Born: 1872 Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
Died: 1951 London, England
Year of Migration to the UK: 1890
Other name/s: Florence Neumagen
Biography
Painter Florence Engelbach (née Neumagen) was born to Albert Neumagen, an officer of the British Empire, in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, in 1872. Brought up by a governess, she always considered Spain her spiritual home, though her later love of flower painting was inspired by her Warwickshire garden in England. It is unclear when Engelbach moved to England, but she certainly studied at the Westminster School of Art and at the Slade School of Art, until 1894, before completing her art education in Paris. In 1902, she married Charles Engelbach, president of the Institute of Automobile Engineers. After marrying and having two children, she gave up painting for several years but returned to the profession in the 1930s. She lived in Newcastle from 1902-33 and later moved to London.
Early in her career, Engelbach gained recognition for delicate portraits, which showed her talent for precise drawing and painting in the restrained style that was popular at the time. In 1901, she exhibited a piece under her maiden name at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and earned a bronze medal at a Women’s International Art Club (WIAC) exhibition in London. After a break in her career, she shifted her focus to painting flowers. Her approach evolved, embracing brighter colours, looser brushwork, and a stronger emphasis on capturing light. Overall, her earlier and later paintings display a soft, impressionistic style, characterised by open brushwork, a light palette, and an emphasis on capturing the interplay of light and colour. Her floral still lifes and portraits show a sense of delicacy and spontaneity, reminiscent of French Impressionism, but with a particular degree of intimacy. The compositions emphasise mood over precise detail, aligning with the emerging sensibilities of early 20th-century European ar. Her oeuvre includes oils on canvas, pastels and watercolours. She had a studio in Palace Yard in Coventry in the Midlands, where she often painted portraits of local children.
Engelbach held numerous exhibitions during the 1930s, after returning to art. Her 1931 solo exhibition at the Beaux Arts Galleries in Birmingham was met with great acclaim. Critics especially admired her use of vibrant, radiant colours. Furthermore, ‘Each one of these flower pieces has its own distinctive pictorial effect, and in each the background plays its part, but, for ourselves, we could not but regret that there were not more examples at this exhibition of Mrs. Engelbach’s work in landscape,’ (Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 1931, p. 6). The Duke and Duchess of York were among the attendees and showed their appreciation. Most of the works on display were sold, with one purchased by the Birmingham Art Gallery. She also exhibited intermittently at the Royal Academy of Arts in London from 1934 to 1940 and at the Paris Salon. In 1934, she had a solo exhibition at London's Lefevre Galleries, of which the press positively observed: ‘Mrs. Engelbach bases all her pictures on sound design and draughtsmanship, but her sensitive interpretation of colour is impressionist, and gives her finished paintings all the delightful qualities of rapid sketch,’ (Birmingham Daily Gazette, 1934, p. 3). In 1939, during a solo exhibition at the prestigious Leicester Galleries in London, the Tate Gallery bought her painting Roses. Engelbach was a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters , the Coventry and Warwickshire Society of Artists, National Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Gravers, and was President of the Coventry Art Circle. For her major exhibition in Coventry in 1943, the chairman of the Coventry Art Circle stated: ‘Mrs. Engelbach is capable of painting everything she sees. Everything she paints is expression – not illustration. It is not static – it is dynamic. It is alive and, it lived because she is sincere,’ (Coventry Evening Telegraph, 1943, p. 2).
Florence Engelbach died in London, England on 27 February 1951. That same year, the Leicester Galleries held a memorial exhibition. More recently, in 2017, Aiden Meller in Oxford featured her work in Modern British Retold which revisited a number of neglected women painters of the period, particularly those educated at the Slade. Her works are held in many public collections in the UK, including Birmingham Museums Trust, Laing Art Gallery, Pallant House Gallery, Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, Walker Art Gallery, and the Tate collection. While some information is readily available on Engelbach, she remains a somewhat under-researched artist. The Ben Uri Research Unit welcomes contributions from family members and researchers who may have additional knowledge.
Related books
- David Buckman, ‘Florence Engelbach’, in Artists in Britain since 1945 (Bristol: Art Dictionaries Ltd, 2006), p. 478
- Alicia Foster, TATE Women Artists (London: Tate Publishing, 2004)
- Brian Stewart and Mervyn Cutten, The Dictionary of Portrait Painters in Britain up to 1920 (Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club, 1997)
- Frances Spalding and Judith Collins, 20th Century Painters and Sculptors (Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club, 1991)
- Grant M. Waters, Dictionary of British artists working 1900-1950 (Eastbourne: Eastbourne Fine Arts Publications,1975)
- No author, ‘Coventry Exhibition of Works by Florence Engelbach’, Coventry Evening Telegraph, 23 August 1943, p. 2
- No author, ‘Over Two Years’ Work’, Birmingham Daily Gazette, 2 February 1934, p. 3
- No author, ‘Florence Engelbach’, Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 4 June 1931, p. 6
Public collections
Related organisations
- Coventry Art Circle (president )
- Coventry and Warwickshire Society of Artists (member )
- National Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers (member )
- Royal Institute of Oil Painters (member)
- Slade School of Art (student)
- Westminster School of Art (student)
Related web links
- Bridgeman images
- Christie's
- Contemporary Art Society
- Florence Engelbach paintings Domenico Scarlatti
- Modern British Retold, Aiden Meller Gallery
- Musée d'Orsay
- The Gallery
Selected exhibitions
- Modern British Retold (group show), Aiden Meller Gallery, Oxford (2017)
- Florence Engelbach: Memorial Exhibition (solo exhibition), Leicester Galleries, London (1951)
- Florence Engelbach (solo exhibition), Coventry Art Circle/Coventry Art Gallery, Coventry (1943)
- Paris Salon (group show), Paris (1940s)
- Royal Academy group exhibitions, 166th exhibition, 168th exhibition, 170th exhibition, 172nd exhibition, London (1934, 1936, 1938, 1940)
- Still Lifes (group show), Leicester Galleries, London (1939)
- Florence Engelbach (solo exhibition), Leicester Galleries, London (1939)
- Group show, Royal Cambrian Academy of Art, Conwy (1934)
- Florence Engelbach (solo exhibition), Lefevre Galleries, London (1934)
- Group show, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle (1931)
- Florence Engelbach (solo exhibition), Beaux Arts Galleries, London (1931)
- Women’s International Art Club (group show), R.B.A. Galleries, London (1901)
