Exhibitions:

  • Title: Paintings by Joseph Wright, A.R.A., commonly called "Wright of Derby", together with some Original Drawings, and a Complete Collection of Prints after his Works
    Venue: Derby Corporation Art Gallery
    Dates: from 15/04/1883 to 15/04/1883
  • 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: 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: Wright of Derby
    Venue: Tate Gallery
    Dates: from 15/04/1990 to 15/04/1990
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby, 1734-1797: Bicentenary Exhibition
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from 21/06/1997 to 28/09/1997
  • Title: The Art of Industry: From Joseph Wright to the 21st Century
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from 24/03/2018 to 17/06/2018
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: Life on Paper
    Venue: Derby Museum and Art Gallery
    Dates: from 23/05/2025 to 07/09/2025
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby: An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings Arranged by the Arts Council
    Venue: Walker Art Gallery
    Dates: from 15/04/2026 to

Publications

  • Title: Wright of Derby
    Published Place: London
    Copyright: The Tate Gallery
    Published Year: 1990
  • Title: Joseph Wright of Derby 1734 - 1797
    Sub-Title: An introduction to the work of Joseph Wright of Derby with a catalogue of drawings held by Derby Museum and Art Gallery. Published on the occasion of an exhibition commemorating the Bicentenary of the artist's death.
    Published Place: Derby
    Published Year: 1997
  • 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: Joseph Wright's Early Subject Pictures
    Volume: 96
    Published Year: 1954

Related People

  • Joseph Wright of Derby (Artist)

    Display Date: British, 1734 - 1797

    Nationality: British

    Biography: Artist.

Study for 'An Iron Forge'

Date: 1772

Medium: Pen and ink and ink wash, over pencil, heightened with white on paper.

Object Type:Drawing
Dimensions:Support: 324 × 521 mm (12 3/4 × 20 1/2 in.)
Description:Wright's study of an 'Iron Forge', 1772 is so accurate that it could be used in a text on industrial archaeology. The type of forge Wright chooses to study here, and depict in the truly wonderful finished painting, (recently bought by the Tate Gallery, London) would in the 1770's be considered as 'old technology'. 'Tilt-hammer' forges such as this, dated from the sixteenth century, and harnessed water power to drive large hammers which repeatedly struck the hot iron on an anvil. By such working of the iron, it was changed from 'cast' to 'wrought' iron, which increased its strength and elasticity and also its price. Wright, with his love of dramatic light effects, was drawn to such industrial processes which involved the use of fire. The finished paintings however, also forge or fuse the elements of nature, man and machinery into a harmonious whole. [Wallis, J. 'Joseph Wright of Derby 1734 - 1797' (Derby, 1997), p.70.] Judy Egerton described the study as showing 'every sign of being drawn on the spot'. [Egerton, J. 'Wright of Derby' (London, 1990), p.97.] Benedict Nicolson felt the inscription to have been made by Wright himself [Nicolson, B. 'Joseph Wright of Derby: Painter of Light' (London and New Haven, 1968), p.237.], but Jane Wallis felt that it was added by a later hand. [Wallis, J. 'Joseph Wright of Derby 1734 - 1797' (Derby, 1997), p.70.] Note that the same view, from slightly further to the right, is used in Wright's painting 'An Iron Forge Viewed from Without', 1773 (now at the Herimtage Museum, St Petersburg). [LB: 2024]
Inscriptions:Inscribed on recto, along the bottom of the sheet (handwritten in ink): 'Original Study for the Iron Forge / J. Wright 1772'. Possibly by a later hand.
Provenance:...; with William Bemrose of Derby in 1883; by descent to his son, Charles Lloyd Bemrose, by whom donated to Derby Museums in 1914.
Viewing Status:Contact Us
Item Ref:1914-517/56
Browse Collection
Browse Collection