Andrew Graciano’s thorough study is a re-evaluation of Joseph Wright’s career and social status that demonstrates how his later landscapes, portraits and historical pictures are connected to a broader historical context, including contemporary science, industry and economics. In doing so, Graciano reinforces the idea that Wright was an intellectual painter, very much engaged with current ideas in these realms, as well as a gentleman of means beyond his artistic income, which gave him a social standing that has often been ignored by previous scholars.

This book situates the work of the artist Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797) within the context of his life and times. It brings to light fresh information, including evidence of the flute music that Wright played and the ‘graveyard’ genre of poetry that he read. The book argues that Wright is the author of ‘The Final Farewell: a poem written on retiring from London’ (1787). It will be of interest to all admirers of this famously retiring artist. By the same author: The Adventures and Speculations of the Ingenious Peter Perez Burdett.

Part of a series of monographs on the lives and careers of influential British artists, from the 18th century onwards. In this volume, Daniels addresses the diversity of the painterly talents of Joseph Wright (of Derby), and the inextricable links between his art and the Enlightenment.