An article in La Tribune de l'Art presents a significant expansion of the known corpus of drawings by Dutch Golden Age painter Gerard van Honthorst (1592-1656). The author, who previously identified and exhibited twenty-seven drawings in 2014, now adds thirty-two more sheets—twenty-two of which are previously unpublished. This collection represents a first attempt to reconstruct a dismembered album of Honthorst's drawings. The research is based on direct observation, digital microscopy, and various lighting techniques, and is intended as a preliminary step toward a forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's drawings to be published by R.S.V.P. Editions in Brussels.
This matters because Honthorst, a leading Caravaggist painter who worked for European courts including those of Charles I of England and Christian IV of Denmark, has long been understudied in terms of his graphic work. The article challenges the assumption that Caravaggesque painters were not prolific draftsmen, positioning Honthorst as the most abundantly documented Dutch Caravaggist in terms of drawings. The reconstruction of this album could shed light on the artist's workshop practices, creative process, and chronology, filling a critical gap in scholarship on 17th-century Dutch art.