John Smith (art historian)

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

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.

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.

This article about an artist from the United Kingdom is a stub.