“If These Walls Could Talk” Solo Exhibition at Novado Gallery, Jersey City, NJ - 9/6/2025 - 9/28/2025
“If These Walls Could Talk”
These paintings explore Jersey City's buildings as containers of memory and story, drawing on historic insurance maps, vibrant color chosen for feeling rather than documentation, and the lives of the people who called these places home.
Review: Tris McCall, Eye Level — "Nathalie Kalbach: If These Walls Could Talk"
For inquiries about available work, contact nat@natkalbach.com
"Downtown Dynamo" by Nathalie Kalbach - Private Collection - 24x36" Acrylic Paint, Markers, Pastels, Oil Bars on Canvas. | Built in 1906, Jersey City's Powerhouse energized the Hudson Tunnels (now PATH) from 1908-1929, transforming the city by enabling the first reliable transportation to NYC beyond ferryboat travel. This Industrial Romanesque Revival marvel was architect John Oakman's greatest challenge, and citizens regarded it as highly as other City Beautiful buildings of its time. Although abandoned for almost 100 years, with boarded windows, the Powerhouse continues to radiate energy - a reminder of its potential to once again energize the community.
"Threshold" by Nathalie Kalbach - Private Collection - 24x12" Acrylic Paint, Gesso, Marker, Ink on Canvas | From the weathered corridors of Ellis Island's hospital complex - technically Jersey City territory - this doorway frames both promise and uncertainty. We are at a threshold.
"Hello Old Friends" by Nathalie Kalbach - Private Collection - 12x24" Acrylic Paint, Ink, Marker, Pastel on Canvas | This row of houses was a gathering place - stoops filled with friends sharing pizza and conversation long into the summer nights. Many of those friends have moved away now, but the buildings remain as repositories of memory and connection. For some these buildings feel alive with stories and glowing with the warmth of friendship -the invisible threads that make a neighborhood feel like home.
"The Butler Way" by Nahalie Kalbach -Private Collection- 12x24" Acrylic Paint, Ink, Marker on Canvas | The Butler Brothers Warehouse was where 'the Butler Way', of retail (as the company called it) was born - pioneering practices like window displays and clearance sales that shaped American commerce. This E-shaped industrial brick giant distributed goods to 66,000 merchants nationwide before reinventing itself into its current form as a place people call home.
"The Archive Next Door" by Nathalie Kalbach 16x12" Acrylic Paint, Marker, Ink on Canvas | Built in 1891 by the same speculative builder, these architectural siblings share DNA but have developed distinct personalities through different details, alterations, and the countless human stories layered within their walls. One wonders about the connections between neighbors across more than a century - did the women share social circles? Did the children play together? Did families hold the same dreams, the same values? What is an archive when you don't hold the key?
"Goulash is Good" by Nathalie Kalbach 12x12" Acrylic Paint, Marker, Ink on Canvas | Mary McDonald, a home economics teacher at Ferris High School for 25 years and mother of six daughters loved making Goulash. It may have been a family recipe with which she and her twin sister Ann grew up, just a couple houses down on the same street. I bet it smelled devine! "Goulash is good" - Mary McDonald, Cook of the Week in the Jersey Journal, 1967
"Loew's Marquee" by Nathalie Kalbach - Private Collection - 8x8" Acrylic Paint, Marker, Ink on Panel | Study of the Marquee of Loew's Theater for "We The People Continue"
"A Palace for the People" by Nathalie Kalbach 12x12" Acrylic Paint, Marker, Ink on Canvas | Built in 1929 as one of five Loew's "Wonder Theatres," this Jersey City landmark brought elaborate, palace-like architecture to working-class communities - the grand, no-expense-spared design that was once reserved for the wealthy became accessible to all. When the building faced demolition, volunteers from across backgrounds united to save it. During the pandemic, the marquee read "We the people...continue." This painting celebrates the theater as both architectural marvel and symbol of democratic resilience.
"Loew's St. George" by Nathalie Kalbach - Private Collection - 8x8" Acrylic Paint, Marker on Panel | Study of the top of the Loew's Theater - St. George for "We The People Continue"
"Loew's Terra Cotta" by Nathalie Kalbach Acrylic Paint, Marker, Ink on Panel | Study of the Terra cotta details of Loew's Theater for "We The People Continue"
"The Invitation" by Nathalie Kalbach - Private Collection - 14x11" Acrylic Paint, Marker, Ink on Canvas | This is where it starts - not with grand gestures or formal introductions, but with the simple act of stopping, really looking, and opening yourself up to what's always been there waiting. The ornate railings, the worn steps, the colors that have weathered decades of seasons - they're all part of an ongoing conversation about who lived here, who loved here, who called this place home. You just have to be willing to hear it. Stand here long enough, and the walls start talking.
"Tune Out The Noise" by Nathalie Kalbach 14x11" Acrylic Paint, Marker, Ink on Canvas | Power lines, poles and cars define urban living in Jersey City - visual clutter that is yet an integral part of our lives. What connects us all is that we mostly tune out the visual noise
"Downtown 1" by Nathalie Kalbach Acrylic Paint, Marker, Ink on Panel | Study of a row of houses downtown for "Confection"
"Snapshot" by Nathalie Kalbach 12x12" Acrylic Paint, Marker, Ink on Canvas | In December 1917, Minnie and Edward Flaacke resided within these walls. A fleeting moment in time, the headlines of the era briefly highlighted a mysterious event - a robbery. Mrs. Flaacke reported the theft of a valuable diamond ring with a striking blue stone at the center. A case that engaged the efforts of Lieutenant Collins and Detective Butter. The newspapers of the day recorded this snapshot of history, but the rest of the story remains concealed behind the oriel window of this house
"Confection" by Nathalie Kalbach 12x24" Acrylic Paint, Marker on Canvas | Newark Avenue's 1870s buildings have sweetened over time. The old Hemingway's Building clock once stuck at 1:01 for years, has given way to a round window, but time never really stopped here. These storefronts have housed everything from crockery shops and piano dealers to Irish pubs and an actual confectionery. What feels like Disney-fication to some might just be the latest layer in a 150-year cycle of reinvention. The gritty mom-and-pop flavor has dissolved into something more photogenic, but perhaps today's confection is simply tomorrow's authentic past - waiting for the next coat of paint, the next story.
"Cornice Preacher" by Nathalie Kalbach 16x12" Acylic Paint, Collage, Marker | An 1850s Italianate villa that has presided over the street since developers first dreamed of prosperity for the Bergen-Lafayette neighborhood. Its oversized cornices now wrapped in aluminum siding, tells the story of countless practical decisions in this city. Where the aluminum pulls away - a forgotten details breaking free - the original brackets wait patiently, like stories to be uncovered.
"Early Monday Morning" by Nathalie Kalbach 24x30" Collage, Acrylic Paint, Marker on Canvas | A street that's been through many alterations - busy shopping street, urban uprising, neglect, redlining, slow comeback attempts, setbacks, and hope that keeps stubborn despite it all. Nothing quite lines up, and maybe that's the point. The perspective shifts as you wander the street - past and present, new dreams and old struggles overlaying each other at odd angles. This is early Monday morning - messy and imperfect, still beautiful in its own complicated way, full of stories and people who refuse to give up on this place and ready to tackle the next chapter.
"Pretty Girl" by Nathalie Kalbach 24x12" Acrylic Paint, Ink and Pastels on Canvas | An Art Deco corner with glazed terra cotta facade that once housed a Chinese restaurant and bowling alley. Passed countless times rushing to the PATH station, this building's beauty remained hidden until one pandemic day when empty streets and a lone cyclist allowed a moment of true seeing: What a pretty girl!
"Keepers of Place" by Nathalie Kalbach 10x10" Acrylic Paint, Marker, Ink on Canvas | The red and white awning of Lee Sims Chocolates - if you don't know this sweet open secret of Jersey City, do we even know each other? Founded in 1944 by Greek immigrant George Sousane who learned candy making from a German chocolatier, it's now run by his granddaughter Valerie. On Valentine's Day you'll see lines to the corner and boxes loaded into mail trucks. Their dark chocolate, roasted nuts, and Rainbow Cookies are the best (if only Valerie would bring back the dark chocolate mint!). Ask any old timer about their memories and they'll mention their favorite stores. These local businesses are the true keepers of place.
"Mum is The Word" by Nathalie Kalbach 10x10" Acrylic Paint, Marker on Canvas | These twin houses have been keeping their secrets since the 1870s. Were they built for siblings? Two spinsters? The truth might be buried under changed house numbers and municipal mysteries. They stand there, unattached and uncooperative to research - like that neighbor who's perfectly polite but never reveals what they actually do for work. Sometimes the most intriguing stories are the ones buildings refuse to tell. These two have clearly agreed: mum is the word.
"The Smiling House" by Nathalie Kalbach 12x12" Acrylic Paint, Marker, Ink on Canvas | Is the house crookedly smiling as its gorgeous mansard roof and cornice shift apart at one corner? Maybe it remembers 1886, when Captain John H. Fenner's daughter Emma eloped after he'd rejected her suitor. The young couple married in secret, and he "totally flipped" while they waited for the Captain to "cool off and open his arms to receive them." What drama - not knowing if he ever did.