Ebba Rapp was an extremely versatile artist who was proficient in several mediums including painting, printmaking, enameling and particularly sculpture in ceramic and bronze.

After graduating from the Cornish School in Seattle, Ebba Rapp attended the Univ of Washington and spent the summers of 1935-36 studying there with the renowned sculptor Alexander Archipenko (1887-1964). Up to this point, she had worked primarily as a painter with an exceptional talent for portraiture and the human form. The artist credited her classical art training for the apparent ease in which she was able to make the transition into sculpture.

She accepted a teaching position at Cornish’s newly formed sculpture department in the mid-1930’s and remained there giving instruction in anatomy, drawing and sculpture until 1941.

In 1936, she became an active member of the Women Painters Of Washington and won several regional Awards. Her first national exhibition came in 1939 at the
“American Art Today” exhibit at the New York World’s Fair. She had several one-person exhibitions including the Seattle Art Museum in 1944, Frye Art Museum in 1955, University Of Puget Sound in 1954, and group exhibitions which included Grand Rapids, Michigan Art Gallery, Denver Art Museum in1964, 1966, Seattle World’s Fair in 1962 and several others.

Her work is in the permanent collection of the Seattle Art Museum, the Tacoma Art Museum, The Museum of Northwest Art, the Washingtion State Historical Museum, the Frye Art Museum, The Nordic Heritage Museum, the Haley Ford Museum, Salem Oregon, Portland Art Museum, the Jundt Art Museum, Gonzaga University, Spokane Wa.

Self Portrait with Sassy Ceramic, c. 1940,
oil onboard

Symbol of Spring, 1944, oil on canvas

Woman With Mirror
(Vanity) , 1940's
ceramic sculpture

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