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

Catalogue entry

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Photo: Christopher Burke Studios, NY; © FdDPS
Series
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Series
Series: Rollinat
Keywords
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Classification: Painting
Theme: figurative
Medium: Oil
Support: On canvas
Year: 1920
PS 218 (P 3505 (3006))
The Vagabond
Alternate titles: De zwervers; Le vagabond; The Vagabond
c.1920
Oil on canvas
67 5/8 x 41 3/8 in. (171.5 x 105 cm)
Neither signed, nor dated
On the back: a handwritten label: The Vagabond/ N° 3505/ Feodor Pitcairn on the frame upper center. On the back of the original frame, kept sepearately from the painting, exhibition label Philadelphia upper center and a metal plate: Pitcairn lower left.
Adam Forsyth, USA
Inventories
Donation Berendina Hubscher, 20-06-1952, (attestation 03-09-1953), n.p., s.n. private archives: no. [P 3006 (3505)]: A Mademoiselle Eshowe Pitcairn: Tableau, 1- Le Vagabond. [ms: (1) Exchanged with Feodor for his Carnival, and this pastel was in turn given by Eshowe to Mrs. T. P. in exchange for the latter's 'Still Life with Peaches' (French inventory n° 1022)]
Inv. Pitcairn, n.d. [c.1957], n.p., LNC archives: no. P 3505 (3006): Mr. Feodor Pitcairn, The Vagabond, Oil, 67 1/2 x 41 1/2 [in.].
Exhibitions
1957 Springfield
The Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts, Philippe Smit, An Exhibition of Works by a Twentieth Century Dutch Master, December 01–29, 1957, no. 31, ill. color, as The Vagabond, Oil - Circa 1937, 76 x 50 1/2 [in.]
1960 Philadelphia
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Collection of the Rev. and Mrs. Theodore Pitcairn, June 17–September 15, 1960, no. 35, Oil, 67 1/2 x 41 1/2 [in.], 1938, The Vagabond, 11-1960-35 (title and n° on the exhibition label).
Literature & Primary Sources
Niehaus 1955
Niehaus, Kasper. Philippe Smit, unkown genius. Revised and edited by Marjorie Bell. Typescript, 1955, p. 21, as Le vagabond.
Notes

The subject of this painting is based on the poem Les Vieux Pauvres, of the vollume La Nature by Maurice Rollinat:1

Les vieux pauvres par les chemins
Regardent l’eau, l’herbe et la branche,
Et leur bonne misère franche
Vague sans peur des lendemains.

Corps tannés – teints de parchemins,
Secs et ligneux comme une planche,
Les vieux pauvres par les chemins
Regardent l’eau, l’herbe et la branche.

A l’heure où le soleil épanche
Ses plus sanguinolents carmins,
Solennels – tenant à deux mains
Le bissac où leur dos s’emmanche –
Avec leur longue barbe blanche,
Ils font l’effet par les chemins
De patriarches surhumains
Dont l’œil clair se lève et se penche

1. Maurice Rollinat, La Nature, Paris: G. Charpentier et E. Fasquelle, 1882, p. 328-329.

Additional images
The painting in its original frame designed and painted by the artist placed on an easel in the studio at Thoury-Ferrottes (old photograph, private archives, Paris).
The painting in its original frame designed and painted by the artist placed on an easel in the studio at Thoury-Ferrottes (old photograph, private archives, Paris).
Photograph of the opening of the Springfield exhibition, 1 December 1957 (private archives, Paris).
Photograph of the opening of the Springfield exhibition, 1 December 1957 (private archives, Paris).
Record last updated July 4, 2024. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Narzt, Andreas and Castellani, Florence. "The Vagabond, c.1920 (PS 218)." In The Complete Works of Philippe Smit. www.philippesmit.com/catalogue/entry.php?id=218 (accessed on May 9, 2025).