| Born in Haifa, Israel in 1931, Engel graduated from the renowned Beaux-Arts Bezalel in Jerusalem and later received a diploma in theater design from the Centre dramatique de l'Est in Strasbourg, France. He moved to Paris in the mid-1950s, where he painted and also worked on a variety of stage designs and costume projects; he had the first of many successful painting exhibits starting in 1960 at the Galerie Weil. In 1965 he moved to New York City.
During his days in Paris and throughout his ten-year stay in the United States, Engel worked almost exclusively in the painting medium. The subjects of his early works - landscapes, still lifes, and equestrian figures often presented in horse racing and circus scenes - were rendered in a style that was predominantly figural and representationnal, reflecting his academic training. The paintings from this period are strongly graphic and characterized by a bold and direct use of color.
Engel's early influences include Picasso, Klee, Marini, Kandinsky, and other European expressionists, as well as the conceptual artists Oppenheim and Beuys. He also was influenced by the abstract expressionnists of the New York School, many of whom he knew and befriended while living in New York City. |
