Egerton, Daniel Thomas (1800–1842)

Daniel Thomas Egerton (b. 1800; d. 1842), English painter. One of the first traveling painters to arrive after Mexican independence, when the borders were opened to non-Hispanics, Egerton remained in Mexico from 1829 to 1836. Europeans came to Mexico moved by curiosity about its natural wonders, exoticness, and legendary mineral wealth, which explains the predominance in their work of landscapes, both rural and urban, popular sites, folkloric scenes, and representations of pre-Columbian ruins.

Returning to London, Egerton published Vistas de México in 1840. The twelve plates that illustrate the book, stone lithographs retouched with watercolors, are accompanied by brief textual explanations in which scientific and folkloric information are mixed, indicating the fascination of Europeans with the exotic aspects of Mexico. In this publication, which focuses primarily on the images, Egerton depicts a series of cities: some characterized by their agricultural and commercial wealth, such as Puebla and Guadalajara; others as mining centers, such as Zacatecas; and still others as supply points, such as Aguascalientes. These works inspired Egerton to produce oil paintings on the same themes.

At the end of 1840, Egerton returned to Mexico and took up residence in Tacubaya (Mexico City), where both he and his wife were murdered in 1842. The murderers' cases were extensively publicized in 1844.

See alsoMexico City; Guadalajara.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Manuel Romero De Terreros, Paisajes mexicanos de un pintor inglés (1949).

Justino Fernández, Artistas británicos en México (1968).

Additional Bibliography

Mac Adam, Alfred J. "Daniel Thomas Egerton, The Unfortunate Traveler." Review 47 (Fall 2003): 9-13.

                                         Esther Acevedo