Daniel Thomas Egerton (1797–1842), was a British

landscape painter Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent composi ...

, Egerton was one of the original members of the

Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...

, where he exhibited in the years 1824 to 1829, and in 1838 to 1840.Bryan 1886–89 He spent much of the later part of his life in Mexico, and in 1840 published ''Egerton's Views in Mexico'', a portfolio of lithographs described in the subtitle as "being a Series of Twelve Coloured Plates, executed by himself from his Original Drawings, accompanied with a short Description". Having abandoned his family in England, Egerton returned to Mexico in 1841 with Alice Edwards, the teenaged daughter of another British painter. He and the eight-month pregnant Alice were murdered in the village of Tacubaya (present day Mexico City), Mexico, where they had rented a house, on 27 April 1842. Egerton was carrying large amounts of money, and both he and Alice were wearing jewelry which was untouched, although the murder was attributed to a robbery. British diplomatic pressure to solve the crime led to the arrest of three local petty thieves, two of whom were hanged, and one of whom was allowed to escape from prison. There has been speculation that Egerton's alleged involvement in fraudulent land sales in Texas, his ties to a Masonic order, or an unknown jealous lover of Alice was behind the killing. A painting of ''The Ravine of the Desert (The Valley of Mexico)'' was sold at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémi ...

New York in 2007 for $384,000. His painting ''The Valley of Mexico '' (1837) is in the British

Government Art Collection The Government Art Collection (GAC) is the collection of artworks owned by the UK government and administered by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The GAC's artworks are used to decorate major government buildings in t ...

References

Attribution: * 1797 births 1842 deaths English landscape painters People murdered in Mexico British people murdered abroad English murder victims {{England-painter-stub