Introduction
A Brief History of the Project
The idea for this catalogue raisonné took shape in the 1980s when Howard Rehs, then a young art historian and gallerist, began selling works by the artist. Over the next ten years, Rehs watched the prices for Knight's paintings rise consistently. By the early 1990s, he started working on the catalogue raisonné for Julien Dupré and uncovered a lot of data about Ridgway Knight as well. When Knoedler Gallery agreed to open its archives for him, he had access to all of their records, including thousands of auction catalogues and sales ledgers as well as old photographs from the time when Knight’s work was frequently in their inventory. This provided a solid foundation for what would become the catalogue raisonné.
During the early stages, Rehs met several descendants of the artist who provided him with information about his life and work. Eventually, he hired art historical researchers to identify material about the artist in French archives and museums.
By 2015, when I joined the project, Knight’s place in the art historical canon had become more visible.
Janet Whitmore, Ph.D.
Howard L. Rehs, Rehs Galleries, Inc.