hilversum), 13-10-1920, p. 2, as Fête ("… no. 46: Fête …").
Notes

Claude Debussy set to music six poems by Paul Verlaine from Fêtes galantes1, among which Clair de lune2 in 1891, freely inspiring Philippe Smit for this pastel.

Votre âme est un paysage choisi
Que vont charmant masques et bergamasques,
Jouant du luth et dansant et quasi
Tristes sous leurs déguisements fantasques.

Tout en chantant sur le mode mineur
L’amour vainqueur et la vie opportune,
Ils n’ont pas l’air de croire à leur bonheur
Et leur chanson se mêle au clair de lune,

Au calme clair de lune triste et beau,
Qui fait rêver les oiseaux dans les arbres
Et sangloter d’extase les jets d’eau,
Les grands jets d’eau sveltes parmi les marbres.

On the 13 December 1931, René Massé wrote in his journal: "[…] we [Massé and Smit] talk about Verlaine and his fortnight in Holland. Philippe especially loves the fêtes galantes […]"3

1. Paul Verlaine, Fêtes galantes, Paris : A. Lemerre, 1869.
2. Ibid. p. 1-2.
3. See Massé 1920-1935, p. 20.

Additional images
La Fête hanging above the fireplace in the studio at chateau de La Motte in Thoury-Ferrottes (old photograph, private archives, Paris).
La Fête hanging above the fireplace in the studio at chateau de La Motte in Thoury-Ferrottes (old photograph, private archives, Paris).
Record last updated May 30, 2017. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Narzt, Andreas and Castellani, Florence. "Fête, Before 1920 (PS 198)." In The Complete Works of Philippe Smit. www.philippesmit.com/catalogue/entry.php?id=198 (accessed on May 10, 2025).