Drawing of a mountainous landscape featuring a large boulder, identified as the Bowder Stone in Borrowdale in the Lake District. Inscribed on recto, top left (handwritten in pencil): 'R.W'. Made by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797), c.1794. Ink wash over pencil on white laid paper.

Exhibitions:

  • 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: The English Lake District
    Dates: from 19/09/1984 to 13/01/1985
  • 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: 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 16/04/2026 to

Publications

  • 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

Related People

  • Joseph Wright of Derby (Artist)

    Display Date: British, 1734 - 1797

    Nationality: British

    Biography: Artist.

The Bowder Stone

Date: c. 1794

Medium: Ink wash over pencil on white laid paper.

Object Type:Drawing
Dimensions:Support: 267 × 365 mm (10 1/2 × 14 3/8 in.)
Description:''Landscape with Boulders' is now known to depict the Bowder Stone in Borrowdale in the Lake District. This dates the drawing to 1794 and Wright's trip to the Lakes not the late 1780s as Nicolson suggests. The pencil inscription 'RW' (top left) would perhaps indicate a previous attribution to the landscape artist Richard Wilson.' [see J. Wallis, 'Joseph Wright of Derby' (1997), p.109] Fine Art Index card states that the technique looks authentic; identified as the Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, lake District (now surrounded by trees but comparable to postcard views of early C20th), therefore this study is datable to Lake District trip. Nicolson felt that the rock resembles some found in the area of Needwood Forest, and so reproduces it along with Wright's studies of trees from the late 1780s and dates it accordingly [see B. Nicolson, 'Joseph Wright of Derby' (1968), p.134 (note 1)]. Another study of the same stone, attributed to Wright, appeared for sale with Sotheby's on 19 November 1992. According to the catalogue entry, this was inscribed at lower centre 'Bowder Stone Borrowdale'. Medium was described as watercolour. Size: 390 x 550 mm. It was tentatively dated to 1786, on account of Wright's letter to Daniel Daulby of the same year expressing his intention to visit the Lakes. Current whereabouts unknown. [LB: 2024]
Inscriptions:Inscribed on recto, top left (handwritten in pencil): 'R.W'.
Provenance:...; Herbert Cheney Bemrose; thence to his wife, Florence May Bemrose (nee Prince); thence to her second husband, Major Lousada, by whom bequeathed to Derby Museums in 1954.
Viewing Status:Contact Us
Item Ref:1954-224/5
Browse Collection
Browse Collection