Events from the year 1734 in art.

Events

• Engraving Copyright Act ('Hogarth's Act') in Britain protects original engravings.
• Charles-Joseph Natoire receives his first royal commission, for the Chambre de la Reine at the Palace of Versailles.

Works

• Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin
  • The Game of Knucklebones
  • The House of Cards
• Charles-Joseph Natoire – Venus Demanding Arms from Vulcan for Aeneas
• Bartolomeo Nazari - Portrait of Farinelli
• Peter Scheemakers – Gilded equestrian statue of King William III (Kingston upon Hull, England)

Births

• January 10 – Giovanni Pichler, German-Italian artist in engraved gems (died 1791)
• March 9
  • Marie-Suzanne Giroust, French painter (died 1772)
  • Francisco Bayeu y Subías, Spanish painter in the Neoclassical style, primarily of religious and historical themes (died 1795)
• April 1 – Cristoforo Dall'Acqua, Italian painter and engraver (died 1787)
• May 7 – Jean Humbert, Dutch portrait painter (died 1794)
• May 20 – Anton Janša, Slovene apiarist and painter (died 1773)
• July 4 – Jean Henri Riesener, furniture designer (died 1806)
• August 31 – Gaetano Gandolfi, Bolognese painter (died 1802)
• September 3 – Joseph Wright of Derby, British painter (died 1797)
• September 17 – Jean-Baptiste Le Prince, French etcher and painter (died 1781)
• December 15 – George Romney, English painter (died 1802)
• date unknown
  • Peter Perez Burdett, English draughtsman (died 1793)
  • Samuel Cotes, British painter of miniature portraits and also worked in crayons (died 1818)
  • Francesco Antonio Franzoni, Italian sculptor (died 1818)
  • Moses Haughton the elder, English designer, engraver and painter of portraits and still life (died 1804)
  • Francis Sartorius, painter of horses (died 1804)

Deaths

• February 10 – Jean Raoux, French painter (born 1677)
• March 7 – John Verelst, Dutch Golden Age portrait painter (born 1648)
• May 4 – James Thornhill, English painter (born 1675 or 1676)
• May 15 – Sebastiano Ricci, Italian painter in the Cortonesque style of grand manner fresco painting (born 1659)
• May 27 – Claude Audran III, French painter (born 1658)
• September 13 – Tobias Querfurt, German painter, draughtsman, and engraver (born 1660)
• October 5 - Paolo Alboni, Italian painter (born 1671)
• November - Peter Angelis, French painter (born 1685)
• November 21 – Alexis Simon Belle, French portrait painter (born 1674)
• December 5 – Peter Tillemans, Flemish baroque painter, especially of portraiture, landscapes, and works on sporting and military subjects (born c.1684)
• date unknown
  • Giacomo Bolognini, Italian painter of the Baroque (born 1664)
  • Pietro Capelli, Italian painter of the Rococo, active in quadratura (born unknown)
  • Louis de Chastillon, French painter in enamel and miniature, and engraver (born 1639)
  • Andrea Procaccini, Italian painter for the royal family of Philip V (born 1671)
  • Gao Qipei, Chinese painter of landscapes and figures (born 1660)
  • Gaetano Sabatini, Italian draftsman and painter (born 1703)
  • Cornelis Verelst, Dutch flower painter (born 1667)