5 reasons to visit 'Wright of Derby: From the Shadows'

‘An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump’ has grabbed visitors’ attention at the National Gallery for over 150 years. But up until now, we’ve never had an exhibition dedicated to the leading British artist who created it, Joseph Wright of Derby. 

‘From the Shadows’ brings together paintings, prints, drawings and objects, including some of Wright of Derby’s most exciting works. 17 works are coming from Derby Museums. Derby was Wright’s hometown in the West Midlands, a region at the heart of Britain’s industrial landscape in the 1700s.   

Wright started being called ‘of Derby’ early in his career. At first this might have been to set him apart from another artist with the same name, but he welcomed the title. He was happy to make it clear he wasn’t from London (though he did want to find fame in the capital). 

You even have the chance to see the artist as he saw himself, as Wright’s self- portrait hangs in the exhibition. 

The exhibition focuses on a period of Wright’s career, 1765–73, when he painted a series of incredible ‘candlelight’ pictures. These glowing scenes have captured viewers’ imaginations ever since. 

Wright’s expert contrast of bright light and deep shadow fills these pictures with drama. This effect is known as ‘chiaroscuro’, which means light and dark in Italian. Wright took inspiration from great painters from earlier centuries like Caravaggio. He worked out how to create these dramatic effects on his own canvas, experimenting with ways to make paintings that seem to glow. One example was layering silver leaf under his paint. 

See these mesmerising works up-close, including 'Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight' (1765, private collection) and 'A Philosopher giving that Lecture on the Orrery in Which a Lamp is Put in Place of the Sun' (exhibited 1766, Derby Museums). 

Wright painted scenes of scientific learning, an unusual subject for art at the time. He captured the way that science was becoming more widely understood though public demonstrations – part of a culture of discovery and idea-sharing. We see the excitement, and sometimes fear, on the faces of observers. 

In one of his greatest works, ‘A Philosopher giving that Lecture on the Orrery in Which a Lamp is Put in Place of the Sun', a travelling lecturer is explaining the movement of planets. To demonstrate, he uses an ‘orrery’, a clockwork model of the solar system. He has replaced the sun with an oil lamp, which lights up the faces of the adults and children watching.  

When it was first exhibited, the painting caused quite a stir. Rather than having a classical or religious subject like most large-scale paintings of the time, the star of the show was scientific discovery. 

Examples of the objects featured in the paintings are woven through the exhibition – including an orrery – so you can share in the experiences that Wright paints. The exhibition space reflects the atmosphere in his work. Mirrors will give you a glimpse of yourself as an observer, making you a participant in the world of Wright’s paintings.  

Wright thought very carefully about how to get noticed in the 18th-century art world. He chose unusual subject matter and combined it with dramatic effects so his paintings stood out on crowded exhibition walls.  

But he also recognised that there was an appetite for art beyond the wealthy patrons who could afford to buy – and had space to hang – a huge oil painting. So he worked with the best engravers to create prints of his work in mezzotint. This technique could reproduce the rich velvety shadows in his paintings. These prints were more affordable so could reach many more people, especially when displayed in print shop windows. 

A wall of mezzotint prints in this exhibition invites you to explore how these creative collaborations brought Wright’s work to a wider public. 

Wright of Derby is usually thought of as a figurehead of the Enlightenment, which was a period of scientific, philosophical and artistic development between the 1600s and 1700s. It’s often described as a time when superstition was banished by the ‘light’ of reason. 

Our exhibition challenges this conventional view. 

We explore what darkness meant to Wright, and show how he deliberately explored night-time to engage with themes including death, sadness, morality and the divine. 

We also focus on Wright’s fascination with observation, amazement and discovery. He loved capturing the moment when wonder is sparked in his subjects’ faces. In turn, he was able to exhibit his paintings to crowds of admiring onlookers, bringing them into the cycle of watching and being watched. 

Visit ‘Wright of Derby: From the Shadows’ and experience this moment of awe for yourself.