Major Joseph Wright exhibition set to open at National Gallery

A major new exhibition is set to open at London’s National Gallery dedicated to Derby’s Joseph Wright.

Wright of Derby: From the Shadows is due to open tomorrow in the gallery’s Sunley Room and will run until 10 May.

It will be the National Gallery’s first exhibition dedicated to the 18th Century artist and figurehead of the Enlightenment, which is a period of scientific, philosophical and artistic development in the 17th and 18th century.

It has been organised in partnership with Derby Museums, which has loaned several works to make the exhibition possible.

Following the conclusion of the National Gallery exhibition, it will then travel to Derby. Derby Museums has said that dates for the Derby exhibition, will be announced in due course.

Tony Butler OBE, executive director of Derby Museums, said: “Joseph Wright is one of the most celebrated 18th Century British painters.

“I’m particularly excited that when the exhibition comes to Derby, it will be the first time two of his most famous works have come together in our city in 80 years.”

In a press statement, the National Gallery said: “Traditionally, Wright of Derby has been viewed as a figurehead of the Enlightenment.

“Challenging this conventional view, the exhibition contributes to the ongoing re-evaluation of the artist, portraying him not merely as a ‘painter of light’ but as one who deliberately explores the night-time to engage with deeper and more sombre themes, including death, melancholy, morality, scepticism and the sublime.”

The exhibition focuses on Joseph Wright’s career between 1765 and 1773, during which time he made a series of candlelit scenes.

It features more than 20 works, including paintings, works on paper and objects which explore both Wright of Derby’s artistic practice and the historic context of scientific and artistic development in which they were made.

It will show a number of masterpieces including ‘Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight’, ‘A Philosopher giving that Lecture on the Orrery in Which a Lamp is Put in Place of the Sun’ and the National Gallery’s An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump.

According to the National Gallery, this will be the first time in 35 years that all these works will be brought together.

A total of 17 artworks have been loaned by Derby Museums, which holds the world’s largest collection of Wright’s work.

When Wright of Derby: From the Shadows travels to Derby Museum and Art Gallery next year, it will bring two of Wright’s most famous works, ‘The Air Pump’ and ‘The Orrery’, back to his hometown for the first time in 80 years.

The National Gallery said: “In these ‘candlelight’ paintings, Wright of Derby shows thrilling moments, not just of discovery but of shared learning.

“His dramatic depictions of natural and artificial light link his work back to the artistic traditions of the Renaissance and artists such as Caravaggio, whose strong light and deep shadows were rarely employed in British art before the mid-18th Century.”

To find out more about the Wright of Derby: From the Shadows exhibition, click here.