Artist
Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734–1797)English, 1734–1797
CultureEnglish
Titles
- Italian Landscape with Mountains and a River
Datec. 1790
PlaceEngland
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsImage: 20 1/2 × 30 1/2 in. (52.1 × 77.5 cm)
Credit LineSarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Houston
Object numberBF.1985.1
Current Location
The Audrey Jones Beck Building
218 Blaffer Galleries
On view
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Department
Sarah Campbell Blaffer FoundationObject Type
Perhaps to enhance his reputation, Joseph Wright journeyed to Rome, where from 1773 to 1775 he studied antique sculpture and Renaissance painting. After his return to England he continued to paint candlelit subjects, for which he was most famous, as well as portraits, history paintings, and landscapes, including scenes from Italy.
Wright of Derby’s mature landscapes demonstrate his romantic vision of nature and his interest in the effects of light. In this Italian scene, the golden evening sun illuminates the trees and mountainside, while a deep shadow envelops the foreground at right.
Provenance[Sotheby’s, London, July 19, 1978, lot 87, purchased by Spink & Son, London]; private collection, Great Britain, 1980; [Leger Galleries, London]; purchased by the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, 1985.
Exhibition History“Masterpieces of European Painting from the 15th to 20th Centuries from
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation," The Museum of Art, Ehime, Matsuyama, Japan, April 13–May 30, 1999; Chiba Prefectural Art Museum, Japan, June 5–July 11, 1999; Mie Prefectural Art Museum, Tsu, Japan, July 17–August 22, 1999; Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan, August 27–October 3, 1999.
"British Paintings 1550–1800 from the Collection of the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation," Ellen Noël Art Museum, Odessa, Texas, November 13, 2010–January 10, 2011.
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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Alessandro Magnasco
c. 1716-17
Oil on canvas
BF.1999.41
c. 1750
Oil on canvas
BF.1985.13