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
Born	1781 London
Died	1855 Hanwell
Nationality	United 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.

• Volume 1 (1829): Gerard Dou, Pieter van Slingelant, Frans van Mieris the Elder, Willem van Mieris, Adriaen van Ostade, Isaac van Ostade, Philips Wouwerman [2]
• Volume 2 (1830): Peter Paul Rubens [3]
• Volume 3 (1831): Anthony van Dyck, David Teniers the Younger [4]
• Volume 4 (1833): Jan Steen, Gerard ter Borch, Eglon van der Neer, Pieter de Hooch, Gonzales Coques, Gabriel Metsu, Caspar Netscher, Adriaen van der Werff, Nicolas Maes, Godfried Schalcken [5]
• Volume 5 (1834): Nicolaes Berchem, Paulus Potter, Adriaen van de Velde, Karel Dujardin, Aelbert Cuyp, Jan van der Heyden [6]
• Volume 6 (1835): Jacob van Ruysdael, Meindert Hobbema, Jan Both, Andries Both, Jan Wynants, Adam Pynacker, Jan Hackaert, Willem van de Velde, Ludolf Bakhuizen, Jan van Huysum, Rachel Ruysch [7]
• Volume 7 (1836): Rembrandt [8]
• Volume 8 (1837): Nicolas Poussin, Claude Lorrain, Jean-Baptiste Greuze [9]
• Volume 9 – Supplement (1842): Includes corrections to the preceding volumes and new additions [10]

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.