Hmm… here we are, over half way through April and I haven’t written a word about my artist study. *eek*
Never having done this before, I thought I might break it down into parts: an overview of the artist, his process, what I’ve learned, and then a scratchboard based on what I’ve learned. I thought I’d start with one of the “safely dead” on my list: British painter Joseph Wright of Derby.
Wright was born in Derbyshire in 1734 and was the son of a respected attorney. In his teens he was sent to London to apprentice with portrait artist Thomas Hudson. On his return, Wright began painting portraits for wealthy landowners and upper-middle class families. Although his work was best known locally (thus the “of Derby” title) his portrait commissions soon included the gentry of Liverpool and Bath.
His success allowed him to explore his own artistic subject matter: painting in low light and scientific and industrial subjects. His first London showing was in 1765 when he entered Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight in the Society of Artists show.
Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight. 1765. Oil on canvas, 48 X 40 in. Private Collection. (Please ignore the watermark – I haven’t figured out how to turn it off for individual images… yet.)
Wright’s interpretation of the famous Borghese Gladiator sculpture was the first in his series of candlelight or lamplight images and would set the tone for much of his later work; these paintings are probably those for which he is best known:
A Philosopher giving a Lecture on the Orrery in which a lamp is put in place of the Sun. 1766. Oil on canvas, 58 x 80 in. Derby Museum and Art Gallery. Image copyright the Derby Museum.
An Orrey is a type of planetarium and was used to illustrate the movement of the planets in relationship to the sun. Wright painted during the period of the British Enlightenment, a period of ideological change, when it was thought that the use of logic and reason could result in positive, progressive advances in science, politics, culture and society. The light shining on the faces of the observers depicts both the light of the lamp used to simulate the light from the sun and as a symbol of the knowledge flooding over the group.
An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump. 1768 Oil on canvas, 72 x 94.5 in. National Gallery, London. Image copyright the National Gallery, London.
Air pumps were a common scientific device in Wright’s time and were used in public displays to illustrate effects of the atmosphere in particular and the scientific process in general. However, Wright’s painting isn’t so much about science as it is about human drama. The light illuminates the faces of the observers and their individual reactions to the experiment: the ignorance of the lovers on the left, the horror of the young girls on the right, the curiosity of the boys on the left, the reflective contemplation of the older man on the right, while the scientist and boy taking down the cage both look out at the viewer.
The Alchemist in Search of the Philospher’s Stone discovers Phosphorus. 1771. Oil on canvas, 50 x 40 in. Derby Museum and Art Gallery. Image copyright the Derby Museum.
Alchemy was a pre-scientific practice that combined elements from chemistry, metallurgy, medicine, astrology and religion. The most well-known goal of alchemy was transmutation (turning one physical element into another, i.e. lead into gold) the source of which was believed to be a legendary element known as the “Philosopher’s Stone”. What is less well-known is that many alchemists made valid scientific discoveries during the course of their work. In Wright’s painting, the light coming from the glass flask lights up the alchemist’s face both as a physical and spiritual discovery.
As was customary for artists at that time, Wright visited Italy from 1773 – 1775 where he applied his ideas of light to subjects out-of-doors. For example, he painted at least 30 paintings of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius (however, it’s unlikely he actually witnessed this himself: although Vesuvius erupted several times during the 18th century, the nearest eruptions to Wright’s Italian visit were in 1767 and 1779) and these paintings have very much the same feeling of light and shadow as his earlier interior works:
Vesuvius in Eruption, with a View over the Islands in the Bay of Naples. 1776. Oil on canvas, 70 x 48 in. Tate Gallery. Image copyright the Tate Gallery.
Next time: Wright’s process: how he worked.
Resources:
British Enlightenment Research Network. “About BERN.” Accessed on 16 April 2008. http://www.utas.edu.au/history_classics/bern/about.html
Derby City Council. “Art Treasures – Joseph Wright Gallery.” Accessed 10 April 2008. http://www.derby.gov.uk/LeisureCulture/MuseumsGalleries/ArtTreasuresJosephWrightGallery.htm
Derbyshire UK: Guide to Derbyshire & the Peak District. “Famous Derbyshire People: Joseph Wright.” Accessed 13 April 2008. http://www.derbyshireuk.net/wright.html
National Gallery, London. “An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump.” Accessed 10 April 2008. http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=NG725
Wikipedia. “Mount Vesuvius.” Accessesed 20 April 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesuvius
Wright of Derby. Accessed 13 April 2008. http://www.mezzo-mondo.com/arts/mm/wright/wright.html
Thanks of introducing me to the work of Joseph Wright. What a painter! I particularly liked the alchemist’s discovery of phosphorus and the bird experiment. Alchemy isn’t simply early science, it’s a deep philosophical process too. Some of the alchemical texts, like the writings of Fludd, for example, are simply beautiful.
You’re welcome, Michael. I must admit, as I’m sure my post reveals, a great deal of ignorance about alchemy. I stand corrected. I visited your website and noted a link to a lecture by noted historian of science, UCLA History Professor Margaret Jacob:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIEo_afmcMY
What I find particularly fascinating about her lecture, in context of Wright’s work, is that the three “characteristics of the new science” Jacob describes as part of the process of “knowing nature scientifically” are reflected in Wright’s science paintings:
1.) experimentalism: the systematic and disciplined study of nature that could be [independently] replicated by someone else
2.) the mechanical philosophy: exploring the nature of matter and the reason for its motion (i.e the motion of the planets, the nature of air)
3.) natural philosphers assumed that the study of nature must be a deeply social activity, complete with specific spaces for demonstrations and witnesses
Wright’s work reflects the deep cultural, scientific and philosophical revoloution that was taking place during the period of the Enlightenment.