1742 in art

	… 1732; 1733; 1734; 1735; 1736; 1737; 1738; ; 1739; 1740; 1741; 1742; 1743; 1744; 1745; ; 1746; 1747; 1748; 1749; 1750; 1751; 1752 …;
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Events from the year 1742 in art.

Events

François Boucher – Diana Leaving her Bath
Canaletto
- The Porta Portello, Padua (1741–1742) (National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.)
- Rome: The Arch of Constantine (British Royal Collection, Windsor Castle)
- Rome: The Arch of Septimius Severus (British Royal Collection, Windsor Castle)
- Rome: The Arch of Titus (British Royal Collection, Windsor Castle)
- Rome: The Pantheon (British Royal Collection, Windsor Castle)
- Rome: Ruins of the Forum looking towards the Capitol (British Royal Collection, Windsor Castle)
William Hogarth – Taste in High Life (painting; engraved in 1746)
Vincenzo Meucci – Glory of Florentine Saints (fresco on interior of dome, basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence)
Jacques Saly – Portrait bust of Emanuel Pinto de Fonseca, Grand Master of the Order of the Maltese Cross

February 15 – Yves-Marie Le Gouaz, French engraver (died 1816)
April 24 – Richard Crosse, English painter of portrait miniatures (died 1810)
July 12 – Jurriaan Andriessen, Dutch decorative painter (died 1819)
September 8 – Ozias Humphrey, English painter of portrait miniatures (died 1810)
September 26 – Thomas Jones, Welsh artist of watercolours and sketches (died 1803)
November 5 – Richard Cosway, British miniaturist (died 1821)
date unknown
- John Edwards, English botanist, painter, designer and illustrator (died 1815)
- Kim Eung-hwan, Korean painter of the late Joseon period (died 1789)
- John Kay, caricaturist (died 1826)

March 13 – Gilles-Marie Oppenordt, French designer (born 1672)
June 9 – Simone Brentana, Italian painter, active in Verona (born 1656)
July 19 – Jan Baptist Xavery, Flemish sculptor active in the Netherlands (born 1697)
December 3 – Claude Aubriet, illustrator and botanical artist (born 1651)
date unknown – Faustino Bocchi, Italian painter, active in Brescia, who specialized in bizarre paintings of dwarfs (born 1659)
probable – Eleazar Albin, naturalist and illustrator