A white cockatoo is dying as air is sucked out of a glass trap. The two young girls looked on in shock. Maybe the croaking bird is their pet? This unfortunate bird is the focus of Joseph Wright’s 1768 painting Experiment with the bird in the air pump. The work is a much-loved piece of British art and is a highlight of the new Wright in Derby: From the Shadows exhibition at the National Gallery in London. It was not that Wright had no other choice but to use the death of a beautiful bird as an image. For example, a sealed paper bag expands when oxygen is expelled from a glass sphere. But that would be boring, and Wright is a playwright. Plus, none of this would happen without the shaggy-haired pump operator looking out from the canvas. He’s in charge. If he stops the pump and lets air back into the glass, the bird will survive. Talk about nerves.
Joseph Wright was born in the northern English town of Derby in 1734 and worked during the Age of Enlightenment. A relatively new invention, the air pump was a device that demonstrated that the atmosphere could be manipulated, a radical idea in the eighteenth century. Until then, religion and ancient philosophy had explained the nature of things. Air is Aristotle’s element, an unchanging substance between earth and fire. Thus, in the play, Wright also documented the scientific developments that represented the new thinking of the era. His painting from 1771 The alchemist discovered phosphorus while searching for the Philosopher’s Stone and, following the custom of ancient chemical astrologers, prayed that his operation would end well German alchemist Hennig Brand accidentally discovered phosphorus while trying to turn base metals into gold. Like his air pump paintings, Wright was depicting a pivotal moment in science. Although Benjamin Franklin had been experimenting with lightning conduction since the 1750s, electricity had not yet become a source of light and power. So Hennig’s serendipitous discovery that humans could create artificial light sources was another epochal lightbulb moment.
The theme of light runs throughout the exhibition. There are more than 20 works on display, focusing mainly on Wright’s candlelight works, a period when the artist used a single light source to create atmosphere and anticipation. With light comes darkness. Wright’s dense, flat shadows frame the action, bringing depth and drama to the foreground. It is natural to compare his work to the artistic work of Caravaggio, another great dramatist and master of light and shadow. Both artists employed dark-light illustrations of chiaroscuro, although Wright favored darkism, a more contrasting variant. Where Caravaggio’s tension stems from emotional turmoil and social authenticity, Wright’s work is more pastoral and less dangerous, unless you’re a bird, despite his dramatic tendencies. Caravaggio, of course, painted his last works about a hundred years ago. Still, Wright’s work is stunning. Terminator on the River Derwent The Pastoral of 1773 is a prime example. A man is filling in earth, also known as a foxhole, to stop foxes hiding in the holes during a second day of hunting along the Derwent River. The night sky looms as excavators hard at work. exist philosopher under the lampPainted around 1769, the philosopher stands outdoors, illuminated by the flame of a lamp, examining the human skeleton to learn about anatomy.
Wright’s work is full of real-life scenes, but also rich in symbolic meaning. Completed in 1766, A philosopher gives a lecture on an orrery where a lamp is placed A scientist shows the orbit of the solar system. At the same time, it represents a broader epiphany of the Age of Enlightenment. As science triumphs over religion and superstition, the sun pulses at the center of the orrery, casting a new light. The exhibition curators placed an actual orrery in a glass case next to the painting, a meticulous replica of the original machine. Wright’s local connections with figures such as Josiah Wedgwood of Wedgwood Pottery, Richard Arkwright, a pioneer in industrial mechanization, and astronomer James Ferguson, who often lectured in Derby, meant that he ranked among the leading figures in science and industry. In documenting real experiments, Wright’s paintings functioned as reportage, chronicling the accumulating technological breakthroughs that paved the way for the Industrial Revolution.
There are also many more diocesan paintings on display. Both are from 1770, Two boys fighting for bladder and A girl reads a letter and an old man reads the letter over her shoulder Seems tacky and Rockwellian. These were strange and sentimental depictions of everyday life that were popular at the time. Even so, the composition of struggling youth is intriguing. From a distance, one of the figures looks like an act of vandalism, with a swirling smear of black paint on the canvas. Upon closer inspection, we see that the boy has his back to us, rendered almost entirely as a shadowed silhouette. His opponent stepped back and covered his ears in pain. This is smart stuff.
Wright produced five versions of his work blacksmith shop series. Examples from 1771 are viewed here, e.g. The one who stopswas staged in the dead of night. This time, the main light source is the block of metal the farrier is hammering into shape. As moonlight shines through the workshop roof, the glowing metal highlights the red cheeks and beaded eyebrows of the blacksmiths.
Wright’s sense of drama is immersive. The figures in his large paintings are almost life-size. Imagine the reaction when they were first unveiled. This is high-definition life, where the audience is a participant, absorbing the scene around them. More than 250 years later, Wright of Derby’s paintings remain fascinating testaments to a master of lighting.
“Wright of Derby: From the Shadows“On display at the National Gallery, London, until 10 May 2026. Advance booking recommended.
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