Picturing Places and Spaces

Nobili stacked sheets of paper that were painted on both sides with blocks, strips, and pools of color. She then cut and tore sections of the layered papers so they project from the surface to create what she called a dimensional watercolor. Most of the segments stand upright, but some fan outward. The rough edges of the cut papers contrast with the texture of the watercolor paper that often is visible in luminous patches of color. The title, Open Passage, could be interpreted in many ways, but titles of similar works suggest she is referencing landscapes viewed from a bird's eye perspective in her abstract paintings like this one.

Nobili was born in Detroit and received her MFA from Wayne State University in 1941. She was a faculty member at WSU from 1944 to 1983, and Nobili along with her colleague, Mary Jane Bigler, developed the watercolor division in the curriculum. They also were supporters of the Michigan Water Color Society after its founding in 1946. Nobili was awarded the Founders Society Prize by the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1956, only the second woman to win the award up to that point. Her works are in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Brooklyn Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and University Art Collection at WSU.