He was also a muralist, book illustrator, cartoonist, costume designer, and portrait painter.
Joep Nicolas (also spelled Joseph Nicholas) was born in Roermond (Limburg) in a French family whose stained glass atelier dated to his grandfather in 1855.
Although frequently described as a refugee from the Nazi invasion of Holland, he arrived in the United States on December 30, 1939, with German ballet dancer Kurt Jooss (1901–1979), five months before the German invasion.
She was a niece of Aldous Huxley through his wife Maria Nijs and the granddaughter-in-law of architect Stanford White.
Nicolas died on July 25, 1972, with his death recorded at the former American consulate in Rotterdam.