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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
Original frame designed and painted by the artist.
Original 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: 1933
PS 417
The Mill in Provence
1933
Oil on canvas
47 5/16 x 51 3/16 in. (120 x 130 cm)
Signed and dated lower left: Philippe/ Smit/ 1933
On the back: a metal plate: Mme Smit on the frame lower left
Private collection, France
Inventories
Inv. Berendina Hubscher, n.d. [ante 1952], s.n., private archives: no. [07]: p. [1], Toiles: Vieux Moulin dans le Midi, avec cascade.
Inv. Leteneur, n.d. [1977], n.p., s.n., private archives: no. [01]: p. [1], salon: Smit Philippe - 'Moulin dans le Midi'/ Toile signée en bas à gauche 1933, 118 x 128 [cm].
Provenance
Lotty Urban-Leteneur
Corinne Leteneur (by descent)
Private collection, Paris (acquired from the above in 2018)
Exhibitions
No known exhibitions.
Literature & Primary Sources
Massé 1920–1935
Massé, René. Journal. 1920-21, 1924, 1929-31, 1933-1935, 02-04-1933, p. [21] ("… a) Maison provençale …").
Notes

"[…] Philippe is now busy with a painting, an old watermill in the mountains, so beautiful, but I am afraid that when he will have finished it he will not have the time to make a third one, but two are already wonderful."1

"Gare de Lyon pour Montereau (8h.41 – 10h.24)/ Philippe vient me chercher à la gare. […] Arrivée au Château. […] L’atelier (les tubes de couleurs)/ les nouvelles Œuvres faites dans le Var [et à Fontainebleau]/ a) Maison provençale sur la droite - à gauche ruisseau en/ cascade - fond de montagne, effet classique du paysage -/ tons sombres et soutenus - les tuiles rouges d'un effet/ chatoyant. [...]" (Gare de Lyon to Montereau (8:41 – 10:24). Philippe comes to meet me at the train station. … Arrival at the Chateau. … The studio (the tubes of colours) the new works done in the Var [and in Fontainebleau]. a) Provencal house to the right – to the left a cascading creek – background with mountains, classic effect of the landscape, dark and intense shades – The red tiles with a shimmering effect. …) (Massé, 2 April 1933, p. [21])

1. "[...] Ph.[ilippe] is nu met een schilderij bezig een oude watermolen in de bergen zoo prachtig maar ik ben bang dat hij als 't klaar is niet veel tijd zal hebben om nog een derde stuk te beginnen maar twee stukken is al heerlijk." (Berendina Urban, ALS to Theodore and Marijke Pitcairn, Saint-Maxime, 21 February 1933, private archives, Paris).

Record last updated November 10, 2017. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Narzt, Andreas and Castellani, Florence. "The Mill in Provence, 1933 (PS 417)." In The Complete Works of Philippe Smit. www.philippesmit.com/catalogue/entry.php?id=417 (accessed on May 12, 2025).