Stanislaus Rapotec, painter, was born in Trieste, Italy, on 4 October 1913. In 1918 he and his parents relocated to Yugoslavia. He later studied economics and art history at Zagreb University (c.1933-39) where he was an active member of student life, being involved in student unions and serving as the secretary-general of the interuniversity union of Yugoslav students. After completing his studies, Rapotec began his first job at the National Bank of Yugoslavia in Split, Dalmatia.
During the Second World War Rapotec served with the Allied forces in Europe and the Middle East (1941-48) for which he received a captain’s commission and assisted migration to a Commonwealth country of his choice. He arrived in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1948 and resumed his study of economics, as well as his interest in painting. Rapotec’s first solo exhibition was held at John Martin Gallery, Adelaide in 1952.
In 1955 Rapotec travelled to Sydney and continued his artistic practice in a studio on Phillip Street. He later settled in Victoria Street, where at one stage he shared a house with other notable artists including John Passmore, Bob Hughes, Leonard Hessing and John Olsen. These artists occupied studios in Rapotec’s house for a short period of time around 1960. Sali Herman and Russell Drysdale were other prominent artists also living in the area. In an interview with James Gleeson, Rapotec commented upon the invigorating artistic milieu that arose with all these artists in close proximity to one another, thereby supporting the exchange of ideas.
Rapotec was a leading exponent of abstract expressionism, which he adopted with resounding conviction after moving to Sydney. In the early 1960s he was seen as one of Australia’s most radical painters, producing original compositions with sweeping, gestural brushstrokes that reflected a meditative, subconscious and spontaneous response to mark-making. After the late 1950s he switched exclusively to painting in acrylics. He painted directly on hardboard without referring to preparatory sketches, in the process maintaining the spontaneity and vigour of his work. Fellow Sydney artist Judy Cassab painted his portrait for the Archibald prize in 1960, for which she won the coveted art prize, with the work being purchased by the AGNSW in the following year.
In 1961 he got married and also achieved his first major success in open competitions when he won the Blake prize. Meditating on Good Friday, a large abstract-expressionist composition, was the prize-winning work. He continued to exhibit regularly at the annual Blake Prize from 1954 to 1963 and also contributed to the annual Contemporary Art Society shows in Adelaide and Sydney during the 1950s. Significant international group exhibitions in which Rapotec participated included ‘Australian Paintings,’ San Francisco (1959), the Sao Paolo Biennale, Brazil (1961) and the Exhibition of Australian Paintings at the Tate Gallery, London in 1963. Between 1952 and 1984 Rapotec also had 24 solo exhibitions both nationally and internationally, including the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, in 1975.
In 1973, Rapotec’s painting Corpus Christi in Seville was hung in room number 53 of the Vatican, which was beneath the altar of the Sistine Chapel. His work was one of a collection of works in the Vatican Gallery of Modern Religious Art, which was opened by Pope Paul VI that year.
Following the death of his wife in 1976, Rapotec spent more time travelling and painting in Europe. On 26 January 1989, he received the prestigious honour of becoming a Member of the Order of Australia for Service to the Arts. He suffered a stroke in 1995 from which he never fully recovered and died in Sydney on 9 December 1997.
Included amongst the numerous awards Rapotec received during his artistic career were the Grand Prize, Daily Mirror-Waratah (1961), the Daily Mirror-Waratah Prize for Drawings (1962) and the Royal Sydney Show, Woolworth Prize (1963).
The art of Stanislaus Rapotec is represented in several Australian public collections including the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne; Baillieu Library Print Collection, The University of Melbourne and the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane. His work is also held in the Art Gallery of Wellington, New Zealand, as well as private collections in Australia, New Zealand, USA and England.
- Writers:
-
ecwubben
- Date written:
- 2011
- Last updated:
- 2012
