Portrait of a Woman, Her Head Turned to the Right, Wearing an Earring
ca. 1770–72
Medium
Pastel on blue laid paper
Dimensions
sheet: 15 7/8 x 11 in. (40.3 x 28 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 2007
Accession Number
2007.40
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the intimate world of Joseph Wright of's *Portrait of a Woman, Head Turned to the Right Wearing an Earring*ca. 1770–72), a delicate pastel on blue laid paper measuring 15⅞ × 11 inches. This evocative drawing captures a poised female subject in three-quarter view, her gaze directed rightward and a single earring catching the light, evoking elegance amid 18th-century British portraiture. Wright, leading English artist of the Enlightenment era, was renowned for his dramatic chiaroscuro effects in oil paintings of industrial scenes and candlelit gatherings, but here he showcases his mas...
About the Artist
Joseph Wright (Wright of Derby) · 1734–1797
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797) was an English painter celebrated for his dramatic use of candlelight and artificial illumination, which earned him a unique position in eighteenth-century British art as the painter of the Industrial Revolution and the Enlightenment. Born in Derby in the English Midlands, he studied in London under Thomas Hudson, a leading portrait painter, before returning to D...