Theodore Pitcairn

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Theodore Pitcairn (born November 5, 1893 in Philadelphia , † December 17, 1973 in Bryn Athyn , Pennsylvania ) was an American pastor , art collector and patron .

Life

Cairnwood Mansion, Theodore Pitcairn's childhood home

Theodore Pitcairn was born in Philadelphia in 1893 to John Pitcairn Jr. and his wife Gertrude, née Strakey. The father was the founder of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (now PPG Industries ) and had a considerable fortune. In addition, he was instrumental in supporting the General Church of the New Jerusalem , a religious community based on the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg . Theodore Pitcairn had three brothers and a sister. Eldest brother Raymond Pitcairn became a lawyer and later directed the construction of the father-funded neo-Gothic church building Bryn Athyn Cathedral . The younger brother Harold Pitcairn worked as an engineer. In 1895 the Pitcairn family moved to their new home in Cairnwood in the Huntingdon Valley north of Philadelphia.

In neighboring Bryn Athyn, Theodore Pitcairn attended the Parish School , an ecclesiastical school of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. On New Church Boys College acquired it in 1913 his high school Accounts. He then began to study theology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, but later moved to the Academy of the New Church Theological School in Bryn Athyn. There he completed his studies in 1918 as a Reverend . He then went to Basutoland (now Lesotho ) as a missionary for several years .

In the 1920s, Pitcairn commuted between Europe and the United States several times. During this time he began to build up a private art collection, which included works such as Man in Oriental Costume from the Rembrandt area (now the Philadelphia Museum of Art ) and Saint Luke from the El Greco area (private collection). The collection also included works of Impressionism such as The Terrace of Sainte-Adresse by Claude Monet ( Metropolitan Museum of Art , New York) and La berge à Saint-Mammès by Alfred Sisley (private collection). From Vincent van Gogh , Pitcairn owned the paintings The Sower ( Hammer Museum , Los Angeles), Portrait of Adeline Ravoux (private collection) and Portrait of the Mother ( Norton Simon Museum , Pasadena).

  • Rembrandt (circle): man in oriental costume

  • Claude Monet: The terrace of Sainte-Adresse

  • Alfred Sisley: La berge à Saint-Mammès

  • Vincent van Gogh: Portrait of the Mother

In 1921 Pitcairn met the painter Philippe Smit through the banker Nicolaas Urban in the Netherlands , whom he has held in high esteem ever since. Pitcairn bought from him the picture Marijke with the white feather fan , in which Smit had portrayed Urban's daughter Marijke (1905–1978). In 1926 Pitcairn and Marijke (later Maryke) Urban married. The couple then moved to the United States. Theodore and Maryke Pitcairn are married to two sons and four daughters. Pitcairn's in-laws divorced in 1929. The mother-in-law Berendina Urban married Philippe Smit in 1940. Pitcairn had a studio set up for Smit on his estate in France and acquired most of his works.

Lord's New Church building in Bryn Athyn, Pa.

Pitcairn wrote a number of religious writings, including The Book Sealed with Seven Seals in 1927 and The Seven Days of Creation in 1930 . In the late 1930s, differences on religious issues led Pitcairn and other church members to part ways with the General Church of the New Jerusalem. As a split they founded a new church, The Lord's New Church Which Is Nova Hierosolyma . Pitcairn led the Church until 1960 and retired as a priest in 1962.

In 1947 Pitcairn established the non-profit Beneficia Foundation, which supports institutions in the fields of church, education and culture. In the music sector, for example, the Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Orchestra received grants. Pitcairn already sold significant pieces of his art collection during his lifetime and donated the painting Man in an Oriental Costume from the Rembrandt circle to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Pitcairn died in 1973 at his home in Bryn Athyn, aged 80. His grave is in the chapel of The Lord's New Church in Huntingdon Valley.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information on the painting Man in an Oriental Costume from the Rembrandt Circle on the website of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
  2. ↑ Information on the painting Saint Luke from the El Greco area on the Sotheby’s auction house's website
  3. ↑ Information on the painting The Terrace of Sainte-Adresse on the website of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
  4. ↑ Information on the painting La berge à Saint-Mammès on the Christie's auction house website
personal data
SURNAME Pitcairn, Theodore
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American pastor, art collector and patron
DATE OF BIRTH November 5, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia
DATE OF DEATH 17th December 1973
Place of death Bryn Athyn