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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
Additional images
Frame designed and painted by the artist.
Frame designed and painted by the artist.
Photo: Studio Sebert; © FdDPS
Keywords
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Classification: Painting
Theme: landscape
Medium: Oil
Support: On canvas
Year: 1929
PS 309
Forêt en automne (Forest in Autumn)
Alternate titles: Automne en Forêt; Fougères; Herfst in het woud
1929
Oil on canvas
59 1/2 x 65 3/16 in. (151 x 165.5 cm)
Signed and dated near lower center: Philippe Smit/ 1929; titled, signed and dated on the back lower left: Forêt en/ Automne/ Philippe Smit/ 1929
On the back: a metal plate: Lottie Urban on the frame lower left.
Collection Geneviève Tambuté-Defarges, France
Inventories
Inv. Lotty Urban-Leteneur, n.d. [ante 1953], s.n., private archives: no. [20]: p. [1], Toiles: Fougère en automne.
Exhibitions
1933 Goudstikker
Kunsthandel J. Goudstikker N.V, Amsterdam, Tentoonstelling van Moderne Kunst, December 1933–January 1934, no. 57, as Herfst in het woud, Doek.
1948 Maurs
Galerie Pierre Maurs, Paris, Peinture et Pastels de Philippe Smit, February 04, 1948, no. 56, as Automne en Forêt, 1929 (CMS).
Literature & Primary Sources
Massé 1920–1935
Massé, René. Journal. 1920-21, 1924, 1929-31, 1933-1935, 10-11-1929, p. [9 & 10]) ("… La synthèse de l'automne …").
De Tijd 1933
Engelman, Jan. "Bij Goudstikker, Tentoonstelling van moderne kunst." De Tijd ('s-Hertogenbosch) (28-12-1933), p. 5, as Herfst in het woud.
De Telegraaf 1934
"Philippe Smit's Werken: Expositie in kunsthandel Goudstikker." De Telegraaf (Amsterdam), 23-01-1934, p. 5, as Herfst in het woud.
Pouvreau 1948
Pouvreau, Marcel. La Marseillaise de Seine-et-Marne, 10-08-1948, p. ?, as Fougères.
Niehaus 1955
Niehaus, Kasper. Philippe Smit, unkown genius. Revised and edited by Marjorie Bell. Typescript, 1955, p. 29, as Automne en Forêt.
Notes

"[…] Arrivée au Château de 'la Motte' […] Nous allons au nouvel atelier de Philippe. […] – La synthèse de l'automne, la vallée et les fougères/ d'or, c'est sublime, peinture, alliance des jaunes/ indien et du cadmium moyen. […]" (… Arrival at Château La Motte. … We go to Philippe’s new studio … – The synthesis of autumn, the valley, and the golden ferns, it is sublime, the paint, the combination of the Indian Yellows and the medium cadmium.) (Massé, 10 November 1929, p. [9 & 10])

Additional images
The painting Forest in Autumn hanging above the diwan in the studio in Thoury-Ferrottes, Philippe Smit seated in the armchair in front of the window (old photograph, private archives, Paris).
The painting Forest in Autumn hanging above the diwan in the studio in Thoury-Ferrottes, Philippe Smit seated in the armchair in front of the window (old photograph, private archives, Paris).
Record last updated November 23, 2024. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Narzt, Andreas and Castellani, Florence. "Forêt en automne (Forest in Autumn), 1929 (PS 309)." In The Complete Works of Philippe Smit. www.philippesmit.com/catalogue/entry.php?id=309 (accessed on May 10, 2025).