Wright of Derby (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1922 Excerpt: ...within reach, and it was not likely that Wright would escape. To be sure, we must take into account his training as a battle-painter under Francois Casanova, and no less the fact that he was in charge of the scenery and lighting of Drury Lane Theatre; but that he owes some of his rather superficial skill in the combination of moonlight and fire, in his later pictures of naval engagements, to Wright, with whose work he had long been familiar at the Exhibitions of the Royal Academy, seems certain, for nature itself was the last source of inspiration ever sought by this painter of "brass skies and golden hills, with marble bullocks in glass pastures grazing," to quote Peter Pindar's criticism of his work. An interesting problem is raised by a picture in the Victoria Art Gallery at Bath, which is there ascribed to Hubert Robert, known, from his usual choice of subject, as Robert des Ruines. It is a Vesuvius in Eruption, and might well be the work of Wright, for it bears a very strong resemblance to pictures of the same subject by him, even to the placing of the ships in the foreground. Now, Robert (1733-1808) spent many years in Italy before returning to his native Paris, there to become a member of the Academy and an artist of high repute. He almost certainly witnessed the same eruption of Vesuvius which made such a powerful impression on Wright, and may even have met Wright at Naples. Moreover, it is interesting to note that his work, subsequent to the date of that eruption, betrays a strong predilection for light-effects, as witness his Removal of Prisoners by Torchlight from St. Pilagie to St. Lazare, and his series of etchings, Soiries de Rome. The former picture was painted in a prison of the Revolution, while he was awaiting the guillotine from...