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What kinds of Anthony van Dyck’s works besides paintings became important to scholars and collectors?
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Anthony van Dyck
Self-Portrait, oil on canvas by Anthony Van Dyck, c. 1620–21; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. 119.7 × 87.9 cm.
Beyond his celebrated paintings, scholars and collectors have increasingly turned their attention to several other categories of Anthony van Dyck’s work:
- Oil Sketches: These preparatory works, once neglected, have gained significant appreciation for their artistic value.1
- Drawings and Watercolours: Van Dyck was a skilled draftsman, and his various studies—including sensitive landscape sketches—are now highly regarded by researchers and art enthusiasts.12
- Etchings and the Iconography: Van Dyck was a talented etcher who undertook an ambitious project known as the Iconography. This series consisted of portraits of prominent figures, including princes, soldiers, scholars, and fellow artists, intended for publication as engravings. While he etched at least 15 of these portraits himself, the collection became a significant historical and artistic record of the era's notable individuals.324