Augustus Leopold Egg (1816 - 1863)

Born 2 May 1816 in Westminster, London, England

Ancestors

Husband of Esther Mary (Brown) Egg — married 1860 in Stepney, London, England, United Kingdom

Died 26 Mar 1863 at age 46 in Algiers, Algeria

Problems/Questions Profile manager: I. Speed [send private message]

Biography

August was born in 1816. He is the youngest of five children born to (Jean) Joseph Egg, a gun and truss maker, and Ann Stephens.^[1]

Augustus had the benefit of a good education and did not show any great interest in art until 1834. That year he began instruction at Henry Sass's Art School on Charlotte Street, Bloomsbury. There he mastered the first elements in drawing and shortly after that, in 1835 or 1836, he was admitted to the Royal Academy for further studies. His first paintings were of Italian subjects and scenes from fictional writings. A painting called "A Spanish Girl" was shown at the Royal Academy in 1838, his first exhibition. An early important work was called The Victim of "Le Diable Boiteux" of LeSage, and it was exhibited at the Liverpool Academy of Arts. This painting was later engraved in the "Gems of European Art." Afterwards, in 1844, Egg painted a companion picture for this painting.

He gained renown as a genre and history painter. He is most famous for his work on the theme of the "Fallen woman" a triptych entitled "Past and Present "They are typical of the social moralist pictures which were popular in Victorian art. ^{[2] [3]}An article written by the Tate In which we discover that Egg took part in amateur theater productions with Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, John Forster and Frank Stone in the 1840s A range of his artistic work can be viewed at ^[4]

Egg's later fame as a painter of social history subjects was well-deserved. He was a contributor for many years to the Society of British Artists in Suffolk Street. He was elected as an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1848, and an Academician in 1860. His works, though few, won him the highest honors of his profession. In all, he sent twenty-eight pictures to the Royal Academy for exhibition.

Augustus usually did not exhibit more than once a year. Having a considerable fortune, his inheritance, made him independent of his art for support. In addition his delicate health, weak lungs and chronic asthma, often forced him to spend time in milder climates of the south of France, Italy and Algiers to avoid the cold winters of England.

He married in 1860 in Stepney ^[5]

He passed away in 1863.^[6] The sale of his studio was held at Christie's on May 18, 1863.

Research Notes

1841 Census^[7] Augustus, aged about 25 was living in a house with a number of other people in Gerard St, st Ann, Soho. The head of the household was a Napoleon Gouillier. A number of people were described as being foreign.

Sources

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NDWF-RNR : 10 February 2018, Joseph Egg in entry for Augustus Leopold Egg, 02 May 1816); citing 2:33Q4T2T, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,042,309.
2. ↑ https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/augustus-leopold-egg-169
3. ↑ https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/07/a-dramatic-reading-of-augustus-leopold-egg-untitled-triptych
4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiBm2IHbTYs
5. ↑ https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=KdiWAmUAbbsahjeUyAQzXQ&scan=1
6. ↑ "England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPJS-GC9D : 30 August 2018), Augustus Leopold Egg, Jan 1864; citing Probate, England, United Kingdom, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Great Britain.; FHL microfilm .
7. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQVF-MH2 : 22 May 2019), August Egg in household of Napoleon Gouillier, St Anne Soho, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey

• "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGFT-952 : 9 November 2019), Augustus Egg, Paddington, Middlesex, England; citing Paddington, Middlesex, England, p. 44, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
• http://www.avictorian.com/Egg_Augustus.html
• The Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. VI, pp. 581-582; by Sir Leslie Stephen, Oxford University Press, London, England, 1938.
• Bryan’s Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, Vol. II, pp. 121-122; by George C. Williamson, Litt. D., Kennikat Press, Port Washington, New York, 1964.
• Shirley Elizabeth (Heaney) Buirch; Contributor
• Eck Families Primarily Listing Descendants of Jacob Egg/Eck and Anna Maria Margaret Kilcher pp. 10-11; Helen E. Arkey, Allentown, PA, 1992

See also:

• Wikipedia: Augustus Egg
• Wikidata: Item Q2578242, en:Wikipedia