Joseph Wright of Derby

Joseph Wright
Self-portrait c. 1780, oil on canvas, in the Yale Center for British Art
Born	(1734-09-03)3 September 1734 Derby, England
Died	29 August 1797(1797-08-29) (aged 62) Derby, England
Resting place	St Alkmund's Church, Derby
Nationality	English
Other names	Wright of Derby
Occupation	Painter
Works	An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump
Spouse	Ann Swift ​ ​ (m. 1773; died 1790)​
Children	6

Joseph Wright ARA (3 September 1734 – 29 August 1797), styled Joseph Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution".^[1]

Wright is notable for his use of tenebrism, an exaggerated form of the better known chiaroscuro effect, which emphasizes the contrast of light and dark, and for his paintings of candle-lit subjects. His paintings of the birth of science out of alchemy, often based on the meetings of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, a group of scientists and industrialists living in the English Midlands, are a significant record of the struggle of science against religious values in the period known as the Age of Enlightenment.

Many of Wright's paintings and drawings are owned by Derby City Council, and are on display at the Derby Museum and Art Gallery.^[2]