Paintings by Walter Nobbe
Walter Nobbe was born in 1941 in Malang, Indonesia, later moving with his family in 1950 to the Netherlands. He studied at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague, graduating as a professor of art in 1963. Nobbe began teaching but later decided to concentrate on his painting; he was a master in drawing and painting the male figure. His first exhibition was held in 1966 at Felix Valk’s Galerie 20, which concentrated on the New Realist artists.
Together with philosopher and politician Peter Blokhuis and painter-sculptor Pat Andrea, Nobbe formed the ABN group, a group of young painters who were considered the top echelon of the new Dutch Realist painters. His high level of craftsmanship makes his paintings stand out from the others, Nobbe’s work is represented in museums and galleries in the Netherlands, Belgium and France, as well as in private collections.
In 1972, Walter Nobbe started to design for the Netherland Dance Theater, designing ballets for dancers and choreographers Cliff Keuter, Jiří Kylián and Nacho Duato. His production designs include “Overgrown Path, the “Dream Dances”, “Bolero”, and “Arenal”. Nobbe has worked with dance companies throughout the world: the English National Ballet in London, The Culberg Ballet of Sweden, and the Houston Ballet in Texas. Nobbe’s ballet “Overgrown Path” is one of his three works in the repertoire of the American Ballet Theater.