Archives
The realisation of the catalogue raisonné was only made possible thanks to the courtesy of individuals and institutions possessing archives which provide insight into the artist’s life and his work.
We could see, study and partially reproduce:
- more than 550 letters from Philippe Smit and his close relatives
- various testimonials (for example Pierre Massé’s notebook) that shed light on the artist’s character, activities and artistic, literary and musical tastes
- catalogues from his exhibitions between 1916 and 2000
- notes and photographs of the artist’s relatives and favourite locations
- articles, reviews and studies of the artist’s work
- inventories and legal documents concerning the sale and ownership of the artist’s paintings
- sketchbooks, sketches and preparatory drawings
- a short film by Miriam Mitchell, daughter of Theodore and Marijke Pitcairn, about the Pitcairn family, which includes footage of the artist
The majority of the documents come from the personal archives of the French and American descendants of the artist’s wife, Berendina Hubscher, and Theodore and Marijke Pitcairn.
In addition, the Glencairn Museum in Pennsylvannia has kindly granted the endowment fund access to an extensive archive of material from the estates of Raymond and Theodore Pitcairn and so did The Lord’s New Church.
In the Netherlands, we were able to review numerous documents held by families of friends and descendants of the artist as well as by the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), The Hague. We sincerely want to thank Mrs. Niehaus-Haavekost for allowing us to study the archives of Kasper Niehaus.