Past and Present - 1858/9 by Augustus Egg (2 May 1816 - 25 March 1863) Augustus Leopold Egg was born in London . In 1859 Egg produced a series of three paintings called Past and Present. Influenced by the moral paintings of William Hogarth, the pictures tell the story of a man that Egg knew, whose wife had been unfaithful. In the first picture the husband discovers his wife's infidelity; he holds the letter that has enabled him to discover the betrayal and crushes a picture of his wife's lover under his foot. The second and third pictures both take place at the same moment, five years later, after the death of the father. One picture shows the children alone in the home, whereas the mother is living under the Adelphi arches in London. Egg, a friend of the writer Charles Dickens, suffered from chronic respiratory disease. In 1863 Egg was advised that his health would improve if he lived in Africa. This move was unsuccessful and Augustus Leopold Egg died in Algiers. ?006 TopFoto