Listing Details
German born Rudolf Gopas originally came from a small village near the Baltic sea. His parents were Lithuanian. From 1933 -38 he studied painting at the School of Fine Arts in Kaunas, Lithuania. With the advent of World War II and the imminent threat of Russian invasion he joined the German army. The Russians invaded Lithuania and the Gopas family like so many others fled to Germany. They eventually ended up in a refugee camp at Ethrwald in the Tyrol province of Austria.
In June 1949 Gopas, his wife and young daughter settled in Dunedin. Gopas found work as a photo-processor and began to paint again. He became a regular exhibitor with The Group in Dunedin and Christchurch.
In 1960 he was appointed to a permanent position lecturing in painting at the School of Fine Arts, Canterbury University. This was very significant for the students of this period as he introduced them to German expressionism, its techniques, ideas and theories current in Europe at the time.
Gopas was an amateur astronomer and the two works we have for sale are from his galactic series. To create the rich and vibrant surface texture of these works he mixed his media using PVA paints, metallic powders and glazes.
Image Dimensions: 600mm W x 610mm H
Framing: Unframed
