Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797) is celebrated as the first professional British painter to capture the spirit of the Industrial Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment

'Wright of Derby: From the Shadows' at the National Gallery was the first major exhibition dedicated to the 18th century British artist and his ‘candlelight’ paintings. The study day will be an opportunity to rediscover this important artist and his extraordinary paintings and his engagement with light and darkness, his artistic practice and historical background as well as contemporary scientific, industrial and artistic developments which were crucial to his work.  The study day will also focus on his visit to Italy and his novel and dramatic paintings of volcanic eruptions, inspired by Vesuvius, as well as his other dramatic landscapes, and portraits.

Lecture 1: Who was Joseph Wright?  His Early Life and Training from Derby to London and Italy. We shall study his family background in

Derby and his successful early work as a portrait painter.  What artists from the past influenced him such as 17th century artists such as the Dutch Caravaggisti.  Then Wright began to experiment and link himself with new developments in science in Derby and London and he began to paint remarkable new subjects, such as A philosopher giving a Lecture with an Orrery.   

Lecture 2: Wright’s Tour of Italy and the Establishment of His Career in Bath and Derby. This lecture will explore Joseph Wright's time in Italy and his fascination with candlelight scenes and his experience of the eruptions of Vesuvius and his extraordinary  innovatative work as a result. 

Lecture 3: Wright’s Later Career and Legacy. Wright, on his return from Italy, continues his career as a portrait painter but also continues to involve himself in exciting new directions concerned with industrial developments, particularly in relation to Sir Richard Arkwright and the production of cotton. Wright visited the Lake District and painted some important late work highlighting a growing interest of  artists in the subject of British landscape which would be of great importance in the following century.   

Clare Ford-Wille

Honours degree in History of Art, Birkbeck College, University of London. Regular commitments include Centre for Lifelong Learning, London University, National Gallery, V&A Museum, WEA, Morley College, the City Literary Institute, the Art Fund and National Trust. Study tours abroad

CERNE ABBAS VILLAGE HALL, KETTLEBRIDGE LANE, CERNE ABBAS  DT2 7GY.  PARKING OPPOSITE OR IN THE GIANT CAR PARK AT THE TOP OF THE HILL

Booking form click here

TICKETSOURCE  CLICK HEREhttps://theartssocietydorsetcounty.org.uk/AboutUs/TicketSource.aspx

Image:  Own image Joseph Wright's "Philosopher lecturing on the Orrery"

The Medici were in many ways an unattractive family. Ruthless in pursuit of profit for their Florentine bank, which had branches in every city of the known world, they were greedy for success, merciless to those who opposed their ambition and vicious in their own internal squabbles. And yet without them we wouldn’t have Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”, the Fra Angelico frescoes in San Marco, Donatello’s “David” or the majestic Michelangelo sculptures in the Medici chapel. The Platonic Academy wouldn’t have been founded and the doors for the Baptistry would never have been cast. This lecture looks into the turbulent history of this extraordinary family. The triumphs and tragedies, the intrigues and plots; the assassination attempts, the years of exile and their perpetual desire to glorify the family name in works of art, which was to result in some of the greatest achievements of the Italian Renaissance.

About the Lecturer:  Douglas Skeggs

Douglas read Fine Art at Magdalene College Cambridge and has been a lecturer on paintings since 1980. In that time he has given over 8000 lectures to universities, colleges and art societies. He was the director of The New Academy of Art Studies for three years and is presently a regular lecturer at The Study Center, Christie's course 'The History of Art Studies' and other London courses. Among his more improbable venues for lectures are the bar on the QE2, MI5 headquarters, the Captain's Room at Lloyds, and an aircraft hanger in a German NATO base. Overseas he has lectured in Belgium, France, Germany and Spain, and has taken numerous tours around Europe. He has written and presented various TV documentaries, notably the Omnibus programme on Whistler and the exhibition video on William Morris. Three one-man exhibitions of his paintings have been held in England and Switzerland. He has published five novels, which have been translated into 8 foreign languages, and his book on Monet, River of Light, has sold 30,000 copies in England, America and France.

3 Lectures, coffee & lunch  £39 pp

Booking not open yet