Well-known Sudbury artist Charlie Rapsky, 91, died Wednesday (March 17) after a lengthy battle with cancer.Rapsky's last exhibition was in 2018 at Fielding Park.
As was his hope, he will live on in his paintings which were popular with art collectors throughout Canada.
"Artists never die,” Rapsky said told Sudbury.com in 2014 when he was working on a mural at Sudbury Secondary School which features an Arctic scene with a polar bear and the north star. The school's mascot is a polar bear, and its sports teams are called the North Stars.
Rapsky was proud of his Ukrainian-Canadian heritage and the fact he grew up in the Donovan, a multi-ethnic community.
"It was like walking in the Ukraine...you would smell kapusta (sauerkraut) wherever you went," he told historian Stacey Zembrzycki in 2007. Zembrzycki has written extensively on Sudbury's Ukrainian-Canadian community
Hugh Kruzel, a friend of Rapsky's and a regular contributor to Sudbury.com, said more than a painter, Rapsky was a story-teller.
"Charlie was more than an artist; he told the story of landscapes and people," Kruzel said. "His way of communicating the Sudbury of yesteryear and today included brushstrokes capturing neighbourhoods of his youth and our history. His inspiration translated into vibrancy that was his signature style."
Sculptor Tyler Fauvelle exhibited with Rapsky at Fielding Park in 2018.
"Charlie knew this would be his farewell exhibit, and I was deeply honoured he chose me to share that time with him," Fauvelle said. "I shouldn't have been surprised, and yet I was, when I saw people lined up at the door long before we opened. It was inspiring to see the esteem and respect that Charlie's art commanded.
"Charlie took a grandfatherly interest in an artist who was decades younger than he was. I will never forget his generosity, and what he taught me about being an artist in Canada. One of my fondest memories is sitting with Charlie looking at his mural at Sudbury Secondary and chatting about art," he said.
"I never laughed as much with another artist as I did with Charlie. I will really miss him."
After graduating from high school, he had an opportunity to study art in Vancouver – an unusual career choice in the late 1940s. True to his working class roots, he returned to Sudbury and put his talent to work with a "real job" as a sign painter.
After retiring in 1980, he began to develop his talent as a visual artist painting street scenes, landscapes and wildlife. He was a licensed pilot and he put his passion for aircraft on canvas.
He was one of Sudbury's best-selling artist and his work commanded thousands of dollars. In 2016, he won the Sudbury Arts Council President’s Award of Distinction which honoured his commitment to the arts and artists.
Rapsky is survived by his wife, Shirley, two sons and their children.
