The Clique

The Clique was an informal group of friends, from about 1837, during their time as students at London's Royal Academy Schools.

The Clique was a group of artists who aimed to improve their work, often choosing literary and historical subjects. They met weekly, picked a subject, created sketches, critiqued them, and selected the best one. The group included Richard Dadd, Augustus Egg, Alfred Elmore, William Frith, Henry O’Neill, and John Phillip. In 1841, some of them tried to start an art society for young artists, but it didn't succeed. Unfortunately, Dadd later committed a crime, was institutionalised, and continued to paint while in confinement, creating remarkable works like "The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke."