Getty Exhibition Shines Light on Luminous Candlelights by Joseph Wright of Derby

The J. Paul Getty Museum presents “A Light in the Dark: Joseph Wright of Derby,” an exhibition showcasing the captivating candlelight paintings by 18th-century English artist Joseph Wright of Derby.

On view at the Getty Center from Nov. 24, 2026 to March 14, 2027, the exhibition highlights new discoveries regarding the artist’s distinctive candlelight style and his inventive use of silver leaf to help create vivid light effects.

“This exhibition originates from the Museum’s recent acquisition of Joseph Wright of Derby’s ‘Two Boys with a Bladder’—previously considered lost—and, for the first time, displays the painting alongside other early candlelights by the artist,” said Timothy Potts, Maria Hummer-Tuttle and Robert Tuttle Director of the Getty Museum. “With their rich color, theatrical lighting and engaging subject matter, Wright’s magnificent candlelight paintings dazzled audiences in the 18th century and continue to captivate museumgoers today.”

Joseph Wright grew up in Derbyshire, about 120 miles northwest of London. Trained as a portraitist, he began experimenting at around 30 years old with a different genre: scenes of people clustered in small dark interiors lit by the glow of a single flame. These striking works, called candlelights, were designed to capture attention in large annual exhibitions in London, where the painter was dubbed “Wright of Derby” as an affectionate tribute to his home town. His candlelights now stand out as the definitive and most acclaimed aspect of his career.

The exhibition gathers Wright’s early candlelight paintings to explore how he developed and refined his approach. Featured is “Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candle-Light,” from 1765, the painting with which Wright made his candlelight debut. It depicts the artist with two Derbyshire neighbors comparing a drawing with a famous ancient sculpture. Encouraged by the result, Wright embraced more ambitious projects, like “A Philosopher Giving that Lecture on the Orrery, in Which a Lamp is put in the Place of the Sun.” This large scale candlelight was described by 18th-century writers as having been made by supernatural means, seemingly lit by a “magic mimic blaze.” In the tightly framed scene, a lecturer demonstrates to an awestruck crowd the use of an astronomical model (an orrery) and a small oil lamp to illustrate how the sun’s rays move through the solar system.

Beginning in 1767, Wright experimented with the use of precious metal in his candlelights. He applied silver leaf in places where he wanted to emphasize the illusion of light passing through translucent materials, like an inflated animal bladder, a sheet of paper, woven cloth or hot wax. A Getty-led team of conservators and scientists used X-ray fluorescence mapping to locate where the silver is present in Wright’s paintings, with results presented in the exhibition and its accompanying catalogue. He is the only 18th-century British artist known to have employed this distinctive method.

Central to the display is “Two Boys with a Bladder,” a recently rediscovered candlelight acquired by the Getty in 2020. New curatorial research presented in the exhibition sheds light on the origin of this picture, which is now known to have been exhibited in London in 1767 alongside its companion piece, “Two Girls Dressing a Kitten by Candlelight.” At the Getty Center, the paintings will be displayed together for the first time since 1772. Technical analysis revealed that Wright incorporated silver leaf in each. They represent the earliest documented examples of his use of the technique.

“Wright depicts these enchanting scenes with intense precision and utter subtlety. They draw us in and, upon close inspection, their surfaces reveal themselves to be composed of confident, almost casual touches of paint,” said Julia Siemon, deputy director and chief curator at Bard Graduate Center, and former assistant curator of paintings at the Getty Museum. “The variety of brushstrokes—dabbed here, whiskered there, dragged elsewhere—coalesce into nuanced gradations of tone, with each mark meticulously placed.”

Works on paper by Wright and his collaborators are also featured in the display. Perhaps inspired by the rich black and sparkling grey tonalities of British mezzotint prints popular in the 1760s, Wright drew a small but striking group of portrait heads in black and white chalk. One highlight is the ‘Study of a Boy Reading’ acquired by Getty in 2024, which demonstrates the same concentrated attention to light effects and fine sensitivity to the nuances of expression that characterize the candlelight paintings. Finally, the exhibition includes mezzotint reproductions of Wright’s candlelights, which were produced by talented British printmakers and helped garner widespread and lasting fame for Wright’s compositions.

The exhibition also features Wright’s “Self-Portrait” from the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Completed around the time Wright started creating his candlelights, the painting has never previously traveled to the United States.

“The rediscovery of Joseph Wright of Derby’s ‘Two Boys with a Bladder’ and its acquisition by the Getty inspired curatorial and conservation research that has opened a new chapter in our understanding of the artist and his most celebrated works,” said Davide Gasparotto, senior curator of paintings at the Getty Museum. “The exhibition presents an exciting opportunity to share these discoveries, and to revisit together some of the most remarkable paintings in the history of British art.”

In conjunction with the exhibition, Getty will hold two free public lectures. A conversation with curator Julia Siemon on Dec. 6 will dive into Joseph Wright of Derby’s candlelights and his impact on the art world. On March 12, Siemon will be joined by Getty conservators for a conversation to discuss new findings about the artist’s use of silver leaf.

“A Light in the Dark: Joseph Wright of Derby” was curated by Julia Siemon.