Benjamin Franklin 1782

Curator: Joseph Wright of Derby, best known for his candlelight paintings, completed this portrait of Benjamin Franklin in 1782. Editor: Oh, he looks so comfortably bourgeois here, almost like a kindly uncle settling into his favorite armchair. A man of the enlightenment swathed in a decidedly… un-flashy palette. Curator: It’s a fascinating image. Notice how Wright deploys a restricted color range and tight brushwork—techniques that were very fashionable in late 18th-century portraiture. He really captures that neoclassical desire for order and clarity. Editor: Yes, it’s visually quiet. That restraint highlights the psychology, I think. The slightly tired, knowing gaze... He’s been through wars and written almanacs. Curator: Absolutely. There's also a distinct lack of grandiosity, wouldn't you agree? Consider, that he is dressed in this muted maroon coat rather than the elaborate finery often used to signify power. The ruffled white cravat adds a note of understated elegance. Editor: The fabric itself seems to whisper, not shout. I'd even venture the color, burgundy, feels… very 'America' if you can pin such things down to mere hue. The overall impression is of quiet dignity, the visual equivalent of one of Franklin's pragmatic axioms. Curator: Wright really emphasized the importance of depicting Franklin's character, almost over capturing a mere likeness. We see in the softened edges and tonal gradations the painter’s intention of moving beyond the purely representational. Editor: Beyond likeness and almost beyond his moment. It possesses a strange timelessness. It feels less about 1782 specifically, but the image, somehow of the ideal of the self-made intellectual who’s also ready to roll up his sleeves. Curator: Perhaps it reflects Wright's own intellectual ambitions— his portraits often sought to depict not just appearance, but also to suggest the sitter's mind and place in the world of ideas. Editor: And it’s so cool to reflect, too, on what was on *Franklin's* mind while he was having his likeness taken: revolutions, electricity, and undoubtedly, his next bon mot. Curator: The image is also imbued with the painter’s Neoclassical idealism regarding Franklin as this kind of hero. I have a feeling, and this painting has only helped cement it. Editor: To Wright, Franklin clearly epitomized enlightened ideals. And, I daresay, helped immortalize a figure, while managing a few sparks of the real individual still shine through.