Summary Of The Painting 'Richard Wright Of Derby'
Joseph Wright of derby- an experiment on a bird in the air pump
National gallery 1768 oil on canvas painting. 183 by 240 cm travelling scientist is shown demonstrating the formation of a vacuum by withdrawing air from a flask containing a white cockatoo, though common birds like sparrows would normally have been used. Air pumps were developed in the 17th century and were relatively familiar by Wright's day.
The artist's subject is not scientific invention, but a human drama in a night-time setting. This is a key point as the scientist is willing to put an animal’s life at risk to entertain an audience which i find interesting
The bird will die if the demonstrator continues to deprive it of oxygen, and Wright leaves us in doubt as to whether or not the cockatoo will be reprieved. The painting reveals a wide range of individual reactions, from the frightened children, through the reflective philosopher, the excited interest of the youth on the left, to the indifferent young lovers concerned only with each other. …show more content…
The figures are dramatically lit by a single candle, while in the window the moon appears.
On the table in front of the candle is a glass containing a skull.
The skull plays a great part as artists back in the 18th century often incorporated skulls as a reminder of mortality, or at the very least, death
Another example of this skull used in notorious paintings is Holbein’s Ambassador, he claims to have intended the skulls and the crucifixion in the corner to encourage contemplation of one's impending (soon to happen ) death and the resurrection.
1) There are several ideas
i) To being to modernise this scene through the terror and war, and portray different perspectives from each
character ii) Due to the reaction of the 2 girls focus on the theme of terror, and investigate what each generation find scary , could be movies, documentaries, cartoons etc and also what makes something scary , this could be makeup, the sound, the time, night or day iii) To incoporate a certain symbol that is significant to me into my pieces of work in similar fashion to holbein , and wrights pieces, iv) And finally im intrested in the lighting effect, after researching about the history of this painting, i have discovered it is the chiaroscuro effect in art which basically means in Italian 'light-dark'. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modeling of the subjects depicted
Overall though im entrigued to start this piece of as my project because of the way it has been intepreted by many people
For example, David Solkin an experienced proffessor suggests the subjects of the painting show the dispassionate detachment of the evolving scientific society or Jenny Uglow believes that the boy echoes the figure in the last print of William Hogarth's The Four Stages of Cruelty: 4 piece painting, Each print depicts a different stage in the life of the fictional Tom Nero
National gallery 1768 oil on canvas painting. 183 by 240 cm travelling scientist is shown demonstrating the formation of a vacuum by withdrawing air from a flask containing a white cockatoo, though common birds like sparrows would normally have been used. Air pumps were developed in the 17th century and were relatively familiar by Wright's day.
The artist's subject is not scientific invention, but a human drama in a night-time setting. This is a key point as the scientist is willing to put an animal’s life at risk to entertain an audience which i find interesting
The bird will die if the demonstrator continues to deprive it of oxygen, and Wright leaves us in doubt as to whether or not the cockatoo will be reprieved. The painting reveals a wide range of individual reactions, from the frightened children, through the reflective philosopher, the excited interest of the youth on the left, to the indifferent young lovers concerned only with each other. …show more content…
The figures are dramatically lit by a single candle, while in the window the moon appears.
On the table in front of the candle is a glass containing a skull.
The skull plays a great part as artists back in the 18th century often incorporated skulls as a reminder of mortality, or at the very least, death
Another example of this skull used in notorious paintings is Holbein’s Ambassador, he claims to have intended the skulls and the crucifixion in the corner to encourage contemplation of one's impending (soon to happen ) death and the resurrection.
1) There are several ideas
i) To being to modernise this scene through the terror and war, and portray different perspectives from each
character ii) Due to the reaction of the 2 girls focus on the theme of terror, and investigate what each generation find scary , could be movies, documentaries, cartoons etc and also what makes something scary , this could be makeup, the sound, the time, night or day iii) To incoporate a certain symbol that is significant to me into my pieces of work in similar fashion to holbein , and wrights pieces, iv) And finally im intrested in the lighting effect, after researching about the history of this painting, i have discovered it is the chiaroscuro effect in art which basically means in Italian 'light-dark'. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modeling of the subjects depicted
Overall though im entrigued to start this piece of as my project because of the way it has been intepreted by many people
For example, David Solkin an experienced proffessor suggests the subjects of the painting show the dispassionate detachment of the evolving scientific society or Jenny Uglow believes that the boy echoes the figure in the last print of William Hogarth's The Four Stages of Cruelty: 4 piece painting, Each print depicts a different stage in the life of the fictional Tom Nero