Having seen a “raree show” at a fair, he considered attentively upon what principle it could be formed, and having discovered the manner of placing the glasses, completed a show about three feet high; having done this, Wright went to the showman and told him he had made a show like his. The man would not at first believe him, but upon enquiring how he had made it, and finding it was quite correct, he earnestly begged that the boy would not tell any one by what means he had effected it. This show, exhibiting some Italian views, was afterwards the delight of his children and nieces.
When the Scotch army, under Prince Charles Edward, came to Derby, in December, 1745, the elder Mr. Wright, father of the painter, took his wife, two daughters, and Joe, as he was generally called, to Repton, thinking that the rebels could not cross the Trent, as there was no bridge there at that time. During the preceding July his two eldest sons, John and Richard, had been placed at Repton School, under the Rev. Mr. Ashley. Much to the surprise of the Wrights, three officers and forty men were quartered in their house at Derby. During the soldiers’ stay they saw a small gun, with which they were so much struck as to make enquiries respecting it, and upon being told that it was made by Master Joseph, “they wished they could see the little gentleman, they would take him with them, for they were sure he must be an ingenious boy to make that gun.”
At Repton, young Wright saw a “Christmas-Piece” which belonged to one of the boys. For a long time this piece so engrossed his mind that he could think of nothing else, and he dwelt upon it until he determined to try to draw. Thus at eleven years of age he took to art, and gradually left off his mechanical pursuits. This love for mechanics showed itself later in life, by the introduction of an air pump and an orrery into two of his principal pictures. He likewise invented a pair of proportional compasses. These were made of two strips of wood, with an opening down the middle of each, placed upon each other and united by a screw, which, moving up and down, fixed the point of the compasses at any place that was desired. By this instrument Wright was enabled to accurately enlarge or diminish any drawing.
His father being averse to his devoting so much time to drawing, thinking it would never be of use to him, and might withdraw his attention from more necessary pursuits, young Wright used to draw, unknown to his friends, in an attic, where he spent much of his spare time. Having nothing from which to study, he copied the public-house signs in the town, which at that time exhibited more “pictures” than at the present day, and it is related of him, that when he had completed his copy of the sign of “Robin Hood and Little John,” near his father’s residence, he was highly delighted, as he was likewise when he had finished the “Buck in the Park.” The “Buck in the Park”—a sign by which an inn in the town is still known at the present day—means the arms of the Borough of Derby, which are azure, a buck couchant, enclosed in park-palings, all proper. His method was, after looking long and earnestly at the sign, to go home and draw as much as he could remember of it. When at a loss, he returned and examined the sign, and then ran back as rapidly as possible, so that he might not lose the impression produced on his mind, and thus he continued until the drawing was finished. His mother, noticing his conduct, and wishing to know why he spent so much time in the attic spoken of, entered it and discovered his employment. The boy-artist earnestly begged that she would not tell his father, and this request, fortunately for the world, was granted. His predilection for art is well illustrated by a life-size head of Counsellor Noel, in my possession, drawn upon blue paper in black and white crayons; on the back, in Wright’s handwriting, “Jos Wright, fecit September 3rd, 1751, Ætat 17. Counsellor Noell. The head being unfinished I was obliged to leave it so.” There is little doubt he was in the habit of attending the Courts of Assize with his father, who was engaged there professionally, and had amused himself by sketching the counsellor in his wig, but from some cause had not time to finish it.
The sketches of his early boyhood show considerable skill and power in light and shade, and the treatment of drapery, and are thus prophetic of that command of chiar-oscuro which distinguished the pictures of his maturity.
His delight in strong lights and shadows was very conspicuous throughout his life. He could never pass a blacksmith’s shop, or any striking lights in the streets, without staying to study them; and the influence of this early passion of his is seen in a large number of his paintings, where remarkable fire, candle-light, and atmospheric effects are rendered with singular power and truth.
At length his father, finding his decided turn for painting, determined upon placing him with the most eminent artist of the time; and in 1751, when Joseph was seventeen years of age, he, after careful enquiry amongst his friends in London, placed him with Hudson,[4] the portrait painter, with whom he remained as a student for two years. Wright, however, appears to have soon become dissatisfied with the subjects which Hudson gave him to copy, which, if we may judge from the studies of this period still existing—stiff, formal portraits in black and white chalk upon blue paper—was not to be wondered at; amongst them is a spirited resemblance of himself, and it is thought probable that the artist, tired of such copying, amused himself by studying from nature.
Young Wright, like most young men, was fond of a frolic, but the effect of a practical joke which he played at Hudson’s effectually cured him of these mischievous propensities. It appears that the lay-figure at Hudson’s was upon low wheels, and having tied a piece of string to it, which he conveyed under the door, Wright, the next morning, whilst the servant-maid was cleaning the grate, stationed himself at the door, which was a little open, to amuse himself with her surprise at seeing it move. Having waited his opportunity, he gently pulled the string, and when the girl turned to look, suddenly stopped. She took no further notice of it until he drew it more decidedly steadily forward. She then earnestly watched its progress, and at last, being convinced that it was moving, threw down her brush and rushed out of the room, and would, in her fright, have precipitated herself over the rails of the stairs, if he had not caught her. He was so much alarmed when he saw how greatly she was agitated, and thought what would have been the probable consequence of such a fall, that he determined never again to indulge in practical jokes, a resolution which he seems never to have forgotten. This circumstance made such an impression upon his mind, that he could not hear with patience of any attempt to frighten people, as “there was no knowing to what consequences it might lead.”