The Complete Works of Philippe Smit
by Andreas Narzt and Florence Castellani
PS 258 (P 131)
Moonrise in Recloses
Alternate titles: Moonlight; Lever de Lune; Moonlight at Recloses
1925
Oil on canvas
46 1/2 x 54 3/8 in. (118 x 138 cm) (sight size)
Neither signed, nor dated
On the back of the original frame, kept separately from the painting, exhibition label Philadelphia near top center and a small handwritten label: Theod. P./ 131 lower left.
Inventories
Inv. Les Pleignes, P. Damidot, 1938, LNC archives: no. P 131: p. 12, escalier, Grand tableau par Philippe Smit./ Paysage d'hiver dans la forêt de Fontainebleau avec effet de lune. 8.000 [FRF].
Inv. Pitcairn, n.d. [c.1957], n.p., LNC archives: no. P 131 F: Rev. Theodore Pitcairn, Moonlight at Recloses, Smit, Oil, 46 x 54 1/2 [in.].
Provenance
Exhibitions
Galerie Pierre Maurs, Paris, Peinture et Pastels de Philippe Smit, February 04, 1948, no. 79, as Lever de Lune, 1925 (CP).
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Collection of the Rev. and Mrs. Theodore Pitcairn, June 17–September 15, 1960, no. 30, 46 x 54 1/2 [in.], 1924, Moonlight at Recloses,11-1960-30 (title and n° on the exhibition label).
Literature & Primary Sources
Niehaus, Kasper. "Te weinig geëerd shilder: De beteekenis van Philippe Smit." De Telegraaf (Amsterdam), 27-01-1933, p. 7 ("… een maansopkomst in November …").
Notes
"[…] j’ai fait un grand pastel de la fôret/ et aussi une peinture avec un lever de lune/ en Novembre donnant cette vrémant [?] mélancolie/ ces couleurs cendrés que j’affectionne tant! [...]" [sic] (... I have made a large pastel of the forest and also a painting with a moonrise in November yielding this true melancholy, these ashen colours which I like so much! ...) (Philippe Smit 1926)
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. "Moonrise in Recloses, 1925 (PS 258)." In The Complete Works of Philippe Smit. www.philippesmit.com/catalogue/entry.php?id=258 (accessed on May 9, 2025).