National Gallery in partnership with Derby Museums is hosting a major exhibition dedicated to the ‘candlelight’ paintings of one of Britain’s most skillful artists – Joseph Wright of Derby.
I was invited to be shown a snippet of the upcoming exhibition alongside Catherine Atkinson and Baggy Shanker MP. We were shown fascinating archival documents of the gallery’s founding charter from Parliament and the stipend given by MPs to purchase art from across Europe.
Joseph Wright was fascinated by the relationship between light and dark. His paintings are defined by their claustrophobic intensity and his unique ability to harness light in service of meaning.
Derby Museum have been brilliant custodians of Wright’s work, and you will be able to go and see them after they finish their exhibition at the British Museum.
Local and regional museums are vital to our history and identity, and I am pleased that the government has invested in Derby Museum, and provided £800,000 to it as part of its £20 million Museum Renewal Fund.