Gerard Vandergucht (1696 or 1697-1776), Engraver and art dealer

Sitter in 1 portrait
Artist associated with 28 portraits
Gerard Van der Gucht, engraver and art dealer, was the son of the engraver Michael Van der Gucht. Taught to engrave by his father, he studied drawing under Louis Chéron and at the Great Queen Street Academy. He is credited with being the first English-born engraver to imitate successfully the French style of blending etching with engraving in order to combine the advantages of free drawing with engraved detail and tonal gradation. Van der Gucht worked for various printsellers and booksellers until his father's death in 1725, when he took over his business. For the next twenty-five years, he was a leading engraver and publisher of history prints, antiquities and decorative subjects.