Joseph Wright of Derby
Portrait of Sir Brooke Boothby
From $80
This painting is glowing white against blue-black shadow, and a cheap copy turns it flat and muddy. Our Wright of Derby The Alchemist print is made from the museum’s own photograph, unretouched, so the glow stays bright.
Canvas, framed or paper
Stretched canvas. Printed on cotton canvas and stretched taut over a frame. The edges are mirror-wrapped, so the picture continues around the sides and none of it is lost to the fold.
Framed canvas. The same canvas, set in a black, white, natural wood or dark wood frame 0.83 in deep. The frame gives the work a finished edge and a little more presence on the wall.
Framed print. Printed on fine art matte paper and framed in solid pine, behind shatterproof plexiglass, in black, white, natural wood or dark wood. It arrives ready to hang. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame.
Fine art print. Printed on 310gsm fine art matte paper, for framing your own way. It travels rolled and protected. From 18x24 inch.
Sizes
12x16 inch, 18x24 inch, 30x40 inch. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame, so the visible painting is a little smaller.
On your wall
Its tall shape suits a study, a hallway or a living room wall. The whites, blues and dark browns look rich with cream, slate and walnut, and a black or gold frame suits it.
About the painting
The Alchemist Discovering Phosphorus by Joseph Wright of Derby
The painter of candlelight
Joseph Wright of Derby, a lawyer’s son from Derby, painted the scientists and inventors of the Enlightenment by candlelight, and has been called the first painter of the Industrial Revolution.
A burst of light
Searching for the stone that turns metal into gold, an alchemist finds something else: a flask that bursts into light. It is phosphorus, discovered in 1669.
Like a church
Wright set the scene in a vaulted room like a church, the alchemist kneeling as if in prayer. It did not sell in his lifetime.
Read the story
In a great vaulted room, like the inside of a church, an old man with a long white beard kneels on the floor. In front of him, a glass flask is glowing with a fierce white light, and he spreads his arms in wonder, as if he were praying.
He is an alchemist. For years, alchemists searched for the philosopher's stone, a substance that could turn ordinary metal into gold. This one has found something else.
The story is probably that of Hennig Brand, an alchemist in Hamburg, who in 1669 boiled down huge quantities of urine in search of the stone. What he found was a substance that glowed, and burst into light in the air. Phosphorus.
Joseph Wright of Derby painted it in 1771, with help from his friend Peter Perez Burdett, who sketched the design. In the shadows behind him, two assistants are at work.
It is a painting about the moment when old magic turns into modern science.
But people did not know what to make of it. It did not sell. Wright took it with him to Italy and back, worked on it again in 1795, and it was sold only after his death. It is now in the museum of his home town, Derby.
The Alchemist Discovering Phosphorus. Joseph Wright of Derby, 1771.
How each piece is brought to life
Faithful to the original, and made to be felt on your wall.
Graded against the original
We compare every work with the original as we grade it, keeping the artist’s colours true while bringing back their depth and glow. Every mark stays the artist’s own.
Printed for you
Printed to order on cotton canvas or fine art paper, then framed if you chose a frame, in 1 to 3 business days.
On your wall
It arrives 5 to 12 business days later, tracked and free anywhere in the US. Framed pieces come ready to hang.
Questions
Is this the original painting?
No. The original hangs in a museum. What you receive is a fine art reproduction, remastered from the original and printed for you, with every mark where the artist left it.
Will the colour look flat?
This is where most reproductions disappoint, and it is where we spend the most time. Each work is graded side by side with the original: faithful to the artist’s colours, with the depth and warmth brought back, so it moves you on the wall the way it was meant to. Canvas reads a touch softer than a backlit screen, and every screen shows colour a little differently.
Will the edges be cropped?
Each size is a standard frame size, so we fit the painting by trimming a little from its edges. We never stretch or squash it, and we check every size by eye so no face, figure or signature is cut. On canvas the edges are mirror-wrapped, which keeps the whole picture on the front.
Which size is right for my wall?
Aim for about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it. Over a sofa or a sideboard, one of the two largest sizes will hold the wall. The size guide lists every size in inches and centimetres, with the kind of wall each one suits.
How long does it take?
Your piece is printed in 1–3 business days, then spends 5–12 business days in transit, tracked all the way. Delivery is free anywhere in the US. We are unable to deliver to PO boxes.
What if it arrives damaged?
Send us a photograph and we will remake it and send it again. There is nothing to return.
Can I return it?
Yes, within 30 days of delivery. Our returns policy has the details.
-
Joseph Wright of Derby
An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump
From $80
-
Arnold Böcklin
Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle
From $100
-
Arnold Böcklin
Isle of the Dead (1880, Basel version)
From $80
-
Arnold Böcklin
Isle of the Dead (1880, Metropolitan Museum version)
From $100
-
Edward Hopper
Night on the El Train
From $80
-
Edward Hopper
Night Shadows
From $100
-
Edward Hopper
D. & R.G. Locomotive
From $80
-
Edward Hopper
Lighthouse Hill
From $80
-
Edward Hopper
Apartment Houses
From $100
-
Edward Hopper
Sunday
From $100
-
Edward Hopper
Blackwell’s Island
From $100
Printed to order
Graded against the original, then printed for you on cotton canvas or fine art paper in 1–3 business days.
The whole painting
Every mark is the artist’s own, and canvas edges are mirror-wrapped so the whole picture stays on the front.
Free US shipping
On every order, tracked, 5–12 business days in transit.
30-day returns
Returns and exchanges within 30 days of delivery.
