Please note:
The following 37 pastels were created by the artist in his studio in Brooklyn, NY in 1979. Christopher Engel had spent about four years painting landscapes in the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens in a manner after the style of Vincent van Gogh. Following that period, he felt he needed to strike out anew and make something more personal and meaningful somehow. He needed to feel his work was his own. The images in this series were based on some emotionally charged moments in his childhood and some in later periods as well. The pastels were photographed by the artist himself in 1979. Please bear in mind that these are the only photos available, the picture quality is not ideal, and the colors are not truly representative of the vibrant colors in the original pastels which had an iridescent quality despite no iridescent pigments being used. The Rites of Passage are currently in a private collection in Brooklyn, NY.