John Smith (art historian)

John Smith
Born 1781
London
Died 1855
Hanwell
Nationality United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

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

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


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.