Landscape with a Rainbow

Joseph Wright of Derby, between 1793 and 1794

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Artist: Joseph Wright of Derby (British, 1734–1797)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 27 1/2 × 39 5/16 inches (69.9 × 99.9 cm)
Museum: Yale Center for British Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

Although best known for his portraits and candlelight genre scenes, frequently of scientific or industrial subjects, Joseph Wright of Derby was particularly drawn to landscapes in his later career. In 1792 he wrote to friend and patron John Leigh Philips: “tho’ I am engaged in portraits . . . I find myself continually stealing off, and getting to landscapes.” The following year he wrote to the same friend: “I am trying my hand at a rainbow effect.”

In many of his landscapes, Wright sought to capture special effects of natural light, as he had earlier made a name for himself with his pictures of artificial light (two of which are shown nearby). He painted two versions of this landscape with a rainbow in quick succession in 1793–94, one for himself (presumably the painting now in the Derby Art Gallery) and one for a relative of his friend Philips.

Text: Yale Center for British Art.