William Maw Egley

1826-1916 English

Escenas victorianas y trajes detallados

William Maw Egley was an English artist of the Victorian era. The son of the miniaturist William Egley, he studied under his father. His early works were illustrations of literary subjects typical of the period, such as Prospero and Miranda from The Tempest. These were similar to the work of The Clique. William Powell Frith, one of The Clique, hired Egley to add backgrounds to his own work. Egley soon developed a style influenced by Frith, including domestic and childhood subjects. Most of his paintings were humorous or "feelgood" genre scenes of urban and rural life, depicting such subjects as harvest festivals and contemporary fashions. His best-known painting, Omnibus Life in London (Tate Gallery), is a comic scene of people squashed together in the busy, cramped public transport of the era. Egley siempre mostró gran interés por los detalles del vestuario, prestando una atención minuciosa a los mismos, pero sus pinturas fueron a menudo criticadas por su estilo duro y torpe. En la década de 1860, Egley adoptó la moda de los temas románticos del siglo XVIII. Aunque produjo una gran cantidad de pinturas confiablemente vendibles, su trabajo nunca fue admirado críticamente.