Olga Rapay-Markish

Olga Rapay-Markish or Olha Rapai-Markish (1 August 1929 – 1 February 2012; , , ) was one of the best-known Ukrainian ceramicists of her era. She is especially noted for her large decorative works on buildings throughout Kyiv. Previous to her architectural decoration, she worked as a ceramicist at the Kyiv Experimental Ceramic Art Factory, where she was known for her delicate figurines as well as her paintings on china and dishware.

Biography Olga Peretsіvna Markіsh was born on 1 August 1929 in Kharkiv, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, to Zinaida Joffe or Yoffe and Peretz Markish. Rapay-Markish worked at the factory for eleven years, and left in 1967 because working in the factory, she had no rights to her own work.

When she left KEKHZ in 1967, Rapay-Markish held her first solo exhibition of her porcelain works. She continued to work with ceramics, but on individual pieces which were not replicated. Her favorite themes were clowns and harlequin figurines. She also became involved in architectural projects, designing and decorating both interiors and façades with massive ceramic works. These large projects are her most well-known works and, because of their visibility in the center of Kyiv, she is one of the most recognizable Ukrainian ceramicists. She completed more than ten of these large-scale projects in Kyiv. One, which is still standing, is at the National Creative Collectives House, built in the 1970s. Over of handmade porcelain tiles decorate the building with bright depictions like children's drawings of animals, birds, flowers, and trees. Another building, since destroyed, was the Bratislava Hotel's two dining rooms. One, entitled "Slavic", featured ten female figures of different Slavic nations including Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, and others. The other dining room was called "Kyiv" and was decorated with statues of Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv, legendary founders of Kyiv.

After her 70th birthday at her apartment at 30 Kikvidze Street, Rapay-Markish immigrated to Israel. She continued working on sculpture, but preferred not to exhibit, though her work was featured in a 2004 anniversary exhibition of artists from KEKHZ and a 2007 exhibit of ceramicists, which was hosted by the National Art Museum of Ukraine. She died on 1 February 2012 in Israel. She is buried in Petah Tikva, Syrkin Str., cemetery Zgula.

Legacy Posthumously, a tour of Rapay-Markish's work was presented in 2014, and another with collected museum pieces called "Grace and Fools" toured in 2015. That same year, an annotated catalog of her china works was produced. Her works are held at the Republican Children's Library in Kyiv, in the lobbies of the Institute of Physiology and Institute of Botany, and in the collections of the Ministry of Culture, the Union of Artists of Ukraine, as well as in many private collections in Israel, Russia, Switzerland, and Ukraine.; and also in Hungary, at the widow of Shimon Markish. The National Creative Collectives House located at 50–52 Shevchenko Boulevard, features her ceramics on the façades of the building.