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

Catalogue entry

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Photo: Studio Sebert; © FdDPS
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Classification: Pastel
Theme: landscape
Medium: Pastel
Support: On cardboard
Year: 1927
PS 288
The Church at Thoury-Ferrottes
1927
Pastel on cardboard
28 13/16 x 38 5/8 in. (73 x 98 cm) (sight size)
Signed and dated lower right: Philippe Smit 1927
Private collection, France
Inventories
Inv. Leteneur, n.d. [1977], n.p., s.n., private archives: no. [39]: p. [4], chambre: Smit Philippe- 'Eglise de Tourry [sic]'/ Pastel signé en bas à droite 1927, 73 x 98 [cm].
Provenance
Lotty Urban-Leteneur
Geneviève Tambuté-Defarges (by descent)
Private collection, Paris (acquired from the above in 1988)
Exhibitions
No known exhibitions.
Literature & Primary Sources
Philippe Smit 1928a
Philippe Smit. ALS to Kasper Niehaus. Thoury-Férottes, 18 January 1928.
Niehaus 1933a
Niehaus, Kasper. "Te weinig geëerd shilder: De beteekenis van Philippe Smit." De Telegraaf (Amsterdam), 27-01-1933, p. 7 ("… de kleine Romaansche kerk …").
Notes

"[…] hélas je n’ai pas/ beaucoup travailler. J’ai fait en Amerique un portrait de fillette/ dont hélas je n’ai pas encore de foto. des Fleurs. copie de la merveilleuse/ statue de bois du XII, que j’avais dans mon atelier et que/ je considère comme une des merveille de la sculpture de/ ces époques, et pour la naissance de la petite Miriam j’ai faite/ un Ange portant des fleurs, pastel, et quelques dessin et ici en France/ nous sommes dans un très jolies petit village, j’ai fait un pastel/ de la petite Eglise Romane, qui a une poësie la contré[e] est très/ belle j’espère avoir le plaisir de te voir ici, et un grand/ portrait de Madame Pitcairn dans le parc. […]" [sic] (… alas I have not worked much. I have made in America a portrait of a little girl, of which, alas, I have not yet a photo, flowers, a copy of a marvellous 12th century wooden statue, which I had in my studio and which I consider to be one of the marvels of the sculpture of these periods, and for little Miriam’s birth I have made an angel holding flowers, pastel, and some drawings, and here in France we are in a very pretty little village, I have made a pastel of the small Romanesque church, which is poetic, the region is very beautiful, I hope to have the pleasure of seeing you here, and a large portrait of Mrs. Pitcairn in the park …) (Philippe Smit 1928a)

"[...] Philippe has made such a lovely pastel for Moeke’s [Berendina’s] birthday, of the little church and the graveyard – intense in colour and pretty. You can imagine the villain, that’s to say Philippe, never gives me anything again for my birthday, isn’t that mean? [...]"1

1. "[...] Philippe heeft een zoo'n mooie pastel voor moekes verjaardag gemaakt van het kerkje en 't kerkhofje-intens van kleur en schoon. Je kunt wel nagaan hoe die schurk, ik bedoel Ph. geeft mij nooit meer wat voor mijn verjaardag is dat niet gemeen? [...]"(Nicolaas Urban, ALS to Theodore and Marijke Pitcairn, n.d. [1927], private archives, Paris).

Additional images
View of the church St Pierre and St Paul at the time of Philippe Smit (photograph from Lotty Urban's album, private archives Paris).
View of the church St Pierre and St Paul at the time of Philippe Smit (photograph from Lotty Urban's album, private archives Paris).
Photo: © FdDPS
View of the church St Pierre and St Paul at the time of Philippe Smit (photograph from Lotty Urban's album, private archives Paris).
View of the church St Pierre and St Paul at the time of Philippe Smit (photograph from Lotty Urban's album, private archives Paris).
Photo: © FdDPS
PS 288 - photograph
PS 288 - photograph
Photo: © FdDPS
Record last updated September 16, 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 Church at Thoury-Ferrottes, 1927 (PS 288)." In The Complete Works of Philippe Smit. www.philippesmit.com/catalogue/entry.php?id=288 (accessed on May 9, 2025).