1642 in art

Events

• Isaack Gilsemans, the artist on Abel Tasman's expedition, produces the first European work of art made in New Zealand.
• Roman painter Giovanni Baglione publishes The Lives of Painters, Sculptors, Architects and Engravers, active from 1572–1642.

Paintings

• Philippe de Champaigne – Portrait of Cardinal Richelieu
• Georges de La Tour - Joseph the Carpenter
• Jusepe de Ribera - The Clubfoot
• William Dobson - Charles II, when Prince of Wales, with a Page
• Louis Le Nain - Peasant Family, or, The return from the baptism
• Rembrandt
• * The Night Watch
• * Half length figure of Saskia in profile in a red hat
• Salomon van Ruysdael – River Landscape
• Gerard van Honthorst - ''Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, as a widow''

Births

• March 2 - Claudio Coello, Spanish Baroque painter
• November 11 - André Charles Boulle, French cabinetmaker known for his marquetry
• November 30 – Andrea Pozzo, Italian Baroque architect, decorator, stage designer, painter and art theoretician
• date unknown
• *Francesco Bassi, Italian painter active in the early-Baroque period
• *Henry Cooke, English painter
• *Michel Corneille the Younger, French painter, etcher and engraver
• *Didrik Möllerum, Finnish painter
• *José de Mora, Spanish sculptor
• *Hâfiz Osman, Ottoman calligrapher
• *Shitao, Chinese artist
• *Wang Yuanqi, Chinese painter of the Qing dynasty, member of the Four Wangs
• probable - Daniel Seiter, Vienna-born fresco painter of the Baroque

Deaths

• March 14 - John de Critz, Flemish portrait painter active in England
• March 23 - Andries Both, Dutch genre painter, drowned in a canal in Venice
• May 6 - Frans Francken the Younger, Flemish painter
• June 14 - Saskia van Uylenburgh, Dutch wife and model of Rembrandt
• August 18 - Guido Reni, Italian painter
• December 6 - Willem van der Vliet, Dutch painter and uncle of Hendrick Cornelisz. van Vliet
• date unknown
• *Fabrizio Boschi, Italian painter of the early-Baroque period, active in Florence
• *Shao Mi, Chinese landscape painter, calligrapher, and poet during the Ming Dynasty
• probable
• *Pieter van Laer, Dutch painter of genre scenes
• *1642/1643 - Wouter Abts, Flemish painter of conversation pieces and landscapes