Stefan Knapp (July 11, 1921 – October 12, 1996) was a major figure in post-war art in Britain and Poland.

Born in Poland in 1921 he was imprisoned in Siberia at the outbreak of World War II. Released in 1942 after the Sikorski-Maysk agreement, Knapp found his way to Britain and served as a Spitfire pilot in the RAF. After the War he settled in London, studying at the Slade, Central School of Art and the Royal Academy. Knapp would go on to write about his experiences in the war in his autobiography, The Square Sun.

A sculptor, painter, and inventor Knapp developed an international profile exhibiting at the Hannover and Pierre Matisse galleries, and museums across the world, attracting major commissions at the Seagram building and London Airport (Heathrow), amongst others. He is best known for developing a technique of applying enamel on steel to create work of architectural proportions.

Alongside public murals, including on the Warsaw metro, St Anne's college Oxford, and Torun University, Knapp's work can be found in a number of prestigious institutional collections, including: Museum of Fine Art, Dallas; Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Tate Gallery, London; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Hall of Fame Museum, Mexico City; Breda Museum; Katowice Museum, Poland; Royal Palace, Rabat; The Art Center, Milwaukee; San Jose Museum of Arts, U.S.A.; Holocaust Museum, Melbourne; Neue Gallerie De Stadt, Linz; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Vatican Museum, Rome; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires.

Major public commissions: C.I.N. Building, Paris; Synagogue, Ontario, Canada; Columbia University, New York; Lod Airport, Israel; Freiburg University; Alexander’s Valley Stream, USA; Safa Park, Dubai; Mondrian Hotel, Hollywood; Heathrow, London; University of Brunswick, Canada; Queens College, New York; Seagram Building, New York; Shell Building, London; St Anne’s College, Oxford.

Selected exhibitions

  • 1947
    London Gallery, London, UK (solo)
  • 1954
    Hanover Gallery, London, UK (solo)
  • 1955
    Tooth Gallery, London, UK (solo)
  • 1956
    Hanover Gallery, London, UK (solo)
  • 1957
    Prima Matisse Gallery, London, UK (solo)
  • 1957
    Prima Lissone, Milan, Italy (solo)
  • 1958
    Galerie de Art Contemporaneo, Caracas, Venezuela (solo)
  • 1959
    Hanover Gallery, London, UK (solo)
  • 1959
    International Choice, London, UK (solo)
  • 1959
    Prima Lissone, Milan, Italy (solo)
  • 1960
    Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela (solo)
  • 1960
    USIS Gallery, London, UK (solo)
  • 1961
    Museo de Arte Moderna, Buenos Aires, Argentina (solo)
  • 1962
    Galeria ZPAP, Warsaw Poland (solo)
  • 1962
    Instituto de Arte Contemporaneo, Lima, Peru (solo)
  • 1963
    Galerie Gunter Franke, Munich, Germany (solo)
  • 1963
    Neue Galerie der Stadt, Linz, Austria (solo)
  • 1964
    Hella Nebelung Galerie, Dusseldorf, Germany (solo)
  • 1964
    Hanover Gallery, London, UK (solo)
  • 1965
    Kalman Gallery, Manchester, UK (solo)
  • 1965
    Hanover Gallery, London, UK (solo)
  • 1965
    Detroit Arts Institute, Detroit, USA (solo)
  • 1967
    USIS Gallery, London, UK (solo)
  • 1967
    Hanover Gallery, London, UK (solo)
  • 1968
    Galerie Gunter Franke, Munich, Germany (solo)
  • 1968
    Galerie D'Eent, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (solo)
  • 1973
    Estudo Actual, Caracas, Venezuela (solo)
  • 1973
    Galerie D'Eent, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (solo)
  • 1974
    Rutland Gallery, London, UK (solo)
  • 1974
    Galeria Zacheta Palace, Warsaw, Poland (solo)
  • 1979
    Galerie D'Eent, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (solo)
  • 1980
    Crane Kalman Gallery, London, UK (solo)
  • 1982
    Harttor Gallery, Germany (solo)
  • 1984
    Municipal Museum, Bordeaux, France (solo)
  • 1986
    Grabowsky Gallery II, London, UK (solo)
  • 1987
    San Jose Museum of Art, USA (solo)
  • 1990
    Polonia Palace, Warsaw, Poland (solo)
  • 1994
    Mèru, France (solo)
  • 1999
    Whitford Fine Art, London, UK (solo)