Issue 39 Sept 23 - Journal - Page 85
recent acquisition Self-Portrait at the Age of About Forty,
featuring an oil sketch for Wright’s candlelight masterpiece An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (1768),
which was unveiled in May 2022. It is a significant
achievement for a regional museum to hold such a
national and internationally important resource with this
growing world-renowned collection.
Tony Butler, Executive Director at Derby Museum and
Art Gallery says: “We are thrilled to now be the guardians
of these two candlelight paintings by Wright and are very
grateful to their owner for loaning them to us. To our
knowledge both have only been seen publicly just four
times at temporary exhibitions held in 1910, 1958, 1990
and 2016, meaning most visitors - and indeed most of the
UK - will have never seen these paintings before. Regional
Museums play a major role of shaping a sense of pride in
their towns, cities and communities. Many also hold
collections of national significance and Derby is no
exception. In this way, civic museums are integral to a
thriving cultural life in the UK. This is another very proud
moment for Derby Museums.
Lucy Bamford, Curator at Derby Museum and Art
Gallery explains: “These two works enable us to introduce
an element of Wright’s work that is otherwise not well
represented within Derby Museums' existing gallery
displays. At the same time, it’s revealing to see them
within the context of Wright’s other candlelight paintings,
such as his famous ‘Orrery’. Together, they give us our
clearest glimpse yet of some of Wright’s sources of
inspiration: in this case Netherlandish paintings of the
17th century.
“But it doesn’t stop here. Over the next year we plan to
launch a new online catalogue of Wright’s work to make
it even more widely available. In 2024 we will be drawing
from nearly 400 of his works on paper from our collections
to explore his life and work through his drawings. The
exhibition will be held in Derby and then available to tour
more widely.”
“With the exception of just one painting, at Kenwood House
in London, all other examples of Wright’s candlelight fancy
pictures are either in private ownership or are found in
museums in the USA. The addition of these two works
hugely enriches our offering to visitors, making world
renowned art accessible to everyone, which is something
Derby Museums continually strives to achieve.”
Hannah Armstrong, a director of Omnia Art said:
“Omnia Art is delighted to have secured the long-term
loan of these two wonderful paintings. Having negotiated
the museum’s acquisition of Joseph Wright’s Self Portrait
in 2022, we are so pleased to continue our relationship
with the curatorial team at Derby Museums and to further
enhance the visitor experience with these two loans.”
Both paintings are part of a private UK collection and
have been loaned to Derby Museums, via independent
art agents Omnia Art Ltd who also supported Derby
Museums with its recent acquisition of the Joseph Wright
self-portrait. The interpretation will focus on what both
paintings tell visitors about Wright’s sources of influence
at the time of painting and will seek to explore what made
these subjects so popular.
For visiting times and to discover more about Derby
Museums, visit: www.derbymuseums.org
Above, visitor viewing ‘A Girl Reading a Letter with an Old Man Reading over her Shoulder’ and ‘Two Boys Fighting Over a Bladder’ by Joseph
Wright of Derby at Derby Museum and Art Gallery. Image © Oliver Taylor – Derby Museums
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