Professor of aesthetics and art history (1923-1946) at Nijmegen University. Brom was named after his father, Gerard Bartholomeus Brom, a blacksmith of liturgical objects, who had died before Brom jr. was born. His elder brother, Jan Hendrik, took over his father's firm. Brom, who was raised in a Catholic family, attended the Gymnasium of the Bisschoppelijk College in Roermond. After graduation he began medical studies in 1899 at Utrecht University, but a year later switched to Dutch language and literature.

Director Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Kunst. Pit attended the Gymnasium in The Hague, where the future engraver Philip Zilcken (1857-1930) was among his fellow students. Stimulated by Zilcken, Pit felt attracted to etching. In 1879 he began studying Law at Leiden University, but this turned out not to be the right choice. In 1886, without having finished his study, he went to Paris where he was admitted to the école du Louvre. One of his teachers, mainly on mediaeval art, was Louis-Charles-Léon Courajod.

Director Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven, 1946-1963; director Stedelijk museum Amsterdam (1963-1985). De Wilde attended high school at the Nijmegen Canisiuscolllege. After graduation he studied Law at Nijmegen University. He also trained to become a painter at the Amsterdam Rijksakademie. In September 1945 he joined the Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit, which was assigned the task of recovering artworks stolen by the Nazis during World War II and returning them to their rightful owners. In 1946 De Wilde was appointed director of the Municipal Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven.