John Smith (art historian)

John Smith (1781–1855) was a 19th-century British art dealer who developed the concept of the catalogue raisonné.

John Smith
Born1781
Died1855
NationalityUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

Smith was born in London. He began dealing in art as a framemaker, specializing in wood-carving and gilding.[1] He became an art dealer and art consultant known for his "reasoned catalog" of painters that he wrote in 8 volumes and sold by subscription to his art clients during the years 1829 to 1837, and to which he added a 9th volume as a supplement in 1842.

Smith died in Hanwell. His work was carried on and expanded by Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, who published a new update to his catalogue in German starting in 1907, that was later expanded and translated into English by Edward G. Hawke, along with a concordance of catalog numbers.

References

  1. Review of book about Smith on CODART
  2. Volume 1 on archive.org
  3. Volume 2 on archive.org
  4. Volume 3 on archive.org
  5. Volume 4 on archive.org
  6. Volume 5 on archive.org
  7. Volume 6 on archive.org
  8. Volume 7 on archive.org
  9. Volume 8 on archive.org
  10. Volume 9: A catalogue raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French painters : in which is included a short biographical notice of the artists, with a copious description of their principal pictures; a statement of the prices at which such pictures have been sold at public sales on the continent and in England; a reference to the galleries and private collections, in which a large portion are at present; and the names of the artists by whom they have been engraved; to which is added, a brief notice of the scholars & imitators of the great masters of the above schools, by "Smith, John, dealer in pictures" on archive.org


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