Page:Cyclopedia of painters and paintings (IA cyclopediaofpain04cham).pdf/471

 WRIGHT, GEORGE FREDERICK, born in Washington, Conn., Dec. 19, 1828, died in Hartford, Jan. 29, 1881. Portrait painter; after studying in a studio and in the life school of the National Academy in New York, he settled in Hartford and painted portraits for five years; then studied two years in Europe, chiefly in Munich under Albert Gräfle, but partly in Rome. He painted at various times at Springfield, Ill., and in other Western and Southern cities, but worked principally in Hartford, Conn. Among his portraits are many of the governors and other prominent men of Illinois and of Connecticut, and he was one of the first, if not the first, to paint Abraham Lincoln. He was an excellent colourist.

WRIGHT, JOSEPH (Wright of Derby), born at Derby, England, Sept. 3, 1734, died there, Aug. 29, 1797. Went in 1751 to London, and studied under Thomas Hudson, the master of Reynolds; became at first a portrait painter, but afterwards devoted himself chiefly to landscape and genre subjects. Was in Italy in 1773-75, and made many sketches of flame effects, especially in an eruption of Vesuvius, and with lights in the caves at Capri. In 1775 he became a student in the Royal Academy; in 1781 he was elected an A.R.A., and in 1784 R.A., but declined, though he continued to send pictures to the exhibitions. In landscape he was almost equal to Richard Wilson, and in portraiture he was a near rival of Gainsborough. Works: The Air-Pump (1765), National Gallery, London; The Orrery, Corporation of Derby; The Alchemist; The Forge; Miravan; Girl with Doves; Boys with a Bladder, William D. James, Esq.; The Gladiator; The Captive; Old Man and Death, Sir Henry Wilmot, Bart.; Edwin (Beattie's "Minstrel"), Lord Houghton; Maria (Sterne's "Sentimental Journey"), William Bemrose, Esq.; Antigonus in the Storm ("Winter's Tale"), Haskett Smith; Eruption of Vesuvius; Belshazzar's Feast; Head of Ulleswater; Dead Soldier.—Redgrave; Ch. Blanc, École anglaise; Art Journal (1883), 205; Wm. Bemrose, Life of Joseph Wright (London, 1886).

WRIGHT, JOSEPH, born at Bordentown, N. J., July 16, 1756, died in New York in 1793. Portrait painter; taken in 1772 by his mother, a noted wax-modeller, to London, where he was aided by Benjamin West and by John Hoppner, who married his sister. He visited Paris in 1782, and returned to America the following year and painted General and Mrs. Washington for Comte de Solms. In 1787 he lived in New York, but in 1790 he followed Congress to Philadelphia, and in 1792 was appointed die-*sinker to the newly-established mint. He painted Mr. Madison and other noted men. Work: Portrait of John Jay (1786), Historical Society, New York.—Dunlap, i. 312.

WRIGHT, JOSEPH MICHAEL, born in Scotland about 1625, died in London about 1700. Pupil of George Jamesone; went to England when about sixteen years old, and soon won reputation as a portrait painter; afterwards lived several years in Italy, and was elected in 1648 a member of the Academy of St. Luke, Florence. Painted many persons of distinction, among them Prince Rupert and the Judges of Guildhall. At Hampton Court is a portrait by him of Lacy the actor (1675). His nephew, of the same name, was educated in Rome and became a famous portrait painter in Ireland.—Redgrave.

WRIGHT, RUFUS, born in Cleveland, O., in 1832. Portrait and genre painter, pupil of the National Academy and of George A. Baker in New York. Has painted in New York, Washington, and Brooklyn; elected member of the Brooklyn Academy in 1866. Ideal works: Inventor and the Banker, Morning Bouquet (1876); Thank you, Sir! (1877); Concerned for his Sole (1878); Feeding the Birds (1880); Portraits of Chief Justice Taney, Secretaries Seward and Stanton, Isaac H. Read, and others.

WTE-WAEL. See Uitewael.

WUCHTERS (Wugters), ABRAHAM, born in Holland about 1610-15, died at So