iGetty Center · Brentwood
A Light in the Dark: Joseph Wright of Derby
Reunites Wright of Derby's 1760s candlelit pictures, including Getty's rediscovered Two Boys with a Bladder, and explores the technique behind them.
Preview: written before the show opened
Two boys in costumes Wright invented lean over a hidden candle, blowing up a pig's bladder, an 18th-century toy tossed around like a balloon. The painting hadn't been on public view since the 1700s and was unknown to scholars until the Getty bought it. Here it hangs with Two Boys Fighting over a Bladder, Wright's later take on the same toy.
The show reunites several of the candlelit pictures that made this provincial painter from Derby famous in 1760s London, and looks at how he made them. Derby Museums lends the Orrery, where a lamp plays the sun, alongside a self-portrait, a pastel of a boy reading and a mezzotint after the Air Pump. You can stand between the two bladder paintings and watch him rework an idea.
Entry is free with a timed reservation, released six weeks ahead; parking is paid. It's in the Museum West Pavilion, Plaza Level, with labels in English and Spanish, and the Getty is open to 9pm on Saturdays.
Editor's pick
Two Boys with a Bladder, the Getty's rediscovered Wright of Derby, anchors a reunion of his 1760s candlelit pictures and a close look at how he painted that light. Free with a timed reservation.
Look for
Two Boys with a Bladder
Look for two boys in invented fancy-dress costumes, lit from below by a candle hidden from view, inflating a pig's bladder like a balloon.
Two Boys Fighting over a Bladder
Wright's later version of the subject, lent from a private collection, with the boys now squabbling over the toy instead of blowing it up.
The Orrery lecture, 1766
A lamp stands in for the sun inside a mechanical model of the solar system, while a man takes notes and children lean in around it.
Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candle-Light
Three men study a sculpture by candlelight as one holds up his drawing of it for the others to judge.
Good for
- Cheap Culture
- Evening Visits
- Nerding Out
- Out-Of-Town Guests
Also at Getty Center
On now nearby
Image credits
5
- A Light in the Dark: Joseph Wright of DerbyCourtesy of Getty Center
- Maker-in-Residence featuring Jackie AmezquitaPhoto courtesy of Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles. Exhibition Installation Image: Marc Walker.
- tierraPhoto courtesy of Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles. Exhibition Installation Image: Marc Walker.
- Earthen Comforts: Airing EarthCourtesy of Craft Contemporary
- Getty CenterCarol M. Highsmith / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain