Charlotte Engels was born in the capital of the Grand Duchy to a Luxembourg father, Mathias Engels, nephew of the artist Michel Engels, and a French mother of Lorraine origin. Her father died very young. During the German occupation, her brother and uncle were captured and killed.

She attended the private school Notre-Dame Sainte-Sophie but interrupted her studies after her fourth year of secondary school. In 1945, she moved to Paris, where she initially enrolled at the Académie Julian, but then changed to the École supérieure des Beaux-Arts until 1950. She completed her artistic training at the École des monuments historiques at the Trocadéro Palace.

Engels worked in several artistic fields: sculpture (bust, monumental sculpture, statuette, relief), medals, painting, drawing, engraving (banknote) and book illustration. The artist discovered her passion for sculpture by chance when, in response to a provocation at work, she modelled a plasticine figure of her boss. Following this event, she had the idea of devoting herself intensively to sculpture (Spautz). At first, she trained herself by making copies of classical sculptures until she found her own style. In 1947, she illustrated the children's book Am bloe Bösch. She subsequently began to receive commissions, first in Luxembourg and then in Paris. Her first public works were sculptures in memory of her brother and uncle in Lachapelle-sous-Rougemont, followed in 1949 by the monument to Fathers Stoffel and Wampach in the church of Saint-Joseph l'Artisan in Paris. In 1957, her bust of Father Teilhard de Chardin in Paris made her well-known and her gained recognition led to a collaboration with the institution Monnaie de Paris (Paris Mint), for which she designed the Pierre Teilhard de Chardin medal. She went on to produce medals of illustrious personalities such as Buddha, Racine, Robert Oppenheimer, Pope Paul VI and several members of the Luxembourg dynasty. She also executed several private commissions.

For each of her works, she began with an in-depth study, immersing herself in the person portrayed. In the case of Father Teilhard de Chardin (on whom she has published an anthology), "she sought and found the mystical key that would open the soul of this character" (Sch[eifer]). She also created medals commemorating historical events, the most famous being the Appel du 18 Juin 1940 du Général de Gaulle. Between 1957 and 1988, she produced 34 medals, 15 of which related to Luxembourg (Weiller 10). Engels left a considerable number of works in Luxembourg. She modelled several statuettes, including some in ceramic, such as Vierge à l’enfant. Among her bronze statues, the bust of Grand Duke Jean and her monumental L’Envol de l’Europe of 1979, commissioned by the government, deserve special mention.   

In terms of style, Engels' work has been characterised not only by her figurative expression, but also by her exploration of the abstract (Réminiscences et structures) (Weiller 10). After being involved in a car crash and then a bicycle accident, she was forced to reduce her creative activity and focus on smaller works. She scaled down her sculptural work and increasingly created paintings, but remained consistent with her characteristics, including the search for a cosmic space and a dynamic rhythm, "the undeniable influence of Teilhardian cosmogony" (L.K. "Echos de Paris"). Her other sources of inspiration were Egyptian art and, above all, music (Spautz).

Her first solo exhibition was staged at the Galerie Wierschem in Luxembourg immediately after the Second World War. It was not until the 1970s that she returned to the national scene with several solo exhibitions in Luxembourg City (Cercle Cité, Centre culturel français) and Ettelbruck (Hôtel de Ville). In 1990, a major retrospective was also held at the Centre culturel français. As for group exhibitions, she took part in her first Salon of the Cercle artistique de Luxembourg (CAL) in 1949, then again in 1950, from 1952 to 1954 and finally as guest of honour in 1989. On the international stage, Engels exhibited mainly in France, at the Salons de l'Art Libre, the Salons d'Automne and the Salons de l'Art Monumental at the Grand Palais in Paris and at the Venice Biennale (Schneider Charlotte Engels). From 1958 onwards, she participated in all the exhibitions organised by the Monnaie de Paris and in the international exhibitions of the Fédération internationale de la médaille d’art (FIDEM) (Schneider). During her time in the French capital, she participated in the Salon des Femmes peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs, décorateurs several times in the 1960s. In 1970 and 1972, she exhibited at the Biennale des Formes humaines in the garden of the Musée Rodin in Paris. In 1985, she presented her work at the Maison de l’UNESCO. In 1980, her works were included in the permanent exhibition of the Cabinet des médailles at the Musée national d'archéologie, d'histoire et d'art (MNAHA) in Luxembourg, and in 1984, she featured in the Sculptures & Objets exhibition at the Villa Vauban. In 1991, she was selected to take part in the large retrospective Cent ans d'art de la médaille in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. In 1992, she was chosen to represent Luxembourg at the exhibition In the Round: Contemporary art medals of the world at the British Museum in London.

Charlotte Engels was born into a family of artists, the most famous of whom was Michel Engels. His son, the architect Victor Engels, helped to launch her career (Braun-Breck). Auguste Trémont recognised her talent early on and supported her from the beginning (T. "Charlotte Engels." ). She first studied with Paul Niclausse (1879-1958) at the École supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She then went on to study at the Ecole des monuments historiques at the Trocadéro Palace in the studio of Pierre Seguin (1872-1958).

Engels is represented in several national and international collections. In Luxembourg, her works are part of the MNAHA collections, the Maison du Grand-Duc and the Banque et Caisse d'Épargne de l'État (BCEE). Outside Luxembourg, Engels' works can be found in the collections of the Monnaie de Paris, the Club Français de la Médaille (CFM), the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle and the Fondation Teilhard de Chardin.

Her monumental sculptures are on display in several public spaces in Luxembourg (Luxembourg City, Findel, Kirchberg, Belfort, Bettembourg). The artist's sculptures also decorate a number of churches in Luxembourg (Basilica of Echternach, Church of Steinheim, Chapel of the Collège de Diekirch), as well as in France (Église de la Mission France-Luxembourg, Paris).

In Luxembourg, Engels was a member of the CAL and worked with the BCEE, the Maison du Grand-Duc, Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL), Villeroy & Boch, the Administration des Postes and Rotary/Ettelbruck. In France, she collaborated with the Monnaie de Paris, the Union des femmes peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs et décorateurs, the Sèvres Manufacture and the FIDEM, among others.

The artist received several awards and distinctions during her lifetime. In Luxembourg, she was granted the Prix Grand-Duc Adolphe in 1952. In France, she was awarded the Grand Prix de la sculpture des femmes sculpteurs in Paris in 1957, the Prix du Salon des Artistes Français in 1968 and the Médaille Grand Siècle Prix de la Couronne de France in 1972. In 1958, she was awarded the Médaille de la Société des Arts, Sciences et Lettres in Paris, and in 1974, she was named Officier de l'Ordre de Mérite and Officier de l'Ordre de la Couronne de Chêne of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

In 1947, a first review in the local press highlighted her "very feminine" illustrations (Neue Bücher 2), while later, her physical strength was noted in the execution of her monumental sculptures. Following her first national recognition in 1952 and a promising start with numerous commissions and excellent reviews in Luxembourg, she lost the sympathy of the critics at home, when she moved permanently to Paris (Spautz). In Paris, however, she began to break through from 1957 onwards (Sch[eifer] 4). In 1967, national critics pointed out that the artist had achieved international recognition before she became renowned in Luxembourg (L.K. Echos de Paris). This point was reiterated in 1982 (Sch[eifer]). As the journalist Roger Spautz noted in 1981, she was the only woman of Luxembourg origin to have established international fame as a sculptor. In 1988, the art historian Joseph Paul Schneider published the only monograph on her, describing her as a woman of spiritual character. In 1989, he emphasised the artist's ability to express "the relationships between the laws governing the human spirit and those governing the universe, thus elevating her craftsmanship as a medallist and sculptor to that of an art that bears witness to human greatness and dignity" (Schneider Salon du CAL). However, referring to her works from 1960 to 1965, Schneider also regretted the fact that she had missed out on a real career as a painter (Schneider, Charlotte Engels 4). Thanks to the initiative of several people, her reputation was maintained after her death. One example of this is her monumental sculpture Orphée erected on the grounds of the campus Geesseknäppchen in Luxembourg City (Braun-Beck). A second example is her Envol de l'Europe, which caused a scandal in the local press, as the sculpture was left abandoned and slated to be scrapped but was finally restored and returned to its place near the airport (Eischen 65).

According to our knowledge, Engels is one of the first female sculptors from Luxembourg to have an international reputation in art history.

WORKS CITED

Braun-Breck, Lotty."Orphée l’enchanteur…Le sculpteur Charlotte Engels - Quand l’art prend un air de famille." Die Warte (n° 25/1932) 06.07.2000: unknown. (Archiv Lambert Herr, E02, Engels, p.129.)

Eischen, Linda. "La Collection Luxembourgeoise du Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art: Charlotte Engels." Ons Stad 94: 65-67. Print.

L.K. "Echos de Paris : Charlotte Engels ou : En rencontrant une artiste luxembourgeoise à Paris." Luxemburger Wort 06.07.1967 : unknown. (Archiv Lambert Herr, E02, Engels, p.8.)

"Neue Bücher: Am bloe Bösch." Luxemburger Wort 22.01.1947: 2.

Scheifer, P. " A thing of beauty…Neues vom Schaffen der Luxemburger Bildhauerin und Medaillenschöpferin Charlotte Engels." Luxemburger Wort 10.12.1982: unknown. (Archiv Lambert Herr, E02, Engels, p.61-62.)

Sch[eifer], P., Charlotte Engels – Portrait d’une artiste et de son œuvre, dans Luxemburger Wort du 20.4.1979, p.4 et du 24.4.1979, p.4.

Schneider, Joseph Paul. Charlotte Engels. Luxembourg: Imprimerie Saint-Paul, 1988. Print.

Schneider Joseph Paul. "Salon du CAL." Octobre 1989 : page unknown. (Archiv Lambert Herr, E02, Engels, p.128.)

Spautz, Roger. "Bildhauerin und Kunstmalerin: Charlotte Engels (II)." Journal 05.03.1981: unknown. (Archiv Lambert Herr, E02, Engels, p.42.)

T. "Charlotte Engels." Luxemburger Wort (Die Warte, Nr 36), 18.10.1949: 50.

Weiller, Raymond. Cent ans d’art de la médaille au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg : Médailleurs, graveurs, modeleurs et auteurs de projets luxembourgeois (période 1890-1990). Luxembourg : Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat Luxembourg, 1991. Exhibition catalogue.