+ Expand
Dimensions: measurements note 38.9 by 48.3 cm., 15ΒΌ by 19 in.
+ Expand
Literature: Benedict Nicolson, Joseph Wright of Derby, Painter of Light, 1968, Vol. I, p. 83, 261, Cat. no. 293, Vol. II, pl. 173
+ Expand
Notes: PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE PHILADELPHIA COLLECTION
This atmospheric view of a grotto was painted in 1777 after Wright's return from Italy, and it combines many of the elements of his finest Italian landscapes. Wright travelled to Italy in 1773. He had painted only a handful of landscapes prior to this trip, but his instinctive interest in the effects of light and dark combined to create powerful depictions of the eruption of Vesuvius and the Girandola festival in Rome. During a trip to Naples in 1774 Wright made an excursion to the Gulf of Salerno where he came across two grottoes. He made two drawings in black chalk (Nicolson, op. cit., Vol. II, Plates 171-172) which formed the basis for his famous paintings of the same grotto with banditti (Nicolson, Plate 211) and the grotto with the figure of Julia (Nicolson, Plates 215-216). The waterfall in the background could well derive from Wright's paintings of Tivoli and the cascades at Terni (Nicolson, Vol. I, p. 253), and it is possible that the present painting is a conflation of elements from a number of Wright's paintings.
We're Hiring!
