After attending the University of Pennsylvania, Pitcairn made the decision to study at the Academy of the New Church Theological School.

[6] Thomas Hoving, former Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, described meeting the Reverend Pitcairn in the course of negotiating the purchase of Garden at Sainte-Adresse by Claude Monet.

[7] In 1921, while searching for a suitable portrait painter for church dignitaries—Bishop William Frederic Pendleton and Bishop Nathaniel Dandridge Pendleton—Pitcairn met Philippe Smit through the efforts of Ernst Pfeiffer at the home of the banker and art collector Nicolaas Urban.

Impressed by Smit's style, Pitcairn purchased Marijke with White Feather Fan, a portrait of Urban's daughter.

Pitcairn's love of antiquities is evident in the art studio he built for Smit on the grounds of his estate in Bryn Athyn.

Over a period of five years, he commissioned works for the orchestra from such composers as Richard Yardumian Pitcairn died at his home in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania on December 17, 1973.