The National Gallery in London currently has an exhibition on the British Painter: Joseph Wright: ‘From the Shadows’. But why might scientists care about the work of artists?
First of all, artists have been investigating light, colour, perception and illusions and the way our brains process this far longer than science as such has even existed, never mind used to study those phenomena. They built a massive foundation of knowledge upon which our current visual technology relies from the pixel grids of screens to the way we construct 3D computer generated imagery, and virtual reality worlds. Much of our modern technology is based on the knowledge created by artists, not just scientists and engineers. And Joseph Wright was a master of the use of light (and dark).
He is particularly famous for his paintings of candlelit scenes full of highlighted faces emerging from shadows as featured in the National Gallery exhibition. This use of extreme light and dark to conjure a feeling of drama didn’t start with him, though. It was pioneered and perfected by painters like Caravaggio and Rembrandt who were his inspiration. However, they used the technique in paintings depicting scenes from history, the Bible and ancient mythology. He grew up in the middle of the Industrial Revolution with Derbyshire being the source of the industrial Revolution with the first cotton factories powered by water built in the area around Matlock and the first water-powered silk mill built in Derby itself. Wright painted both the first Cotton Mill at Cromford and the pioneer of the industrial revolution responsible, Sir Richard Arkwright. Immersed in the spirit of the age he was the first professional painter to paint in this dramatic style of light and dark scenes of science and engineering.
His paintings were essentially works of public engagement with science and technology. In this he is one of the first to take public engagement for the masses seriously. He died in 1797, 2 years before the Royal Institution was founded, now famous for its Christmas Lectures which pioneered science demonstrations for all. They were initiated by Faraday in 1825. Wright didn’t just paint these scenes of technology and of people watching science demonstrations. After all a painting would only be seen by a small number of people. and possibly only the family and friends of the person who commissioned it. Wright also took his work to the masses by commissioning mezzotints of his paintings. These were high quality black and white prints that could be relatively cheaply mass-produced so widely disseminated. Mezzotints were even portrayed back lit in shop windows so that anyone could see them from the street.
It is more important as ever that Scientists engage with the public about their work, and artists still provide one way to do so. So what would Joseph Wright be painting now in the current computer and AI revolution? Children wearing virtual reality goggles, arms out touching non-existent things, with astounded expressions perhaps? A group gathered round a robotic arm picking up an egg? All lit of course by the screens of smartphones.
More on …
- Visit the Exhibition at the National Gallery
- Find out more about Wright of Derby’s work
Subscribe to be notified whenever we publish a new post to the CS4FN blog.
cs4fn 