Robert Nippoldt (born 1977) grew up in Kranenburg on the Lower Rhine. After secondary school, the son of a judge took a wrong turn with law studies before finding his way to Münster in the summer of 1999 to study graphics and illustration at the University of Applied Sciences. His degree project, “Gangster. The Bosses of Chicago”, immediately found its way to a publisher; Nippoldt thereafter focused his work on art books. Following two years’ work, his next book project, “Jazz: The Roaring Twenties in New York” was published in the fall of 2007. Stiftung Buchkunst selected it as the 2007’s most beautiful German book. The last part of the trilogy, “Hollywood in the 30s”, was published in 2010. Nippoldt’s art has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including Berlin, Darmstadt, Essen, Frankfurt, Leipzig and Munich. His daring book projects teach both him and his publishers the meaning of fear. When he’s not snorkeling or trying to tune his guitar, he’s probably sketching in his studio at Münster’s converted freight depot.