Portrait of Colonel Charles Heathcote

c. 1771–72

Portrait of Colonel Charles Heathcote, c. 1771–72. Joseph Wright of Derby (British, 1734–1797). Oil on canvas; 127 x 100 cm (50 x 39 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 2017.100 Assuming a relaxed but commanding pose, Colonel Charles Heathcote (1734–1797) stands beside a large oak tree in the foreground of an expansive landscape. He wears military dress, the single epaulette on his right shoulder designating his rank as colonel. Wright’s composition demonstrates his new-found fascination with landscape: while the figure is relatively smoothly painted, the landscape is painted far more energetically, using thickly applied daubs of color. The handful of small-scale, full-length portraits Wright painted early in his career include his earliest experiments in landscape painting.