Emil Nolde (1867–1956) was a German–Danish Expressionist whose paintings look less “colored in” than electrically charged. Born Emil Hansen near the North Sea, he trained as a woodcarver and designer before turning seriously to fine art in his thirties—a late start that didn’t slow his momentum. Nolde became famous for fierce, saturated color, thick paint, and subjects chosen for emotional voltage: stormy seascapes, blazing flower gardens, and raw religious scenes that feel visionary rather than polite. He briefly associated with the Expressionist group Die Brücke, but his independent streak kept him on his own orbit. He also produced striking prints—woodcuts and etchings—where simplified forms and heavy contrasts amplify the drama. In 1913–14 he traveled with an ethnographic expedition to the South Pacific (then German New Guinea), absorbing motifs and intensifying his palette. Even when scenes are quiet, his colors argue, shimmer, and pulse, turning light into a kind of spiritual pressure. Nolde’s legacy is complicated. He embraced nationalist politics and sought favor with the Nazi regime, yet his work was branded “degenerate,” removed from museums, and he was forbidden to paint. He responded by making small, secret watercolors—his “Unpainted Pictures.” Today he’s remembered for using color like weather: sudden, visceral, unforgettable.