© National Gallery
Wright of Derby: From the Shadows
7 November 2025 to 10 May 2026
EndedTwenty candlelit paintings show Wright of Derby not just as a painter of scientific spectacle but as a moral and melancholic force — with Caravaggio-esque drama exploring death, scepticism and the sublime, including mezzotints and works on paper.
From National Gallery
In an interplay of light and darkness, Joseph Wright of Derby conjures sublime pictures of discovery and learning. 'Wright of Derby: From the Shadows' is the first major exhibition dedicated to the British artist’s ‘candlelight’ paintings. We celebrate and look again at his most admired works. Illuminated faces gather around a variety of objects – from classical sculptures and scientific instruments to bones, bladders and animals. Through his unflinching scenes of people watching,...
Read more at National Gallery →Critic Review
The Independent
Mark Hudson
Wright of Derby: From the Shadows, National Gallery review – an exhibition that illuminates the shadows of the enlightenment age
"Beneath these scenes of educational family entertainment at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution there's a palpable sense of unease, or certainly a questioning, of the idea of the scientist playing God, and manipulating the rest of us in the process. These images couldn't be more painfully relevant to the age of AI, when technology appears in the process of rendering "humanity", in all senses, redundant."
Read full review →Visit
Trafalgar Square, London·View on artmap
Sunday10am–6pm
Monday10am–6pm
Tuesday10am–6pm
Wednesday10am–6pm
Thursday10am–6pm
Friday10am–9pm
Saturday10am–6pm
Related Exhibitions
© National Gallery
Wright of Derby: From the Shadows
7 November 2025 to 10 May 2026
EndedTwenty candlelit paintings show Wright of Derby not just as a painter of scientific spectacle but as a moral and melancholic force — with Caravaggio-esque drama exploring death, scepticism and the sublime, including mezzotints and works on paper.
From National Gallery
In an interplay of light and darkness, Joseph Wright of Derby conjures sublime pictures of discovery and learning. 'Wright of Derby: From the Shadows' is the first major exhibition dedicated to the British artist’s ‘candlelight’ paintings. We celebrate and look again at his most admired works. Illuminated faces gather around a variety of objects – from classical sculptures and scientific instruments to bones, bladders and animals. Through his unflinching scenes of people watching,...
Read more at National Gallery →Critic Review
The Independent
Mark Hudson
Wright of Derby: From the Shadows, National Gallery review – an exhibition that illuminates the shadows of the enlightenment age
"Beneath these scenes of educational family entertainment at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution there's a palpable sense of unease, or certainly a questioning, of the idea of the scientist playing God, and manipulating the rest of us in the process. These images couldn't be more painfully relevant to the age of AI, when technology appears in the process of rendering "humanity", in all senses, redundant."
Read full review →Visit
Trafalgar Square, London·View on artmap
Sunday10am–6pm
Monday10am–6pm
Tuesday10am–6pm
Wednesday10am–6pm
Thursday10am–6pm
Friday10am–9pm
Saturday10am–6pm