Joseph Wright of Derby: 6 works

'Throughout his career, Wright was preoccupied with the evocative effects of light, specifically those produced by a single light source such as a candle, and the resulting play of shadows. Influenced by the powerful chiaroscuro of the superb mezzotints of Thomas Frye, a contemporary printmaker, Wright produced a number of dramatically lit self-portraits in oil, charcoal, and black-and-white pastel during the mid-1760s.'

'The same dress is repeated in several portraits by Hudson and Wright.'

'Wright sports a scarf wrapped fashionably around his head, a manner of dress inspired most directly by Rembrandt's fancy self-portraits. Exotic head-wear was already something of a cliché among Wright's profession.'

'Together the figures are combined in a pyramidal composition, characteristic of Joseph Wright of Derby's depictions of children and deliberately recalling the High Renaissance altarpieces that Wright studied during his stay in Italy (1773--75).'

'The versatile Joseph Wright of Derby, who was an accomplished portrait and view painter, made at least five versions of this veduta (view painting) in the early 1790s, some fifteen years after his Italian sojourn. The generally accurate rendering of the view, with the hill town of Nemi on the left and the silhouette of the town of Genzano to the right, suggests that Wright worked from a detailed preparatory drawing made during his stay in the area.'

'Joseph Wright of Derby was famous for painting nocturnal scenes with specific light sources such as candles, lamps and fires, an interest that developed from time the artist spent in Rome in 1774 absorbing the lessons of the masters and producing night scenes with moonlit effects. A true artist of the Enlightenment, some of Wright's most outstanding group works portray the home as a laboratory for learning, children bearing witness to the scientific experiments that so absorbed those in search of knowledge.'