William Wright

“ On stopping at Derby a few days since, I was introduced by a friend to view the productions of that great genius Wright, whose astonishing power of expressing artificial lights on canvas, the world has long been acquainted with. His new picture on the Siege of Gibraltar, for composition, force, brilliancy, and prodigious effect of fire, exceeds, in my opinion, all his former labours. To attempt a description of it would be in vain; whoever sees the picture must have such an idea of the action as no poetry can describe. ”

“ It was said that they were worth 400,000l., his share of which would have made Wright a rich man, and this he never was. William Hutchinson (1715–1801) [q. v.] , in his treatise on seamanship, speaks of Wright as a master of the art, and describes his method of cruising in the fairway of the Levant, which, mutatis mutandis, was very exactly copied more than a hundred years later by Captain Semmes of the Alabama on the coast of Brazil. On 19 Dec. 1746 the Fame captured a French ship with the Prince of Campo Florida's baggage on board, and sent her into Leghorn. ”

“ If the Wrights proved to be fakers no one could do a better job than “By” Newton at exposing them.
Other editors, too, decided that the time had come to get the “lowdown” on the Wright brothers. By the time Newton reached the little boarding place, the Tranquil House, in Manteo, he had been joined by two other220 correspondents: William Hosier, of the New York American, and P. H. McGowan, of the London Daily Mail. The next day two others arrived: Arthur Ruhl, writer, and James H. Hare, photographer, for Collier’s Weekly. ”

“ It has been the custom to view Wright only as a painter of artificial light, and for picture dealers and some others to attribute all unknown pictures of fire in any form to “Wright of Derby.” We ourselves have seen many so attributed, which would not add fame to any painter’s name. The Exhibition of Wright’s Works in the Derby Corporation Art Gallery, in 1883, tended to dispel this unfounded illusion as to the limits of Wright’s art. ”

“ Many men of celebrity, not only local, he painted—Arkwright and Whitehurst, Darwin and Strutt; but the charm of his portraits does not depend on the fame of the sitter, but on the power of the artist to seize a distinct individuality, and to make each likeness for ever interesting as an authentic image of a fellow-man. Unsophisticated by fashion or affectation, Wright’s portraits are history in its simplest and truest form.
Of the pure charm of his children, some of the illustrations to this volume, especially Mr. Seymour Haden’s painter-like etching of the “Twins,” will speak. ”

“ Among other English painters mentioned in the deed of September 21st, 1532, were Andrew Wright, who succeeded him as serjeant-painter, Christopher Wright, Richard Rypyngale, Richard Laine, Thomas Alexander, John Hethe, Richard Gates, Thomas Crystyne, William Lucas, Richard Hauntlowe, and Robert Cope. ”

“ Wright has represented a view of the extensive scenery, combined with the action on the 13th Sept., 1782, in which his design is sublime, and his colouring natural and brilliant beyond description. We never remember to have seen shadows painted so little like substance as those in the foreground, which gain great strength and richness from the prodigious brightness of the grand explosion at a distance ”

“ With these notices of the death of Wright, and the subsequent sale of his pictures, my task is ended.
As the materials at my command have enabled me, I have striven to present a faithful record of his artistic and private life. As an artist, his genius was recognised in his own day; and it is satisfactory to know that his industrious pencil provided an ample income, and enabled him to realise a very sufficient competence for the years when age and infirmity grew upon him. But there were drawbacks to his attainment of greater fame and honours. ”

“ Wright, however, appears to have soon become dissatisfied with the subjects which Hudson gave him to copy, which, if we may judge from the studies of this period still existing—stiff, formal portraits in black and white chalk upon blue paper—was not to be wondered at; amongst them is a spirited resemblance of himself, and it is thought probable that the artist, tired of such copying, amused himself by studying from nature. ”

“ B. iii, v.) [cf. art. Kemp, William] .
Wright published: 1. ‘A Summons for Sleepers. Wherein most grieuous and notorious offenders are cited to bring forth true frutes of repentance, before the day of the Lord now at hand. Hereunto is annexed, A Patterne for Pastors, deciphering briefly the dueties pertaining to that function, by Leonard Wright.’ This was licensed for the press to John Wolfe on 4 March 1588–9, and was first published early in 1589. An edition ‘newly reprinted, corrected and amended’ bears the same date (black letter, 4to) . A copy is in the British Museum. ”

“ The father had built in the Friar Gate a house of some architectural pretensions, his chef-d’œuvre, people said. The sons had divided it. He occupied the smaller portion, entered by a side door, much as it had come from the builder’s hands. The only pretty thing in his sitting room was a charming picture by Wright, of Pickford and his brother playing with a spaniel, of the date 1775, I should think, and in the gay costume of that period. It passed into the hands of a branch of the Curzon family. When I called on Pickford it was a caution to see what a beautiful child might come to. ”

“ His father being averse to his devoting so much time to drawing, thinking it would never be of use to him, and might withdraw his attention from more necessary pursuits, young Wright used to draw, unknown to his friends, in an attic, where he spent much of his spare time. ”

“ One of the daughters, Elizabeth, died unmarried in 1766, and Mary, the other, became the wife of Captain John Wilson, R.N., of Tamworth, and died in 1805. The son was named Richard, after his father, and followed the same profession. The third Richard in this branch was, like Joseph Wright the painter, the great grandson of the Rector of Longford, and must not be confounded with another Dr. Richard Wright, his second cousin, and brother of the [3] artist. For the sake of distinction he may be called Dr. Richard Wright of London, where he settled and became distinguished. ”

“ The doors of the Academy being thus practically closed to Wright, he determined on another plan for bringing his works under public notice. In 1785 he opened an exhibition, composed of twenty-five of his own pictures, at Mr. Robins’s Rooms, Covent Garden, London. This is an early instance of those exhibitions devoted to the compositions of a single artist which have of late become so frequent. In the catalogue of it which we are enabled to reprint, it will be noticed that fifteen out of the twenty-five works exhibited were not for sale. ”

“ Moss Tate, of Liverpool, told a gentleman who called upon him early in this century to see some paintings by Wright in his possession, that “he was always pleased to see a Derbyshire man, for that county had produced three most eminent men in the sister arts—Chantrey, the sculptor, Wright, the painter, and John Harrison, the singer.”
It is seldom that a better opportunity is found of obtaining a clear insight into the working and every-day life of an artist, than that afforded by the material collected for the present volume. ”

“ Early Life.—Mechanical Pursuits.—Aspirations after Art.—Love of Music and Society.—Studies under Hudson.—Returns to Derby.—Again Studies under Hudson.
Young Wright early manifested a taste for mechanics. His brother, Richard, writing to a friend some years afterwards, thus alludes to his leisure employments. “At an early time in life he showed great propensity to knowledge in several mechanical branches; and being of an active mind, would frequently spend his vacant time from school in going to different shops to see the men work. ”

“ Sir Joshua painted children with more spirit and with a livelier eye for fleeting charms of expression; but no artist has painted them more freshly and truly than Wright. Another admirably suggestive [vii] etching by Mr. Haden shows us the elegance of mien and grace of sentiment which he could infuse into his more poetical designs. ”

“ His “paradoxical course” he describes correctly as a rhumb line which is straight on the chart and a curve on the globe. He points out the errors of the common or plane chart, and promises if spared to publish a “paradoxall chart.” It is not known whether such appeared or not, but he assisted Wright in producing his chart on what is known as Mercator’s projection a few years later. Great circle sailing on a globe is clearly described by Davis, and ta render it more practicable he divides a long distance into several short rhumb lines quite correctly. ”

“ The drawing and composition is satisfactory, and there is a great contrast in the expression and the varied attitudes of the several heads. The flesh of the faces is good in colour, and most carefully modelled; indeed the young woman on the right, in blue, and the lad drawing down a curtain to shut out the moonlight on the left, are worth special observation for this quality. The draperies are all carefully painted from nature (a merit apparent also in most of Wright’s portraits) , and are in this respect very different from the sloppy negligence of some of the followers of Reynolds. ”

“ Whilst in Italy he made many landscape sketches from nature, which supplied him on his return to England with the greater part of the material for the landscapes he produced from 1775 [13] to within a few years of his death, although these were interspersed with scenes from Scotland, Derbyshire, and the Lake District.
Wright was at an early period elected a member of the Society of Artists, to whose exhibitions in the Spring Gardens he contributed many years, as will be seen from the following lists extracted from the catalogues. ”

“ And moonlight sleeps upon its hoary brink.” From the “Memoirs of the life of Dr. Darwin.” By Anna Seward.
“In the course of the year 1770, Mr. Day stood for a full-length picture [41] to Mr. Wright, of Derby. A strong likeness, and a dignified portrait were the result. Drawn as in the open air, the surrounding sky is tempestuous, lurid, and dark. He stands leaning his left arm against a [80] column inscribed to Hampden. Mr. Day looks upward as enthusiastically meditating on the contents of a book, held in his dropped right hand. ”

“ The errors you have corrected in the Magazine are considerable, and make the production more valuable.
“RICHD WRIGHT.”
Prefixed to this notice of Wright, by Mr. Philips, was an engraved portrait of the artist by Blake.
JOSEPH WRIGHT. Etched by himself.
Amongst the effects of the late Mr. Geo. Cumberland, who was an intimate friend of Blake’s, was found an etching, evidently the one that served Blake as his copy, on which is written, “Wright, of Derby; etched by himself.” This is the only instance known of Wright having used the etching point. ”

“ There is a family tradition that Wright injured his health by over-work when in Rome, and that, for greater ease when working these drawings, he lay upon his back on the cold floor of the Sistine Chapel, and contracted an affection of the liver, which, as years went on, caused him much pain, and prevented him from following his profession for months at a time. On comparing these sketches with various of his pictures, the influence of Michael Angelo upon Wright, especially in design, is evident ”

“ Sikes from this honest though uncourteous intruder, was strongly reproved by Mr. Wright, as the most unprecedented and unflattering respect he could have received; adding, that if the finish of the painting was as perfect as the compliment of the dog, his highest ambition must be exceeded, and if anyone took the trouble to write his life, that anecdote would necessarily form a prominent place. ”

“ Wright’s present work will command the respect and praise of the man of letters and the philosopher, quite as much as it is sure to enlist the sympathies and extort the admiration of a less exacting class of readers. ”

“ In 1795 he writes, “I am glad to hear my good friend (Tate) has laid hold of his brushes again. Paper and camel hair pencils are better adapted to the amusement of ladies than the pursuit of an artist.”
The Messrs. Redgrave, in their “Century of Painters,” say, “We have heard of, but not seen, works in this medium by Wright, of Derby.” It is gratifying to know that there are in existence some interesting landscape sketches and portraits in Water-colours by Wright, that tend to show that Wright could use the new medium with great effect and brilliancy. ”

“ As the present state of his paintings, where they have not been “restored,” is generally very good, after the lapse of a century, with the exception here and there of a change of tone not intended by the artist, his “palette” may be worth the attention of art students.
In the same MS. book, on the first page, is the following record of the palette of another artist, and it is probable that Wright may have used it in his early works:—
“Mr. Phelps’s way of making a Pallet.
“First lay on Naples yellow, light oker, brown oker, Roman oker, Indian Red, lake, brown pink, Ivory black, & Prussian blue. ”

“ With all this knowledge the earth is still considered as stationary-although Wright alludes to Copernicus, and says that he omitted to allow for parallax. Wright ascertained the declinations of thirty-two stars, and made many improvements or additions to the art of navigation, considering that all the problems could be performed trigonometric ally, without globe or chart. He devised sea rings for taking observations, and a sea quadrant to be used by two persons, which is in some respects similar to that by Davis. ”