Diplomatic World 67

NELSON MANDELA’S PORTRAIT
BOOSTED THE ART CAREER
OF ARTIST PETER ENGELS
WHEN MANDELA TURNED 90, ARTIST PETER
ENGELS PAINTED MANDELA’S LARGE PORTRAIT.
THE PAINTING ENDED UP ON THE WORLD’S
LARGEST BILLBOARD IN TIMES SQUARE, NEW
YORK, ON MANDELA’S BIRTHDAY. THIS BOOSTED
PETER ENGELS’ ART CAREER.
MANDELA IN TIMES SQUARE
Since the Reuters news agency inaugurated the world’s largest
billboard in Times Square with the Mandela portrait by Peter
Engels, the Belgian portrait painter has enjoyed increasing art
attention. “Times Square has really accelerated my career,”
Engels says. “The attention just kept coming. Washington Post,
Los Angeles Times, the British The Independent, New York Daily
News, Sun Herald, Forbes, San Francisco Business Times. I even
made it to the elite Chinese art scene. Wonderful to get all that
positive response from all over the globe.”
The Mandela portrait travelled to various exhibitions. For Peter
Engels, the number of international exhibitions increased as well.
For several years now, works by Engels have been on display
during the Art Basel Miami art week. He personally travelled to
an exhibition in New York. Fortunately, because it was there that
he met Karl Lagerfeld and painted his portrait.
After a few exhibitions the Mandela painting was then sold to a
Mandela fan and art collector who said: “Rarely we have encountered
an artist who was able to create such a remarkable portrait
of an icon.”
MANDELA’S VIVID LOOK
When Mandela died the painting was used in his obituary. “This
portrait is a painted tribute to one of the greatest men ever. In
the painting, in spite of his respectable age at that time, Nelson
Mandela has a vivid appearance,” Peter Engels says. “Time and
a turbulent life have indeed engraved his face, but in this painting,
he will keep that friendly look forever. The stars in his eyes
will twinkle eternally. His smile is warm, and he has a glowing
charisma. For me it was a real pleasure and humbling honour to
paint him.”
MADIBA PAINTED WITH THE ENGELS’ SIGNATURE
Barely a few months after he made the press with the very last
portrait of tenor Luciano Pavarotti, Peter Engels astonished the
world with Mandela’s impressive portrait. Peter Engels paints
with the pallet knife. The paint is applied in a thick layer to the
canvas and gives the art a nice texture. His colour palette is sober.
Engels himself calls his paintings “Vintage Portraits” because
of the sepia colour use. The portrait of Mandela is painted in this
same way. Tens of thousands of strokes of the pallet knife in exactly
the right position form a harmonious and glorious portrait.
Just like the Mandela portrait, all the character heads that Peter
Engels creates are large close-ups painted with the pallet knife in
sepia tones. Together with the separate positioning of the head
on the canvas, this is his personal and unique signature.
THE AMAZING WALK BACK EXPERIENCE
The Nelson Mandela portrait has the Engels’ characteristics.
When you get the chance to see his work, it is intriguing to do
this exercise: look at the work from up close and then gradually
step back and view it from a distance. The effect is impressive!
From a short distance the knife strokes are large, and the painting
seems abstract. Walking backwards one can perceive the
portrait in all its glory and in all its detail. If you take a few steps
sideways, Mandela’s eyes continue to look at you, they follow
you. The amazing effect is that the eye of the viewer is unconsciously
focused on the face. Peter Engels definitely wants to
paint a bright, lively look. This gives the portrait a real soul. That is
exactly what Karl Lagerfeld said: “Peter Engels painted my soul”.
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