A Philosopher Giving that Lecture on the Orrery, in which a Lamp is put in the Place of the Sun
Joseph Wright 'of Derby' : An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump1768
The Alchymist, in Search of the Philosopher’s Stone, discovers Phosphorus, and prays for the successful conclusion of his operation, as was the custom of the ancient chymical astrologers Joseph Wright, oil on canvas, exhibited 1771, reworked and dated 1795.
A Blacksmith’s Shop Joseph Wright, oil on canvas, dated 1771, exhibited 1772.
The Widow of an Indian Chief watching the Arms of her Deceased Husband Joseph Wright, oil on canvas, exhibited 1785.
Joseph Wright (3 September 1734 – 29 August 1797), styled Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution".[1]
Wright is notable for his use of Chiaroscuro effect, which emphasises the contrast of light and dark, and for his paintings of candle-lit subjects. His paintings of the birth of science out of alchemy, often based on the meetings of the Lunar Society, a group of very influential scientists and industrialists living in the English Midlands, are a significant record of the struggle of science against religious values in the period known as the Age of Enlightenment.