William Maw Egley

1826-1916 English

Victoriaanse genrescènes met kostuumdetails

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 toonde altijd grote interesse in de details van kostuums en besteedde daar veel aandacht aan, maar zijn schilderijen werden vaak bekritiseerd vanwege hun harde, onhandige stijl. In de jaren 1860 nam Egley de mode van geromantiseerde onderwerpen uit de 18e eeuw over. Hoewel hij een zeer groot aantal betrouwbaar verkoopbare schilderijen produceerde, werd zijn werk nooit kritisch bewonderd.