The Path from Solingen to Munich Born in Solingen, Germany, Robert Engels began his life as the son of a steel goods dealer. His early years were shaped by the expectation of taking over the family business, a path he eventually left behind after his father passed away in 1885. Instead of the trade of steel, he sought the studios of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. He studied there under instructors such as Hugo Crola and Johann Peter Theodor Janssen, refining a hand that was as comfortable with a lithograph as it was with a brush. His training was not confined to a single classroom; he spent ti…