Joseph Wright of Derby: Bath and Beyond - Softcover

Amina Wright

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1781300216 ISBN 13: 9781781300213

Publisher: Philip Wilson Publishers, 2014

Synopsis

Joseph Wright (1734-1797) arrived in Bath from his native Derby in November 1775. Recently returned from a tour of Italy, he came to the fashionable spa town to re-establish his business as a portrait painter, hoping to fill the vacancy left by Thomas Gainsborough the previous year. This book, the first to examine Wright's little-known Bath period, places the artist in the context of a city then at the height of its unique cultural significance. Using rarely-seen illustrations of his work, it considers his attempts to conquer a saturated portrait market with images of local celebrities, and his use of domestic spaces for public exhibition. His celebrated views of fireworks in Rome and the terrors of Vesuvius were first shown in Bath. Beautifully illustrated and highly readable, Joseph Wright of Derby: Bath and Beyond sheds new light on a key moment in this important English artist's career, deepening our understanding of his life and work as a whole.

About this title

Review:

'Lively and informative... challenges received wisdom about the artist.'< br/> --Stephen Lloyd, Apollo Magazine

'The catalogue succeeds in throwing new light on a period in Wright's life which has hitherto been neglected and disregarded. It is extremely well researched and provides new insights into Wright's time in the town.' --Understanding British Portraits Network

About the Author:

Amina Wright is Senior Curator at the Holburne Museum in Bath and has been Curator of Fine Art there since 2001. She was closely involved in the Holburne's major redevelopment project, completed in 2011, as well as a number of exhibitions relating to British eighteenth-century painting, drawings and Georgian Bath. Previous publications include the exhibition catalogues Pictures of Innocence: Children in Portraits from Hogarth to Lawrence (2005) and Pickpocketing the Rich: Portrait Painting in Bath 1720-1800 (2002).

About this edition

• Publisher: Philip Wilson Publishers
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1781300216
• ISBN 13: 9781781300213
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112