The Berlin-based painter Otto Heinrich Engel (1866-1949) came to the Island of Föhr for the first time in 1901. He subsequently spent several years in the town of Alkersum studying motifs to paint back at his studio. In a selection of oil paintings, pastels, watercolours and ink drawings taken from the Sammlung Kunst der Westküste (West Coast Art Collection) as well as hand-painted postcards from the artist’s estate the painter’s perspective on Alkersum is made concrete. Engel’s interest was aroused less by the sea itself and the beach tourists in Wyk than by the interplay between model studies and pictures of the village and its surroundings. In August 1901 he noted down in his journal: “Föhr made such a strong impression on me that I was able to make great artistic strides. I realized that this island would be curcial to my work.” By sending postcards and letters with drawings in pencil and paint to his family back home in Berlin, Engel shared his experiences during his study excursions to his artist’s haunt. In addition to Engel’s village impressions, paintings by the artists Fritz Cohrs, Julius Stockfleth and Johann Vincenz Cissarz showing Nieblum, Oevenum and Boldixum are presented in the exhibition.
