Wright of Derby: From the Shadows at the National Gallery, London

I've always tried to spend time individually with my brood and have some lovely memories from their childhood. Thankfully they still seem to like spending time with me, even the super cool teen in her second year studying History of Art at uni. 

Recently I was invited to a press view of a new exhibition at the National Gallery in London and knew this would be a real treat for my daughter and an excuse for a mum/daughter day out.

The National Gallery, overlooking Trafalgar Square in London, is one of the greatest art galleries in the world and we are lucky to be able to explore the collections  with free admission.

Founded by Parliament in 1824, the Gallery houses the nation’s collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the late 13th to the early 20th century. The collection includes works by Artemisia Gentileschi, Bellini, Cezanne, Degas, Leonardo, Monet, Raphael, Rembrandt, Renoir, Rubens, Titian, Turner, Van Dyck, Van Gogh and Velázquez.

As well as the usual collections the gallery hosts special events and this new exhibition is one such event.

Wright of Derby: From the Shadows which runs until May 2026 at the National Gallery is the first exhibition dedicated to Joseph Wright ‘of Derby’ (1734–1797) at the National Gallery, and the first exhibition to focus on his ‘candlelight’ series. The exhibition is organised in partnership with Derby Museums. (You'll be able to see this exhibition there in 2026.)

Wright of Derby: Self Portrait in a Black Feathered Hat

The exhibition shines a spotlight on a well-known British artist in the National Gallery Collection whose work has come to symbolise an era. Traditionally, Wright of Derby has been viewed as a figurehead of the Enlightenment, a period of scientific, philosophical and artistic development in the 17th and 18th century. 

Challenging this conventional view, the exhibition contributes to the ongoing re-evaluation of the artist,
portraying him not merely as a ‘painter of light’ but as one who deliberately explores the night-
time to engage with deeper and more sombre themes, including death, melancholy, morality,
scepticism and the sublime.

This exhibition focuses on Joseph Wright’s career between 1765 and 1773, during which time
he made a series of candlelit scenes. Visitors can see a number of masterpieces from this period
including Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight (1765, private collection), A
Philosopher giving that Lecture on the Orrery in Which a Lamp is Put in Place of the Sun (1766,
Derby Museums) and the National Gallery’s An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (1768).

                      An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (1768)

This marks the first time in 35 years that all these works will be brought together. Also on
display at the National Gallery will be An Academy by Lamplight , 1769, from the Yale Center
for British Art, USA. This work has not been on display in the UK in the last decade.

In these ‘candlelight’ paintings, Wright of Derby shows thrilling moments, not just of discovery
but of shared learning. His dramatic depictions of natural and artificial light link his work back
to the artistic traditions of the Renaissance and artists such as Caravaggio, whose strong light
and deep shadows were rarely employed in British art before the mid-18th century.

Yet Wright also engaged with very contemporary questions around the act of observation,
spectacle and education raised by philosophers of the Enlightenment. In his masterpiece An
Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump a travelling lecturer shows a well-established experiment
to a family audience whose reactions range from wonder to horror. 

In The Orrery, the first of his paintings on a ‘scientific’ subject, a philosopher presents a lecture on astronomy using a clockwork model of the solar system as the centrepiece, the sun replaced by an oil lamp. 

In Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight, one artist holds up a drawing of the central

sculpture for critical assessment. These works explore moral ambiguity in acts of looking, as well
as the intellectual influence of ‘high’ art.

Wright of Derby was working at a turning point for art viewing in the 18th century, when the
public display of art and the instigation of annual contemporary art exhibitions were being
promoted. The Air Pump was completed the same year as the creation of the Royal Academy
and was intended to be accessible to a broad public (though it was displayed at the Society of
Artists). 

Mezzotint prints of Wright’s works, which played a key role in establishing his
international reputation, are also be on display. These luxury prints highlight how the artist took
full advantage of popular reproduction techniques of his time to expand his reputation both at
home and abroad.Wright could reach wider audiences with these mezzotints -still luxury items but more affordable and more widely circulated than his original works. 

As well as these prints, visitors will have the opportunity to encounter the artistic,
and scientific instruments of the Enlightenment, including an orrery and an air pump from the
late 1700s, on loan from the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, Cambridge. Amazing items which the curator said would have been quite commonplace in certain circles at the time.

I know far less about art than my daughter and it was very interesting to hear the curator talk about the exhibition, the artist and the errand to listen to my daughter's observations. Crucially though you don't need to be any kind of art or art history expert to appreciate this marvellous exhibition which has lots of explanatory notes to help people understand how, when and why the artist might have created the pieces.

Admission to Wright of Derby: From the Shadows costs £12 and is free for members. We made the most of our time and explored the rest of the gallery and the rather wonderful gift shops. The gallery has restaurants, bars and cafes and toilets.

Exhibition supported by:
The Thompson Family Charitable Trust
The Sunley Room exhibition programme is supported by the Bernard Sunley Foundation.