Robert Engels (9 March 1866,
Solingen
Solingen (; li, Solich) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located some 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and, with a 2009 population of 161,366, ...
- 24 May 1926,
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
) was a German painter, illustrator,
lithographer
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
, designer, and art teacher.
Biography
He was the eldest son of a dealer in steel goods, also named Robert Engels, and his wife Auguste, née Kirschbaum. He was trained to take over the family business, but had little interest in it so, after his father's death in 1885, he left it to his younger siblings and enrolled at the
Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he studied until 1889.
His instructors there included
Hugo Crola
Hugo Crola (30 November 1841, Ilsenburg - 30 June 1910, Blankenburg (Harz), Blankenburg) was a German portrait, landscape and Genre art, genre painter, associated with the Düsseldorfer Malerschule.
Life and work
He was the first of five childr ...
,
Johann Peter Theodor Janssen
Johann Peter Theodor Janssen (12 December 1844, Düsseldorf – 19 February 1908, Düsseldorf) was a German historical painter.
Biography
Janssen was born in Düsseldorf, son of the engraver (1817–1894), by whom he was first instructed befo ...
,
Heinrich Lauenstein
Heinrich Lauenstein (26 September 1835, Hüddessum, near Hildesheim - 16 May 1910, Düsseldorf) was a German painter and art professor; associated with the Düsseldorfer Malerschule. He specialized in portraits, many of them of children, and religi ...
and
Adolf Schill
Adolf Schill, often also ''Adolph Schill'' (14 May 1848 – 10 November 1911), was a German architect, interior designer, artisan, illustrator and painter of the historism. As a university lecturer he worked at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf betwe ...
. Following his graduation, he made some lengthy stays in France, Belgium and England; eventually deciding to settle in Düsseldorf, where he became a regular contributor to the magazine ''
Jugend''.
In 1898, this led to the offer of a teaching position at the
Königliche Kunstgewerbeschule in Munich, which he accepted. There, in 1908, he married one of his students, . He was named a Professor in 1910. Two years later, he became a member of the
Deutscher Werkbund. His notable students included ,
Erwin Bowien
Erwin Johannes Bowien (3 September 1899 – 3 December 1972) was a German painter and author.
Biography
Bowien was a born in to a family of a construction engineer from East Prussia. His mother also came from there and was descended from a fami ...
, , and
Carl Otto Müller.
He maintained contact with the artists' colony at
Schondorf
Schondorf am Ammersee is a municipality in the district Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria, Germany and is a member of the municipal association Schondorf am Ammersee The municipal association based in Schondorf.
Geography
Geographical Location
Sch ...
, received commissions from the
Krupp
The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...
family, designed church windows in
Breslau and did scenographic work for theatres in Munich and
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
; all of which is documented in personal papers left by Gustava.
In 1934, she donated large parts of his artistic estate to the newly-created Robert Engels Memorial Foundation; funded by the city of Solingen. In return, she was granted a monthly pension. Another large part of his estate was donated in 1955. The remainder passed to Solingen following her death in 1970.
Sources
* "Engels, Robert". In: Ulrich Thieme (Ed.): ''Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart'', Vol.10: Dubolon–Erlwein. E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1914, pg.546
Online
* Franz Hendrichs: ''Robert Engels 1866–1926. Ein Lebensbild des Künstlers'', Buchdruckerei der Bergischen Zeitung Wald, 1928
* Johann Karl: ''Professor Robert Engels Nachlaß'', 1926. (Catalog for the estate sale)
* ''Robert Engels 1866–1926'' (Catalog for the memorial exhibition), 1956 Deutsches Klingenmuseum Solingen
External links
Documents and letters from the estate of Gustava Engels@ Wayback (Solingen Archives)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Engels, Robert
1866 births
1926 deaths
German painters
German illustrators
German lithographers
Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni
People from Solingen