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ORIGINAL ANECDOTES AND REMAINS 
oO 
| EMINENT 
[ This Article is devoted to the Reception of Biographical Anecdotes, Papers, Letters, &c. anf 
(28 ) 
F a 
PERS ONS. 
ave requeft the Communications of fuch of our Readers as can affifl us in thefe objects.| 
Memorrs OF THE LIFE AND PRIN- 
crpaAL WorRKs OF THE LATE Jo- 
sEPH Waicut, Esq. or Derby. 
qt is with pleafure that we are able to 
prefentouf readers with authentic me- 
moirs of an artift who was one of the 
founders of the Britith fchool of painting, 
and whofe works hold a very diftinguith- 
ed rank in various departments of the 
art. 
Mr. Jofeph Wright was born: at 
Derby,on the 34. Sept. 1734, and was the 
fon of a very refpectable attorney there ; 
—he received his education at the free 
grammar fchool, under the care of the 
Rev. Mr. Almond. During his youth, he. 
dhewed a great fondnefs for all kinds of 
mechanical employments, {pending moft 
of his leifure hours in watching the ope- 
rations of expert workmen, whofe per- 
formances he frequently imitated. Thefe 
occupations foon gave place to his affec- 
tion for drawing, which fhewed itfelf at 
a very early period; and, having difcover- 
ed confiderable adroitnefs in taking like- 
nefles very often of perfons whom he had. 
only once feen, his father was induced to 
comply with his earneft withes, by look- 
ing out for a fituation in London where 
he might have better opportunities of 
improvement. Hudfon ‘was the moft 
eminent portrait painter of that day, and, 
in i751, young Wright was placed with 
him for the term of two years, after 
which time he returned to Derby, and 
painted feveral portraits in that neigh- 
bourhood with tolerable fuccefs : nor be- 
ing fatisfied with his own produétions, he 
returned to London in 1756, and remain- 
ed fifteen months longer with his old 
mafter Hudfon for want of a more able 
precepror, as he often lamented that it 
was not in his power to obtain better in- 
ftructions than Hudfon could furnith, 
it muft not, however, be forgotten, that 
Sir Joshua Reynolds and Mortimer were 
jikewife pupils of the fame mafter, which 
affords a ftriking proof of the great abili- 
ties of this triumvirate, who could arrive 
at fuch eminence in their profeifion, in 
{pite of the obftacles, which, at that pe- 
riod, they had to combat with. After 
Mr. Wright's return from his fecond 
abode with Hudfon, he painted many 
portraits in a very fuperior flyle; and, 
foon after the year 1760, he produced a 
fet of hiftorical. piétures, which may 
défervedly rank amongft the earlieft va- 
luable productions of the modern f{chool. 
—OFf thefe the Blackfmith’s Forge, Air 
Pump, Gladiator,and feveral others which 
we hall particularize hereafter, are well 
known by Pether’s metzotintos. In 
773, he was married, and indulged his 
wifh of vifiting Italy, where he remained 
fully two years ftudying the works of the 
firft mafters, and more efpecially the inj. 
mitable produétions of Michael Angelo, 
in the Capella Feftina of the Vatican ; of 
many parts of which he made faithful 
drawings, upon a larger feale than has 
generally been attempted, as he confider- 
ed thofe fubjeéts but ill adapted for 
‘pocket book iketches. Thefe treafures of 
art, have hitherto remained, in a great 
degree, loft to the world, having fcarcely 
been feen except by Mr. Wright’s parti. 
cular friends, to whom he fhewed them, 
when his imagination was warmed with 
a defcription of the divine originals. Ia 
1775,he returned to England,and refided 
two years at Bath, after which time his 
refideuce was entirely at Derby. Being 
frequently urged by his friends to fix in 
London, he had it often in contemplation 
to remove thither, but had never refolu- 
tion to leave the place where his family 
had fo long refided, and to which he was 
fo much attached, that it daily became 
more difficult for him to refolve upon a 
removal, particularly as he dedicated the 
whole of his time to the ftudy of his pro- 
feilion, fo that, for many years pat, (with 
the exception of a few particular friends) 
he fcarcely wifhed for any focietv be- 
yond that of his own family. In1793, 
he vifited the lakesof Weftmoreland and - 
Cumberland, where he was fo much 
pleafed with the extraordinary effeéts he 
witneffed, that notwithftanding his health 
was then much impaired, he made ftudies 
from which he has produced a few pic- 
tures ftill finer than any he had before 
painted, not contenting himfelf with 
giving mere portraits of the fcenery, but 
imitating, with great fuccefs, thofe bril- 
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