View from the Artist no.4 - answer
October 3 2011
Picture: Philip Mould
This one proved a little tricky I fear, with the correct answer taking a whole day to come in. Many of you were way out:
I suppose the darkness might suggest something unseasonably Christmassy - is there a nativity going on? It looks a bit Flemish
Wrong continent alas. But right about the night-time setting:
A bit late but I didn't read your blog yesterday. I think it's Wright of Derby's Arkwright's Cotton Mills by Night, isn't it?
Yes! The picture is Arkwright's Mill at Cromford by Joseph Wright of Derby, painted c.1790. There are two versions, both in private collections. One is sadly in rather bad condition. The other, above, belonged to Wright's friend, Thomas Haden. So to this reader (a regional auctioneer, in fact) the previously promised trumpet blast of adulation - well done!
