Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/13

 PREFACE vii changed, and the works of imitators have been separated from those of the masters. Then, again, our knowledge of the host of pictures still in existence has become more comprehensive. Moreover, numerous pictures have changed hands in the eighty years that have elapsed since the appearance of Smith's first volume. In planning a new edition, one must recognise at the outset that Smith's selection of three French and four Flemish painters, together with thirty-three Dutch painters, was merely fortuitous. A dozen, at least, of the Flemish painters who were not included are far superior to Dutchmen like Jan van Huysum, Adam Pijnacker, and Eglon van der Neer, whose works were thought to deserve description. Of the French school, only the works of Claude Gellee, N. Poussin, and J. B. Greuze were described ; the three names suffice to show how many great masters of French art were passed over. The compiler of this new edition has therefore determined to deal with one school at a time, and, in the first place, to treat of the Dutch painters, including all whose work is described by Smith. These are, in alphabetical order : L. Backhuysen, N. Berchem, G. ter Borch, J. Both, A. Cuyp, G. Dou, J. Hackaert, J. van der Heyde, M. Hobbema, P. de Hooch, J. van Huysum, K. du Jardin, N. Maes, G. Metsu, F. van Mieris, senior, W. van Mieris, E. van der Neer, Caspar Netscher, A. van Ostade, I. van Ostade, Paul Potter, A. Pijnacker, Rembrandt, J. van Ruisdael, R. Ruysch, G. Schalcken, P. van Slingeland, J. Steen, A. van de Velde, W. van de Velde, A. van der Werf, Ph. Wouwerman, and J. Wijnants. In place of the seven Frenchmen and Flemings now left out, an equal number of eminent Dutchmen whom Smith overlooked are included, namely, Adriaen Brouwer, J. van de Cappelle, Carel Fabritius, J. van Goyen, Frans Hals, A. van der Neer, and Johannes Vermeer of Delft. The future will show whether this work is sufficiently well received to induce the compiler or some other expert to prepare a Flemish and a French series of catalogues in continuation of this Dutch series. The entries are compiled in the same manner as those of Smith's work. The title of each picture is followed by a VOL. i a2