The Blacksmith (1771): Art, History and Details

The Blacksmith (1771) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Richard Earlom (British, 1743–1822); Joseph Wright of Derby (British, 1734–1797).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Joseph Wright of Derby's fame as a painter was enhanced by prints based on his compositions since works on paper, being relatively cheap and widely available, could reach a much larger audience than his oils. Filled with dramatic light effects, Wright's paintings were ideally suited for reproduction in mezzotint. With its velvety texture and subtle tonal variations ranging from rich blacks to delicate shades of gray, mezzotint was the printmaking technique closest to oil painting. Experts like Earlom or William Pether were skilled at transposing paintings into mezzotint while exploiting the unique characteristics of this medium.

Object facts

• Title: The Blacksmith
• Date: 1771
• Creator attribution: Richard Earlom (British, 1743–1822); Joseph Wright of Derby (British, 1734–1797)
• Culture: England, 18th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: mezzotint
• Collection: PR - Mezzotint
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1995.69

Collection credit

James Parmelee Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.