One of the Greatest Color Plate Books
Egerton's Views in Mexico stands as one of the finest color plate books ever produced, illustrating gorgeous scenes of the Valley of Mexico and surrounding areas on a grand scale in full color lithography, without the slightest evidence of the ongoing political turmoil plaguing the country following the achievement of Independence.
One of the rarest and most beautiful collections of Mexican views produced in the 19th century, considered also one of the finest color-plate books ever made, after the paintings of a talented British painter, Daniel Thomas Egerton, one of the original members of the Royal Society of British Artists. Egerton's life was shrouded in intrigue and catastrophe, ending in his murder in the outskirts of Mexico City in 1842.
[O]ne the most beautiful and rare series of prints relating to America - Dorothy Sloan.
Egerton (1797-1842) was a British artist, trained at the academy of the art patron and watercolorist Thomas Monro, where he had access to, as Turner before him, a vast collection of art, perfecting his skill as draughtsman. With time he then started exhibiting at the Royal Society of British Artists between 1824-1829, travelled to Mexico, arriving in 1831, in the midst of turmoil caused by the recently finished struggle for Mexican Independence from Spanish colonial rule, and the subsequent political atmosphere. He became thus one of the earliest artists to enter the country during this period. He travelled inland extensively for nearly 5 years, and captured different views from cities like Mexico, Zacatecas, Puebla, Veracruz, Guadalajara, etc. in sketches that would later be transformed into large scale oil and watercolours. In 1836 he made his way back to England, where his renderings were exhibited at the Society of British Artists between 1838-1840.
The original oils and watercolors were exhibited by the Society and served as the basis for the suite of prints that comprise this work, executed by Egerton himself, and published in 1840, sometimes found accompanied by a short pamphlet with an explanatory text of each image which is not present here.
Soon after this, he journeyed back to Mexico, establishing himself and his young bride (an adolescent daughter of another British painter) outside of Mexico City. There, in 1842, he and his wife were murdered. Since their valuables were not taken, it has been suggested that the murders were not due to robbery:
On the afternoon of April 27, 1842, Agnes and Daniel left their home in Tacubaya and set out for a walk in the countryside towards the Xola ranch. Near the Puente de la Morena, they were assaulted by four men armed with knives. Egerton received nine stab wounds, four of them to the head; although he defended himself with his cane, he was killed on the spot. Agnes was eight months pregnant; she was raped and strangled to death. Her body was found completely naked, with part of her scalp torn from her skull, severe bruises, bite marks, and a superficial wound. The murderers left a piece of cardboard on her body with the inscription: "Florencio Egerton. Casa de los padres abades. Tacubaya." The artist was 45 years old, and his wife was 20.
Although the criminals robbed their victims of some belongings, robbery never seemed to be the true motive, as the painter's body was left with a ring and some money, and she was left with another ring and a chain with a gold cross. Various hypotheses were considered: the unlikely possibility of a circumstantial crime to rob the couple; another pointing suspicion towards a supposed lover of Agnes before the painter, who might have acted out of spite; and there was even speculation of political motives linked to Freemasonry, as Egerton belonged to the Scottish Rite. The Times of London published on June 16, 1842: "The whole matter is shrouded in mystery, and thousands of speculations are emerging in Mexico in connection with it. The one gaining the most credibility is that the murder was planned in England.
Egerton's brother, William Henry, who had been residing in our capital since 1830, appealed to diplomatic channels... William was involved in colonization enterprises in Texas, and perhaps Daniel was too. Therefore, another hypothesis suggests that the artist and his wife may have been killed due to some issue with those Texan groups, and in such a case, there could have been complicity from the brother and possibly from George Wilkins Kendall, who claimed that Agnes "possessed very personal charms and virtues as a landscape painter." - Iturriaga
His renderings bring together elements of the contemporary life of Mexico, portraying the native Mexican population, landscapes, civil structures, market scenes, etc.
The plates comprise:
- Sn. Augustin de las Cuevas
- Aguas calientes
- Mexico
- Guanaxuato
- Guadalaxara
- Vera Cruz
- Popocatapetl. Izlacchuatl. Puebla
- Zacatecas
- Plan del Rio-la Conducta
- Canon of Sn. Cayetano. Mine of Rayas. Guanaxuato
- Real del Monte
- Hacienda de Barrera
An exceedingly scarce and valuable work; we can trace only three other sets that have appeared at auction in the last thirty years:
Sotheby´s 1991 (lot 422, £22,000);
Dorothy Sloan (1990, also lacking the pamphlet, $50,000);
Christie´s (10 September 2018, Collection de Juan Beistegui, lot 153, 223,500 EUR).
Examples of his original artwork are highly valued, for example, the painting of Veracruz and Castle of San Juan de Ulloa sold in Bonhams 7 February 2018, lot 122, for £344,750; another painting, a view of the Valley of Mexico sold at Christie´s, 1 June 2007, lot 40, for $384,000.
Sabin makes no mention of the pamphlet.