Karl Matzek

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Karl George Matzek (1890 - 1983) was an Austrian religious artist of Czech descent who is best noted for his panoramas and murals of Biblical scenes in church buildings.

Matzek, a graduate of the Berlin Academy of Arts, migrated to Perth, Western Australia, in 1958. He painted the Stations of the Cross, a series of 14 pictures, in the "Como Catholic Church" in Western Australia.

Matzek later moved to Canberra, where there was a sizeable Serbian political immigrant population who first arrived in 1949, following World War II. The Serbs built St George Serbian Orthodox Church in 1966, after the Government granted them a block of land at National Circuit, Forrest, close to Parliament House. In the following year, Matzek, then 77, was commissioned to decorate the interior of the church, and for the next 16 years until his death in 1983, he devoted himself to painting the side walls, ceiling and altar screen, depicting episodes in Serbian history as well as Biblical scenes. Even though the Church itself is architecturally small in size, Matzek’s two 20-metre-long panoramas and murals have attracted visitors daily from all parts of Australia and overseas.

He converted to the Orthodox faith as "George" during his work with the Church. Following a brief illness, Matzek died on April 16, 1983, and was buried at the St. Sava Monastery Cemetery.