Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797), Self Portrait aged 59

Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797) Self Portrait aged 59  Oil on canvas  This outstandingly rare self-portrait is possibly the last self-portrait by the artist that remains outside of public collections. Joseph Wright of Derby chronicled himself throughout his career with a group of insightful self-portraits. There are at least nine of these highly personal works, which he kept until his death. He seems to have painted one every ten years or so. This rarely exhibited work not only demonstrates his virtuoso technique, but he paints himself as a far more thoughtful and a far wiser man than some of his earlier portraits; less gauche, here is a man who has lived and accepted great success with grace. As Benedict Nicholson observed, “one side or another of this contradictory but in no way unaccountable character: the vivacity and the mildness, the conviviality and the querulousness, the vigour and the frailty – many things short of duplicity and meanness”. Provenance: John Holland of Ford Hall, Derbyshire (1734-1807) by whom left in a life interest to his widow and then in trust (Alderson was a Trustee) to the heirs of his relation Joseph Bilbie; His daughter and sole heiress Mary Anne Bilbie who married 1st March 1832 Francis Hall esq of Park Hall, Nottinghamshire, and who died 31st July 1877; Her nephew Francis Hall (1856-1928) son of her husband’s younger brother, Geoffrey  Brock Hall (Park Hall 1807 – Guelph, Canada, 1st April 1886); Flora Caroline Hall (née Hamilton) (6th September 1865 – 5th July 1939); Estate of the late Flora C Hall, being the contents of Rivers Lea, Guelph, Ontario, sale, Ward-Price & Co, Toronto 23-28 September 1946, lot 718 ; Toronto, Canada, Private Collection; Guernsey, Private Collection, purchased circa 1980 Literature: Wm. Bemrose (1885) The Life and Works of Joseph Wright A.R.A., commonly called Wright of Derby where a variant of the composition is reproduced as the frontispiece of the book; Benedict Nicholson (1968) Joseph Wright of Derby: Painter of Light pages 22, 134-5, 172 and Catalogue number 172 page 230 (as untraced), the composition recorded from a copy as figure 9; John Ingamells (2004) National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, pages 496-7 sub catalogue 4090,  Self-Portrait circa 1785; Elizabeth E. Barker, Walpole Society LXXI (2009) Documents relating to Joseph Wright 'of Derby' (1734-1797) page 147 #119 (letter to John Holland from Joseph Wright 3rd April 1794) Dimensions: (Canvas) 23 in. (H) x 17 in. (W) (Frame) 25 in. (H) x 20 in. (W)