"ART OF THE MYSTIC"

a Introduction to the Life and Work of Otto Rapp 

  

Otto is a rare and exceptional artist and highly esteemed sibling of The Visionary Tribe. True to the 

veristic roots of his aesthetic, he is deserving of any and every means of support, patronage and the 

collection of his works... 

Prof. Philip Rubinov Jacobson 

 

  

Born in 1944 in Felixdorf, Lower Austria, Otto lived and was educated in Vienna, where later he worked                                   

as a clerk in the Transport and Insurance Business. After completing service in the Austrian Air Force, he                                   

traveled throughout Europe, eventually settling in Stockholm, Sweden.  

 

As a Painter he was initially self taught, studying in the various Galleries and Museums. In Vienna, Otto                                   

was often ‘hanging out’ at the Akademie der Bildenden Kuenste, where he admired the work of the                                 

Wiener Schule des Phantastischen Realismus represented there by the Professors Ernst Fuchs, Rudolf                         

Hausner and Arik Brauer. In Stockholm, Otto found out that he was washing dishes in the very same                                   

Restaurant where years earlier another Viennese Artist, Fritz Hundertwasser , the ‘Austrian Gaudi’ as                           

he was later known as, had worked the same job. Encouraged by an art dealer in Gamla Stan, Otto began                                       

to paint more seriously. Busking on the streets of Gamla Stan with a Dutch artist, his very first painting                                     

was sold to a passer­by by his artist friend while Otto stood in the employment office line ­ this paid for a                                           

lavish meal for both of them that day.  

 

Traveling around in 1968, Otto wound up in Western Canada where he eventually settled in Lethbridge,                               

Alberta, the place Otto still calls home today. It was in Canada where the majority of Otto's mature work                                     

was produced (under the sponsorship of a small Lethbridge Gallery).  

 

Working for the Canadian Pacific Railway, he quit in 1977 to attend the Bachelor of Fine Arts Program at                                     

the University of Lethbridge, graduating (with great distinction) in 1982.  

 

In Canada, Otto participated in many exhibitions, and held several Solo Shows, culminating in the pivotal                               

1994 showing at The Prairie Art Gallery in Grande Prairie, Alberta, which earned him the moniker The                                 

Mystic .  

 

Throughout his years in Canada, Otto had been the subject of many reviews and newspaper articles as                                 

well as local television shows in Calgary and Lethbridge while being active as an Artist, Art Instructor,                                 

Curator, Studio Technician, Art Critic and Juror. 

 

Otto is currently residing in Vienna, Austria, working in his studio at the Palais Palffy, which also houses                                   

the Phantasten Museum Wien. 

 YMIR AT REST ­ graphite on paper ­ 30x40 cm ­ 2012 large downloadable image in dropbox HERE 

 POST APOCALYPSE, DAY TWO ­ graphite on paper ­ 30x40 cm ­ 2012 large downloadable image in dropbox HERE 

 GHOST IN THE MACHINE ­ graphite on paper ­ 29x42 cm ­ 2013 larger downloadable image in dropbox HERE FAA Sales Sheet pdf HERE