Hendrik Willem Caspari

Hendrik Willem Caspari was an artist active in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, with his documented career spanning the years 1780 to 1822. His known output focuses predominantly on preparatory drawings and portraiture.

The institutional documentation of Caspari’s artistic legacy is based on works held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, which preserves seven documented drawings attributed to the artist. These works establish his interest in depicting contemporary figures through the medium of the drawn portrait.

Notable works represented in the collections include Portret van Hendrik de Flines, Portret van Jan Tersteegh, Portret van Pieter Martinus Gregoor, and Portret van Cornelis Buys. His body of work also includes thematic studies, such as the complex identification drawing titled Identificatie van de portretten op het schilderij Professor Andreas Bonn opent de tekenzaal van de Maatschappij Felix Meritis te Amsterdam.

As the work of Hendrik Willem Caspari is rooted in this earlier period, many of his pieces are considered to be in the public domain. This has allowed for the creation of high-quality prints derived from the original drawings. Hendrik Willem Caspari prints are today referenced in historical catalogs relating to eighteenth-century Dutch draftsmanship.