"Whose paintings are monumental in scale and scope, have all the drama and chiaroscuro of a Caravaggio, the red-infused coloring of Georges de la Tour, a touch of ghoulish Fuseli, strong Dutch Golden Age influence, and yet you've never heard of them? Born in 1734, this painter adopted the suffix "of Derby" early in his career, distinguishing himself from London painters."
"The city of Derby was heavily involved with pioneering industrialists of the UK's Midlands area, associated with the successful pottery pioneer Josiah Wedgwood and the Lunar Society of Birmingham, for example. The region was a melting pot of scientific and philosophical minds. His paintings explore and document the interests and experiments of this movement - the period later called the intellectual Enlightenment - as extensions of the scientific discipline."
Joseph Wright of Derby specialized in nocturnal, science-themed paintings that use extreme tenebrism to heighten drama and revelation. Derby's industrial and intellectual milieu, including figures like Josiah Wedgwood and members of the Lunar Society, provided subject matter and patrons. Wright's canvases document experiments and philosophical inquiry from the Enlightenment as sites of moral and intellectual focus. His stylistic influences draw from Caravaggio, Georges de la Tour, Fuseli, and the Dutch Golden Age, producing distinctly theatrical compositions. An exhibition highlights his tenebrism to foreground artistic achievement alongside the scientific subjects he rendered.
Read at Hyperallergic
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