Light, Science and the Sublime: The Art and World of Joseph Wright 'of Derby'

Excellent three week online course from the National Gallery on the art of Wright of Derby to compliment their exhibition on him.

Matthew Morgan started in the first week by outlining the artists life and work and giving an overview of how the art market was changing at this time and how artists were reflecting the new ideas of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. He also brought in Lucy Bamford from Derby Museums Trust to discuss why Wright was known as Wright of Derby and to examine his relationship with the city.

Morgan spent the next two weeks examining two aspects of Wrights work, how he reflects the rational and how he engaged the emotions. He started with the rational  discussing ideas at the time about the benefits of looking and observation and Rousseau’s ideas around learning by doing and by demonstration. He discussed the circles Wright moved in, including the Lunar Society, and whether we can consider him an Enlightenment artist.

Having examined the role of science and ideas in Wrights work the next week we turned to the emotional. Morgan looked at ideas of The Sublime at the time and how Wright’s work uses these ideas of a sense of awe particularly in landscape. He also talked about how he addresses the mystical and magical in his work and discussed ideas of how he was influenced by Free Masonry and how he reflects the dichotomy of the time of the rise of science challenging religion.