1784
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
The Gulf of Salerno is a 1784 oil by Joseph Wright of Derby, a Rococo painting work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
The painting shows a serene landscape with a calm sea and mountains in the background. It's interesting because the artist used light and shadow to create a sense of depth. The way the light falls on the water is particularly notable. Check out the technique of chiaroscuro to learn more about how artists use contrast to create depth and volume in their work.
Probably John Holland, Ford Hall, Derbyshire [a "Sun Set in the Bay of Salerno" listed in Wright's Account Book about 1783 as the companion to Bacon's Moonlight Vesuvius and "sold to my friend Holland"; see Judy Egerton, Wright of Derby, exhib. cat. Tate Gallery, Louvre, and Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1990, p. 180, under no. 109]. Private collection, England, by family descent to a collector in New York, c. 1992 [information kindly supplied by Piers Davies, Christie’s]; sold Christie's, New York, 24 January, 2003, no. 140 to Simon Dickinson, London; sold to the Art Institute.
Mr. Robin's Rooms, Convent Garden, Exhibition of Paintings by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1785, no. 16 Chicago, BUILDING A COLLECTION: NEW ACQUISITIONS AND PROMISED GIFTS OF BRITISH ART, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, May 1–August 1, 2004, no. 5.
Anonymous review, "Exhibition of Pictures by Mr. Wright of Derby," Morning Post and Daily Advertiser, April 20, 1785, p. 2.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Joseph Wright (3 September 1734 – 29 August 1797), styled Joseph Wright of Derby, was an English painter who specialised in portrait painting and landscape art.
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