CONNOISSEUR is not the same as amateur. Example. Connoisseur, in matters of Painting, or other works based on drawing, encompasses not so much a decided taste for this art, as a certain discernment for judging it. A person can never be a perfect connoisseur in painting, if they are not a painter; it follows for the most part therefore that all painters are good connoisseurs. Some are ignorant enough to see nature as they depict it, or to believe that it does not need to be depicted as they see it. It is said: You should be flattered by this person’s praise; they are a great connoisseur. See Dictionnaire de Peinture [Dictionary of Painting].