Painting of a landscape framed by trees with a stone bridge at its centre and a storm-laden sky and rainbow above. In the foreground a figure drives a two-wheeled cart, in an apparently hurried fashion, towards the bridge. Inscribed to recto, lower left 'I W 1794'. Painted by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 - 1797). Oil on canvas in gilded frame.

Exhibitions:

  • Title: Wright of Derby: The Bi-centenary Exhibition of Paintings by Joseph Wright
    Venue: Derby Corporation Art Gallery
    Dates: from 03/09/1934 to 18/11/1934
  • Title: Pictures by Joseph Wright of Derby
    Venue: Graves Art Gallery
    Dates: from 17/07/1950 to 27/07/1950
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby
    Venue: Norwich Castle Museum
    Dates: from 03/01/1959 to 01/02/1959
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby, 1734 - 1797
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from to
  • Title: English Landscape Painting of the 18th and 19th Centuries
    Venue: National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo
    Dates: from 16/04/1970 to 16/04/1971
  • Title: Landscape in Britain
    Venue: Tate Gallery
    Dates: from 20/11/1973 to 03/02/1974
  • Title: Pittura Inglese 1660 - 1840
    Venue: Palazzo Reale, Milan
    Dates: from 29/01/1975 to 16/03/1975
  • Title: William Turner und die Landschaft seiner Zeit
    Venue: Hamburger Kunsthalle
    Dates: from 01/05/1976 to 01/07/1976
  • Title: Peinture Britannique de Gainsborough à Bacon
    Venue: Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux
    Dates: from 09/05/1977 to 01/09/1977
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: An Exhibition to Commemorate the Centenary of Derby Museums and Art Gallery
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from 21/04/1979 to 21/07/1979
  • Title: Acquisition in Focus - Wright of Derby: Mr & Mrs Coltman
    Venue: National Gallery
    Dates: from 05/02/1986 to 27/04/1986
  • Title: Wright of Derby
    Venue: Tate Gallery
    Dates: from 16/04/1990 to 16/04/1990
  • Title: Lo sguardo sulla natura: luce e paesaggio da Lorrain a Turner
    Venue: Museo Diocesano, Milan
    Dates: from 13/10/2008 to 11/01/2009
  • Title: European Masters of the Eighteenth Century: Winter Exhibition
    Venue: Royal Academy of Arts
    Dates: from 16/04/2026 to 16/04/2026
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings Arranged by the Arts Council
    Venue: Walker Art Gallery
    Dates: from 16/04/2026 to

Publications

  • Title: Wright of Derby
    Published Place: London
    Copyright: The Tate Gallery
    Published Year: 1990
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: Painter of Light
    Sub-Title: Volume 1
    Volume: 1
    Published Place: London
    Copyright: Benedict Nicolson, 1968
    Published Year: 1968
  • Title: Acquisition in Focus
    Sub-Title: Wright of Derby: Mr & Mrs Coltman
    Published Place: National Gallery, London
    Published Year: 1986

Related People

  • Joseph Wright of Derby (Artist)

    Display Date: British, 1734 - 1797

    Nationality: British

    Biography: Artist.

Landscape with a Rainbow

Date: 1794

Medium: Oil on canvas.

Object Type:Painting
Dimensions:Frame: 990 × 1240 × 90 mm (39 × 48 13/16 × 3 9/16 in.) Support: 812 × 1067 mm (31 15/16 × 42 in.)
Description:Wright's study for the scene is preserved in the collection of the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York (accession number 2009.413). This drawing is inscribed 'Wales', and may thus suggest the location for the view in the present painting. [LB: 2025] Although listed in Wright's postumous sale of 1801 as <I>"A View near Chesterfield"</I>, the location is unknown. Wright painted this scene , one of his finest landscapes, two years before he died. The picture captures the changing effects of light and weather, with sunlight playing on the bridge and the distant tree tops against a stormy grey sky. It is not certain where this scene actually was though the Amber Valley near Higham ( now under the Ogston Reservoir) has been suggested.
Inscriptions:'I W 1794' recto, lower left.
Provenance:Listed in Wright's Account Book as 'picture of a bridge wth. the effect of a rainbow''; remained unsold during Wright's lifetime; offered at his posthumous sale, Christie’s 6 May 1801 (lot 46, as 'A Landscape with a Rainbow, View near Chesterfield in Derbyshire') for £59.17.0, and bought in ? or purchased by 'Tate'?; ...; Anna Romana Cade (Wright's eldest daughter); ...; Alfred John Keene, Derby artist and picture dealer, from whom purchased by Derby Museums in 1913.
Viewing Status:Contact Us
Item Ref:1913-505
Browse Collection
Browse Collection