Artvee
  • Browse
    • Abstract
    • Figurative
    • Landscape
    • Illustration
    • Posters
    • Religion
    • Mythology
    • Drawings
    • Still Life
    • Animals
    • Botanical
    • Asian Art
  • Books
  • Artists
  • Explore
    • Topics
    • Culture
    • Movements
  • Highlights
  • Collections
  • Galleries
  • Artvee Pro
Login
Artvee
Menu
Joseph Wright of Derby
Joseph Wright of Derby

Joseph Wright of Derby

English, 1734-1797
Follow

Joseph Wright ARA , styled Joseph Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution".

Wright is notable for his use of tenebrism effect, which emphasizes the contrast of light and dark, and for his paintings of candle-lit subjects. His paintings of the birth of science out of alchemy, often based on the meetings of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, a group of scientists and industrialists living in the English Midlands, are a significant record of the struggle of science against religious values in the period known as the Age of Enlightenment.

Many of Wright's paintings and drawings are owned by Derby City Council, and are on display at the Derby Museum and Art Gallery.

Joseph Wright was born in Irongate, Derby, to a respectable family of lawyers. He was the third of five children of Hannah Brookes (1700–1764) and John Wright (1697–1767), an attorney and the town clerk of Derby. Joseph had two elder brothers, John and Richard Wright.

Deciding to become a painter, Wright went to London in 1751 and for two years studied under Thomas Hudson, the master of Joshua Reynolds. After painting portraits for a while in Derby, Wright again worked as an assistant to Hudson for fifteen months. In 1753 he returned to, and settled in Derby. He varied his work in portraiture by the production of subjects with strong tenebrism under artificial light, with which his name is chiefly associated, and by landscape painting. Wright also spent a productive period in Liverpool, from 1768 to 1771, painting portraits. These included pictures of a number of prominent citizens and their families.

Wright married Ann (also known as Hannah) Swift, the daughter of a lead miner, on 28 July 1773.

Wright and his wife had six children, three of whom died in infancy. Wright set off in 1773 with John Downman, a pregnant Ann Wright, and Richard Hurleston for Italy. Their ship took shelter for three weeks in Nice before they completed their outward voyage in Livorno in Italy in February 1774. Downman returned to Britain in 1775. Although he spent a great deal of time in Naples, Wright never witnessed any major eruption of Mount Vesuvius, however, it is possible that he witnessed smaller, less impressive eruptions, which may have inspired many of his subsequent paintings of the volcano. On his return from Italy he established himself at Bath as a portrait-painter, but meeting with little encouragement, he returned to Derby in 1777, where he spent the rest of his life. He became increasingly asthmatic and nervous about the house, and for these complaints he was treated by his friend Erasmus Darwin. Ann Wright died on 17 August 1790. On 29 August 1797 Wright died at his new home at No. 28 Queen Street, Derby, where he had spent his final months with his two daughters.

Wright was a frequent contributor to the exhibitions of the Society of Artists, and to those of the Royal Academy, of which he was elected an associate in 1781 and a full member in 1784. He, however, declined the latter honour on account of a slight that he believed that he had received, and severed his official connection with the academy, although he continued to contribute to the exhibitions from 1783 until 1794.

Wright acknowledged that he was influenced by Alexander Cozens, owned paintings by him, and applied his ideas as inspiration for compositions. He also described the technique Cozens recommended for creation from blots.

125 items

Show 30 50 70
Cottage on fire at night

Cottage on fire at night

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Derwent Water, with Skiddaw in the distance

Derwent Water, with Skiddaw in the distance

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Dovedale by Moonlight

Dovedale by Moonlight

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Dovedale

Dovedale

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Grotto by the Seaside in the Kingdom of Naples with Banditti, Sunset

Grotto by the Seaside in the Kingdom of Naples with Banditti, Sunset (1778)

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Lake Albano

Lake Albano

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Lake Nemi, sunset

Lake Nemi, sunset

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Lake Nemi

Lake Nemi

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Lake Scene

Lake Scene

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Landscape with Rainbow, View near Chesterfield

Landscape with Rainbow, View near Chesterfield

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Matlock Dale, looking toward Black Rock Escarpment

Matlock Dale, looking toward Black Rock Escarpment

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Matlock Tor by Moonlight

Matlock Tor by Moonlight

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
The Annual Girandola at the Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome

The Annual Girandola at the Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
The Prisoner

The Prisoner

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Vesuvius from Posillipo

Vesuvius from Posillipo

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Virgil’s Tomb by Moonlight, with Silius Italicus

Virgil’s Tomb by Moonlight, with Silius Italicus

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Cottage on Fire

Cottage on Fire (c. 1786-1787)

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Portrait of Colonel Charles Heathcote

Portrait of Colonel Charles Heathcote (c. 1771-72)

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Figurative
Portrait of Dorothy Beridge, nèe Gladwin

Portrait of Dorothy Beridge, nèe Gladwin (1777)

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Figurative
Study of an old man

Study of an old man

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Figurative
Portrait Of A Lady

Portrait Of A Lady

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Figurative
Matlock Tor By Moonlight

Matlock Tor By Moonlight (between 1778 and 1780)

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Portrait of a Woman

Portrait of a Woman (ca. 1770)

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Figurative
Virgil’s Tomb by Moonlight, with Silius Italicus Declaiming

Virgil’s Tomb by Moonlight, with Silius Italicus Declaiming (1779)

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Portrait of Old John, Head Waiter at the King’s Head Inn in Derby

Portrait of Old John, Head Waiter at the King’s Head Inn in Derby (ca. 1780)

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Figurative
Mr. and Mrs. William Chase

Mr. and Mrs. William Chase (1760)

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Figurative
A cottage on fire at night

A cottage on fire at night

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Portrait of Lucy Stafford, Later Mrs Wilkinson (B. 1738)

Portrait of Lucy Stafford, Later Mrs Wilkinson (B. 1738)

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Figurative
Virgil’s Tomb By Moonlight

Virgil’s Tomb By Moonlight (1779)

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Landscape
Portrait of Miss Ann Carver before a landscape

Portrait of Miss Ann Carver before a landscape

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)
Figurative
  • ←
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • →

0 Artworks
Follow
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Favourite
Collect

Standard, JPG, Size:

Download

Max Size, JPG, Size:

Download
License: All public domain files can be freely used for personal and commercial projects. .
Why is this image in the public domain?
  • Terms
  • Privacy
  • Contact us
Artvee.com 2024 All Rights Reserved
We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. By browsing this website, you agree to our use of cookies.
More info Accept
  • Sign in
  • Browse
    • Abstract
    • Figurative
    • Landscape
    • Illustration
    • Posters
    • Religion
    • Mythology
    • Drawings
    • Still Life
    • Animals
    • Botanical
    • Asian Art
  • Artists
  • Books
  • Explore
    • Topics
    • Culture
    • Movements
  • Highlights
  • Collections
  • Galleries
  • Artvee Pro