Description:

Nissan Engel
Israel, Paris, New York, (1931-2016)
Torrero
impasto oil on canvas
Signed lower right.
Signed Nissan Engel, Paris verso.
From the Archives of askART:
The following information was compiled and submitted by Cameron L. Wolf:Artist, craftsman, innovator, technician, poet, musician - all of these terms are needed to describe Nissan Engel. In a prolific career spanning nearly four decades, Engel has developed a unique form of expression - rich, complex, highly personal - that defies easy classification. He is perhaps best known for his work in mixed media, in which he manipulates disparate elements to create harmonious, lyrical compositions. His body of work reflects a continual evolution, a constant seeking of new arenas in which to play out his ideas - painting, drawing, collage, printmaking. As he masters each new technique, he incorporates it into his work to achieve his ultimate artistic goals: harmony and equilibrium.

"The cabalistic idea of harmony is what I'm looking for - this religious sense of balance between the upper and lower parts that is the basis of God's creation of the world. This is what I want to find, what I want to say, what I want to liberate and communicate." (Interview by Katherine Winn,
"Nissan Engel," Art Gallery International, April, 1990).

Born is Israel in 1931, Engel graduated from the 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 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 expressionists of the New York School, many of whom he knew and befriended while living in New York City.

  • Dimensions: 23 1/2" x 17 1/2", 31" x 25" (frame)
  • Medium: impasto oil on canvas

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