"At the Light of a Candle, Three Men Study a Small Replica of the Borghese Gladiator"
By Joseph Wright of Derby
For my post this week I decided to go with a work by Joseph Wright of Derby, because I find his work with light to be beautiful and in a way even magical. I found this painting on the Artstoc website and discovered that its not very well known by google's standards. (Since the only free version picture I could find of this image had the watermark all over it) Because of that fact, it was really hard to find any information on what other people thought of it specifically. However from what I've learned about the artist, he was the leading artist that documented the beginning through the Industrial Revolution. Thus most of his paintings dictate some sort of scientific scene.
For this image however it seems similar and different to the paintings he was famous for painting. (scientific depictions) On the other hand it's still a reflective type painting on the effects of candlelight on subjects from different angles. I think this is one of the main reasons why I'm so drawn to these paintings he does. In most of them, (this one included) you can clearly see where the light source is coming from without actually seeing the flame of the candle. Doing this creates a romantic sort of closeness inviting the viewer into the light. In this painting the three men form a close knit circle around this small statue replica, and behind the first man we can see either a mirror, or a drawing of the statue. Its hard to tell either way... The focus of this image is the statue, even though the man in back with the most light on him is almost directly in the center of the composition. This is easy to determine since everyone in this image is looking so thoughtfully at the statue, its hard for us as an audience to do anything but the same.
I also really love how the artist paints the reflective surface of the candle holder and the table. Both of these parts take on their own life, and seem to be the brightest parts of the entire painting. Joseph Wright of Derby does his shadows and highlights so magnificently its hard to imagine that this is something created with paint and a paint brush. The naturalism and attention to details in his work are simply stunning and help to illustrate this scene in such a way that we feel we are invited to join in on the discussion of science, or in this case, art.
Its also really hard to see in this image, but if you lower the color and contrast a bit (or own a poor quality laptop screen) its easy to see the background further than the darkness reflected at first glance. there is a door, and a darker shadow of the man in the center cast onto the back wall. Above them all (I found this interesting) is an unlit lantern of some sort. Most likely one that was used to light the entire room. This is confusing to me as to what the purpose of using such a tiny candle would be, when right above them was a lantern that could provide so much more light on its own than the candle. I find it makes you think more about the people as they were back then. I can only assume that oil was more expensive than candles, and by using the candle instead of the lantern it gives a sense of secrecy to the image as well. As if the topic they met to discuss was something secretive or private that could not be discussed near the ears of others.
I also find it interesting that even though the artist was so obviously there, he is not there at the same time. The people in his paintings seem oblivious to his over looking gaze and painting. Almost like a stalker unseen in the night, he paints these scenes that block us from seeing the entire picture. Why else would the man in the foreground's back be turned to us, as if denying our existence? If only there was a way to go back into time and ask them, or Joseph Wright of Derby what was the importance of their meeting and why it seems so secretive and inviting at the same time.
For this image however it seems similar and different to the paintings he was famous for painting. (scientific depictions) On the other hand it's still a reflective type painting on the effects of candlelight on subjects from different angles. I think this is one of the main reasons why I'm so drawn to these paintings he does. In most of them, (this one included) you can clearly see where the light source is coming from without actually seeing the flame of the candle. Doing this creates a romantic sort of closeness inviting the viewer into the light. In this painting the three men form a close knit circle around this small statue replica, and behind the first man we can see either a mirror, or a drawing of the statue. Its hard to tell either way... The focus of this image is the statue, even though the man in back with the most light on him is almost directly in the center of the composition. This is easy to determine since everyone in this image is looking so thoughtfully at the statue, its hard for us as an audience to do anything but the same.
I also really love how the artist paints the reflective surface of the candle holder and the table. Both of these parts take on their own life, and seem to be the brightest parts of the entire painting. Joseph Wright of Derby does his shadows and highlights so magnificently its hard to imagine that this is something created with paint and a paint brush. The naturalism and attention to details in his work are simply stunning and help to illustrate this scene in such a way that we feel we are invited to join in on the discussion of science, or in this case, art.
Its also really hard to see in this image, but if you lower the color and contrast a bit (or own a poor quality laptop screen) its easy to see the background further than the darkness reflected at first glance. there is a door, and a darker shadow of the man in the center cast onto the back wall. Above them all (I found this interesting) is an unlit lantern of some sort. Most likely one that was used to light the entire room. This is confusing to me as to what the purpose of using such a tiny candle would be, when right above them was a lantern that could provide so much more light on its own than the candle. I find it makes you think more about the people as they were back then. I can only assume that oil was more expensive than candles, and by using the candle instead of the lantern it gives a sense of secrecy to the image as well. As if the topic they met to discuss was something secretive or private that could not be discussed near the ears of others.
I also find it interesting that even though the artist was so obviously there, he is not there at the same time. The people in his paintings seem oblivious to his over looking gaze and painting. Almost like a stalker unseen in the night, he paints these scenes that block us from seeing the entire picture. Why else would the man in the foreground's back be turned to us, as if denying our existence? If only there was a way to go back into time and ask them, or Joseph Wright of Derby what was the importance of their meeting and why it seems so secretive and inviting at the same time.
Even though this painting doesn't have the same type of scientific experiment (that is common subject matter for him), we can still easily relate this painting to the Enlightenment. These men are studying a classical statue, which evidences the interest in classicism that was part of the Enlightenment.
ReplyDelete-Prof. Bowen
Joseph Wright's art was my topic of choice to for this assignment. The way he emphisizes lighting is truely amazing, stunning in fact. All his work consist of dark light sources, extreme contrast from light to dark or vise versa.
ReplyDeleteI agree the way he uses light in his painting is truely amazing. It shows the curves of the statue really well. His work also has a lot of details which make the painting grab your attention more.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Groce
I also chose Joseph Wright for my artist, he is simply fantastic with creating lighting effects. It blows my mind how he could make a simple painting look more realistic than a photograph. Good explanation!
ReplyDelete