Didier Nolet

Teaches at The Art Center Highland Park

Didier Nolet is an artist who was born and raised in Paris, France. He wanted to be an artist since a very young age. For many years every summer he traveled throughout France with his parents. These trips left a very strong impression on him. At the age of eighteen he entered the Beaux-Arts School in Paris to study painting. This is also something that had a strong impact on him. He finally could be himself and could do what he wanted to do the most in the world: to paint. After he met a young American who was traveling through France, he moved to Chicago in 1979. She became his wife. This move had a strange effect on him. It brought back many of his childhood memories. These memories were so strong that he knew he had to put them on canvas. He started to paint imaginary landscapes that reflect a blending of his childhood memories (he never uses photographs or any other visual support). Over time, these paintings became more and more an expression of his state of mind, which in turn was affected directly by what happened in his life. Some paintings came out serene, others dark and somber. More recently he started a new series of paintings (some very large) reflecting the storms of his life; big crushing waves and surf. His paintings are started with very small sketches. He then paints small oil studies and finishes with a large piece. He always allows himself the possibility of changing anything while he is working on the final painting. He does not want to simply copy the studies. Didier Nolet has been showing in Chicago and across the United States since 1980. The Chicago Cultural Center and the Rockford Art Museum in Rockford, Illinois both organized a ten-year survey of his work. He has shown in many galleries in Chicago, including Struve Gallery, Eva Cohen Gallery, Ann Nathan Gallery, Lydon FineArt, and Perimeter Gallery. He has exhibited in Laguna Beach, California at Shona Gallery, Munson Gallery in Santa Fe, MC Gallery in Minneapolis, Suzanne Brown Gallery in Scottsdale, and Marilyn Pearl Gallery in New York City. Nolet is represented in numerous corporate art collections throughout the United States, has won many prizes and awards for his work including an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, and has been the subject of dozens of newspaper and magazine articles over the years.