Norbert Schlaus (1927-2009) was born in Oberhausen, Germany where he studied painting and printmaking at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Kuenste in Karlsruhe. He immigrated to Oakland, California in 1962 where he lived and worked for the remainder of his life. He was a prolific artist and many of his paintings can be seen in the collection of the Oakland Musem of California.