Photographed by Richard Tailby, 2016

Photographed by Richard Tailby, 2016

Photographed by Richard Tailby, 2016

Publications

Title: The Treasure Houses of Britain
Sub-Title: Five Hundred Years of Private Patronage and Art Collecting
Published Place: New Haven
Published Year: 1985
Title: Joseph Wright of Derby
Sub-Title: Painter of Light
Volume: 1
Published Place: London
Published Year: 1968

Related People

Wright, Joseph (Artist)
Display Date: British, 1734 - 1797
Nationality: British
Biography: British artist.

Rocks with Waterfall

Date: c. 1772

Medium: oil on canvas

Object Type:	painting
Dimensions:	Support: 807 x 1092 mm (31 3/4 x 43 in.)
Description:	This incredible picture is thought by many to be Wright's first landscape painting. In making it, Wright took his interest in creating textures and effects of light to a radical new level. The tell-tale marks of a palette knife reveal that he was moulding thick paint on the canvas; building up layers of texture to replicate the surface of rock. Elsewhere he used a pointed tool, such as the end of a paintbrush, to create the effect of cascading water. Interestingly, it appears that Wright's approach to painting never again reached this same degree of technical intensity. Closer inspection reveals a group of banditti, whose presence provides an unsettling sense of scale to the scene. Beside their tiny figures, rocks appear enormous and the force of nature amplified. On loan from a private collection [June 2016]
Viewing Status:	On Display
Item Ref:	L2020-1
Item Ref:	L2020-1