Cover and articles photography by Fred Scruton in the Spring/Summer 2019 issue of Folk Art Messenger Magazine – [#96] vol. 28 No. 3.
There was a remarkable disconnect between Norbert’s bad-ass biker gang background, the fire & brimstone-ish nature of his work, his considerable self-made success as an artist, and the courtly, old-school modest mannered gentleman he was. In 2017, he bought a large building in northern Wisconsin and renovated it into the Apocalypse House & Museum of Visionary Art – complete with guest rooms where my wife and I stayed earlier in the week of his grand opening in June 2018. That winter Norbert made his annual trip to Bimini: for many years he had found spiritual refreshment there (and probably fewer distractions form his painting). Like so many others, we were deeply saddened to hear of Norbert’s fatal heat-attack in Bimini, and fondly remember our time with him only six months earlier while he gave the Apocalypse House its finishing touches.
