An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump Joseph Wright of Derby’s multivalent masterpiece
Dr. Martin Postle, Senior Research Fellow at the Paul Mellon Centre for British Art,

Dr. Martin Postle is Senior Research Fellow at the Paul Mellon Centre for British Art, with a specialist interest in the eighteenth century. The current focus of his research is the compilation of a catalogue raisonné of the oil paintings of Joseph Wright of Derby. He also organises on behalf of the Paul Mellon Centre an annual seminar on the history of the British art trade, various workshops and public lecture courses, as well as teaching on the Centre’s Yale in London undergraduate course. Prior to his present appointment in October 2021, Martin was Deputy Director at the Centre. Between 1998 and 2007 he was Senior Curator and Head of British Art to 1900 at the Tate Gallery. To coincide with the lecture, we will show a rare landscape watercolour by Wright of Derby from the College’s watercolour collection, dating from his trip to Italy from 1773 to 1775.