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Lot Essay
Chee Tor near Matlock, Derbyshire, is a perpendicular limestone rockface situated in a deep ravine, the River Wye running rapidly at its base. It was well known to artists and travellers in search of the picturesque in the 18th Century, along with nearby Matlock High Tor (notably Wright of Derby's Matlock High Tor, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge), and other dramatically rocky parts of Derbyshire.
After Wright's return to his native Derbyshire in 1778 following two years spent in Bath as a portraitist to fashionable society, the artist was increasingly moved to paint landscapes, both British and Italian. He took the opportunity to further explore the varying effects of changing light and weather that had so inspired him in Italy (see lot 56, Grotto in the Gulf of Salerno), in the context of his local landscape. He sought to truthfully observe natural phenomena without sacrificing but rather enhancing the aesthetic values of the views he chose to paint. The present work is carefully balanced; the steep rockface of Chee Tor to the left of the composition emerges from deep shadow to be vividly lit by light emanating from a chink in the stormy clouds to the right, evoking the grandeur and omniscience of the natural world.
The present work, dated by Nicolson to the late 1790s, is one of two views by the artist of Chee Tor. It formed part of the collection of Colonel Sir John Crompton-Inglefield of Parwich Hall, near Ashbourne, Derbyshire, a keen collector of paintings by Joseph Wright of Derby. It was sold at Christie's in 1972 as part of an important group of twelve works from his collection by or associated with Wright of Derby, and three were views near Matlock. The collection also included a version of The Grotto at Salerno with the figure of Julia in the foreground, for which, see lot 56.
After Wright's return to his native Derbyshire in 1778 following two years spent in Bath as a portraitist to fashionable society, the artist was increasingly moved to paint landscapes, both British and Italian. He took the opportunity to further explore the varying effects of changing light and weather that had so inspired him in Italy (see lot 56, Grotto in the Gulf of Salerno), in the context of his local landscape. He sought to truthfully observe natural phenomena without sacrificing but rather enhancing the aesthetic values of the views he chose to paint. The present work is carefully balanced; the steep rockface of Chee Tor to the left of the composition emerges from deep shadow to be vividly lit by light emanating from a chink in the stormy clouds to the right, evoking the grandeur and omniscience of the natural world.
The present work, dated by Nicolson to the late 1790s, is one of two views by the artist of Chee Tor. It formed part of the collection of Colonel Sir John Crompton-Inglefield of Parwich Hall, near Ashbourne, Derbyshire, a keen collector of paintings by Joseph Wright of Derby. It was sold at Christie's in 1972 as part of an important group of twelve works from his collection by or associated with Wright of Derby, and three were views near Matlock. The collection also included a version of The Grotto at Salerno with the figure of Julia in the foreground, for which, see lot 56.