JOSEPH WRIGHT (1737-97) | The Master of Fire and Light with John Wiltshire

Joseph Wright of Derby may be the greatest 18th century English painter. By great good fortune, the NGV has four of his works. This talk will illustrate his range – portraits, landscapes, narrative paintings - and discuss his special contribution: pictures about the wonders of both science and nature – of fire and light.

John Wiltshire is Adjunct Professor at La Trobe University. He is the author of four books about Jane Austen, and has edited Mansfield Park for the authoritative Cambridge edition. His most recent books are The Cinematic Jane Austen (2009) and The Making of Dr Johnson (2009). He contributed the chapter on ‘Women Writers’ to Samuel Johnson in Context, Cambridge University Press (2012).

Joseph Wright of Derby (1737-97), The Synnot children, 1781, NGV Melbourne, presented through The Art Foundation of Victoria by Mrs Michael Hawker (née Patricia Synnot), Founder Benefactor, 1980