Science, like Nature/Must also be tamed/With a view towards its preservation/Given the same/State of integrity/It will surely serve us well
🎨 #WrightOfDerby 🇬🇧 #JosephWrightOfDerby 🎟️ #NationalGallery 💻Review www.theguardian.com/artanddesign... ℹ️ www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/...
Wright of Derby: From the Shadows, on now at the National Gallery, successfully makes the case for Wright as a successful and important painter of the Enlightenment.
👉 saltertonartsreview.com/2026/02/wrig...
#wrightofderby #nationalgallerylondon #exhibitionreview #whatsonlondon #enlightenment
The Haberdashery of Imaginary Art: #334: Guest Artist: Joseph Wright of Derby thehaberdasheryofimaginedart.blogspot.com/2026/02/334-... #art #imaginaryart #conceptualart #josephwrightofderby #wrightofderby
The #WrightofDerby: From the Shadows exhibit @nationalgalleryuk.bsky.social was just what I needed to both stir and soothe my spirits today.
I could have stood for hours examining the faces of each actor in this #painting as it explores the ethics of scientific experimentation on living creatures.
40 #WrightofDerby National Gallery focusing on a little known 18th century British artist. Underwhelming, obsessed with light and shadows but the air pump did have theatricality 5
This image juxtaposes two dramatic scenes illuminated by intense, theatrical lighting. On the left is Caravaggio’s Seven Works of Mercy, a densely packed Baroque composition depicting multiple acts of compassion—such as feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless—within a dark urban setting, all unified by a striking beam of divine light and the presence of angels above, exemplifying Caravaggio’s signature chiaroscuro and emotional realism. On the right is Joseph Wright of Derby’s An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, an Enlightenment-era painting showing a scientist demonstrating a vacuum experiment to a captivated group of onlookers lit by a single glowing lamp; their varied reactions—curiosity, horror, wonder—highlight the tension between scientific discovery and emotional sensitivity.
Caravaggio, Seven Acts of Mercy (1606) + Joseph Wright of Derby, An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (1768)
Tenebrism (dramatic illumination) was invented by Caravaggio and re-employed by Wright.
#SideBySide #Art #ArtHistory #Caravaggio #WrightOfDerby #Chiaroscuro #Tenebrism
#Sotheby’s also wrote to Derby City Council. In 2012, Sotheby's valued its gallery's #WrightofDerby pictures at £64mn for insurance.
Hate to say it, but. If that museum sells those pictures, I see no reason to go there.
Sketch detail version of Wright of Derby’s “Mr and Mrs Thomas Coltman”, c. 1770/1772
Sketch version of Wright of Derby’s “Mr and Mrs Thomas Coltman”, c. 1770/1772
“Mr and Mrs Thomas Coltman”
Wright of Derby (Joseph Wright of Derby), c. 1770/1772
National Gallery of Art, London, UK
8.25 x 5 in (21,5 x 12,7 cm)
Ink marker and watercolor on plain 70 G/M² sketchbook paper
02/23/25
#pandemicmasters #wright #wrightofderby #NationalGallery
Family Tree diagram drawn using Powerpoint highlighting cousin marriages and family business connections in colour.
#Cousin marriages are in the news and they can cause real problems when drawing #familytrees. Here's one from my 'Silk Threads and Ironworks' the other #WrightofDerby family who provide several examples over the #18thC and #19thC. Marriage for business advantage is also highlighted.
