Biography for Augustus Leopold Egg

Education

He trained at Sass's and at the Royal Academy Schools and entered the clique of genre painters centred on H.N.O'Neil, Frith and John Phillip.

Member

Elected ARA 1849, RA in 1861.

Travels

A chronic asthmatic, Egg spent most of his life abroad in France and Italy, especially the Riviera which was popular with those suffering from respiratory infections due to the climate.

Employment

Egg's earliest pictures were based on literary subjects from Scott and Shakespeare but painted with an eye to dramatic realism without the sentimentality of his contemporaries. During the 1850s he partly anticipated and the adapted the technical inovations and themes of the Pre-Raphaelites. His triptych, Past and Present, 1858 (Tate Britain), revealed his concern with the moral dimension of art, believing, like Hogarth, that painting should be both enjoyable and edifying. He was well connected with the literary world and was a close friend of Charles Dickens, Thackeray and Wilkie Collins and Bulwer-Lytton. He was also an amateur thespian who performed in Dickins's theatrical productions staged in aid of destitute writers and artists. After Egg's death aged 49, his studio sale was held at Christies 18th May 1863. His historical works were popular but his contemporary scenes were not a success.