| Two Girls Dressing a Kitten by Candlelight | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Joseph Wright of Derby |
| Year | c. 1768–1770 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 89 cm × 68 cm (35 in × 27 in) |
| Location | Kenwood House, London. |
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Two Girls Dressing a Kitten by Candlelight (also known as Two Girls Decorating a Cat[1][2] and Dressing the Kitten[3]) (c. 1768–1770) is a "fancy painting" by Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797). The painting is displayed at the Kenwood House Public Museum, located in the London Hampstead area.
It is believed that the painting was created by Joseph Wright as a pair for the painting “Two Boys with a Bladder,” which became widely known for the acquisition of this painting (which was practically unknown to specialists) by the American J. Paul Getty Museum and the temporary refusal of British government to grant a license to export it outside UK.
The picture is one of a number of candlelit studies made by Wright that demonstrate his skill in the use of chiaroscuro in which he specialised. Apparently an innocent scene of little girls dressing a kitten, the picture has been thought by art historians to have a number of deeper meanings.
- ^ "Announcing a major discovery: Joseph Wright of Derby's missing candlelight painting". Lowell Libson & Jonny Yarker Ltd. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
- ^ Leach, Stephen (2022). Joseph Wright and the Final Farewell. Cambridge Scholars. p. 68. ISBN 9781527592209.
- ^ Foucart-Walter, Elizabeth; Rosenberg, Pierre (1988). The Painted Cat: The Cat in Western Painting from the Fifteenth to the Twentieth Century. Rizzoli. p. 164. ISBN 9780847809950.