John Smith (art historian)


John Smith 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. 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.