J. Wolfgang Cardamatis

painter, theatrical designer and cartoonist, was born in Berlin, son of a doctor. He went to school at Riverview College, Sydney. Medicine was a family tradition, but Wolfgang wanted 'to paint bodies, not cut them up' so studied art with Dattilo Rubbo. Within five years, he was 'exhibiting at the Water Color (sic) Institute, the Black and White Art Society and elsewhere, and he is now preparing some canvases for the Society of Artists' Exhibition', stated Smith's Weekly in an article on him in 1936. A member of a 'bohemian colony of young men', he lived in a stable and loft in High Street, Woollahra, with Wallace Thornton and Michael Brown (a young Londoner who had studied at Julian's in Paris before working with Rubbo in 1936). Prior to the stables they 'rented quarters at historic Elizabeth Bay House, where they had a very lean time' (Smith's) – but fabulous parties 'amidst the ruins of colonial splendour' (Stewart, p.175). Their landlady (who lived in the house behind) was the painter Mary Edwards, while Donald Friend and 'his companion' Don Murray lived across the road in rooms that were entirely Japanese in décor and were said to have astonished their friends. In 1936 young 'Wolf' was just waiting for his 21st birthday in order to become a British subject, then was proposing to visit Europe for further study (Smith's Weekly 15 August 1936, p.10).

The war intervened. According to McCulloch, Cardamatis's art training was with George Bell in Melbourne c.1939, where he shared a studio with David Strachan and paid for his tuition by acting as a model. He returned to Sydney in the early 1940s and is said to have studied with Norman Lindsay and at East Sydney Technical College. A member of the Sydney Group, his work became known during WWII – including cartoons in Australia, National Journal and Australia Week-end Book no.1 (1942), i.e. "Something tells me the spirit of dear Prunella is lurking near", and Spring (Veronique Filosoff/ London Punch naïve "charm school" stuff); also no.2 (1943), p.168. He did costume and stage designs, including one for a ballet in which he danced a minor role.

Cardamatis returned to Berlin permanently in 1946 and disappears from Australian art history.

Joan Kerr.