Why did twentieth-century scholars become more interested in Anthony van Dyck’s early and Genoese works?

In the twentieth century, scholars and collectors shifted their focus toward Anthony van Dyck’s early works and those from his Genoese period primarily because of their perceived freshness and spontaneity.1

While the artist’s later works were historically the most admired, this change in perspective reflected a broader interest in aspects of his career that had previously been neglected. Alongside these paintings, scholarly and collector attention also increasingly turned toward other works that had been overlooked, including his oil sketches, drawings, and watercolours, such as his sensitive landscape studies.1