Cottage on Fire at Night

Joseph Wright of Derby, between 1785 and 1793

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Artist: Joseph Wright of Derby (British, 1734–1797)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 22 1/4 × 31 1/2 inches (56.5 × 80 cm)
Museum: Yale Center for British Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

In his text for a London exhibition of Joseph Wright’s work, William Hayley wrote that the artist “Paint[ed] as boldly as his country fought.” Indeed, Wright took pleasure in painting scenes with a daringly illuminated element. This painting is one of an estimated nine that depict a cottage ablaze in a hilly landscape at night. Such nocturnal scenes of fire were examples of Wright’s quest to explore striking juxtapositions of light and dark.

The silhouettes of nearby trees, which provide the flaming dwelling with a natural context, offset the light tones used in the blaze. Were it not for the charred outline of the structure, one might think this merely to be a bonfire in the woods. The fire itself plays the leading role in this painting, and Wright suffuses the entire canvas with its light, casting the glow of the flames across the nearby trees and branches. In the firelight provided by this unfortunate cottage, the forest, formerly enshrouded in darkness, begins to take shape.

Text: Yale Center for British Art.