Shining a New Light on Joseph Wright of Derby’s Two Boys with a Bladder

Talk
Two young boys are in a dark room, lit only by a candle. The boy on the right inflates a pig's bladder.

Two Boys with a Bladder, about 1769–70, Joseph Wright of Derby. Oil on canvas, 36 1/2 × 28 3/4 in. Getty Museum, 2020.20

Friday, Mar 12, 2026

3pm

Getty Center & Online

Ada Louise Huxtable Lecture Hall

Free

Tickets are free, but required for event entrance. Your event ticket will also serve as your Center entrance reservation. Please note, there is a fee for parking.

To watch online, register via Zoom.

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Tickets are available January 4, 2027.

About

In 2020, the Getty Museum acquired Two Boys with a Bladder, a recently rediscovered candlelight painting by Joseph Wright of Derby, an artist best known for his astonishing ability to capture the magic of light piercing the dark. The rediscovery launched an extensive investigation into the painting’s history, materials, and making. Join exhibition curator Julia Siemon and Getty conservators Kari Rayner and Douglas MacLennan for a behind-the-scenes look at its two-year conservation treatment, the discoveries that reshaped their understanding of its creation, and Wright’s unusual use of silver leaf. In this discussion, they share how close examination and technical study revealed new insights into the ambition and experimentation behind some of Wright’s most innovative works.

Speakers

  1. Julia Siemon

    Art Historian and Curator

    Julia Siemon is deputy director and chief curator at Bard Graduate Center in New York City. Her prior curatorial roles include positions in the department of European Paintings at the J. Paul Getty Museum, the department of Drawings, Prints & Graphic Design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and the department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has organized exhibitions for those institutions and Waddesdon Manor (Buckinghamshire, UK), and published widely on various topics in early modern European art. She holds a PhD in art history from Columbia University.

  2. Kari Rayner

    Associate Conservator

    Kari Rayner joined the Getty Museum's Department of Paintings Conservation in 2020. She specializes in the study, preventive care, and treatment of easel paintings from the 15th through 19th centuries. She received her graduate degrees in art history and conservation from the Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Kari held various internships prior to and during her graduate training, including at the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne, Germany and Modern Art Conservation in New York, NY. She completed her graduate internship at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. She has since held post-graduate positions at the Hamilton Kerr Institute, University of Cambridge; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. She has additionally held shorter-term positions as a visiting scholar at the Yale Center for British Art and as a project assistant conservator for the Getty’s Conserving Canvas project at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

  3. Douglas MacLennan

    Associate Conservator

    Douglas MacLennan joined Getty in 2014 as a graduate intern in the Department of Paintings Conservation before his appointment as assistant conservator. Douglas oversees the preparation of paintings for display and loan, and cares for the museum’s frame collection. He received his postgraduate diploma in the conservation of easel paintings from the Courtauld Institute of Art. Previously, he was an assistant scientist at the Getty Conservation Institute, where he focused on the scientific study of artist’s materials and deterioration processes. Douglas also completed internships at the Bavarian National Museum, UCLA Library Preservation Department, LACMA, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

Know Before You Go

Duration

Approximately 75 minutes.

Planning your arrival

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Note that during busy times of year and weekends, we recommend planning your visit to allow for at least 30 minutes to park, go through security, and make your way up to the event.

Event Check-In

Check-in begins 90 minutes before program start time at the Research Institute Lecture Hall.

Doors open 30 minutes before program start time.

Seating

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Accessibility

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