Captain R. M. Freeman

In the summer of 1942, shortly after finishing his studies at the Accademia, William Apap was convinced by Paolo Magaldi, an important industrialist and acquaintance of his, to move south so as to escape the risk of hostilities and of being enlisted as an army reserve.

In the quiet town of Buccino, near Salerno, Apap was to stay for a year, integrating well in the community, making many friends and spending most of his time painting.

He often gave his works as compensation in return for the hospitality afforded to him by the Buccinesi. Accounts from that time refer to him as “a strange English (sic) character” who spent all day sitting at the Parco di Rimembranza and Piazza di San Vito, painting landscapes on a trembling easel. Rumours abounded that he was a spy, given that the area was regularly the scene of German troop movements. Equally there were those who thought he was a Fascist infiltrator, observing Nazi on-the-ground manoeuvres.

It was a serene and happy period for the young Apap who, in the meantime, had been informed that he had been successful in his studies for the Diploma di Licenza del Corso di Pittura. Works from the Buccino period are rare to come across although two paintings showing street-scenes of Buccino were displayed, and maybe sold, at Apap’s first Roman exhibition held in the summer of 1945. During this time, Apap also painted a portrait of Giuseppe Grieco, il Buccinese, discovered in the course of my research.

On September 16, 1943, Apap left Buccino abruptly, and later in the day an Allied air bombardment of the town left 45 residents dead. His disappearance raised eyebrows among the Buccinesi, already suspicious of his true intentions

On September 16, 1943, Apap left Buccino abruptly, and later in the day an Allied air bombardment of the town left 45 residents dead. His disappearance raised eyebrows among the Buccinesi, already suspicious of his true intentions. Those among the townsfolk who held him to be an English spy saw him as indirectly responsible for the bombardment.

Giuseppe Grieco (Il Buccinese)

On the other hand, Apap appeared totally disinterested in politics and all that went with it. He made his way back to Rome alongside the advancing Allied forces that had landed in Salerno as part of Operation Avalanche.

With the liberation of the Italian capital in June 1944, he joined the Allied Intelligence Service as an interpreter, cultivating a close friendship with a certain Captain R. M. Freeman, an American officer of the Fifth Army. On November 1, 1945, Freeman issued a letter of recommendation for Apap, where he attested to his character and artistic capabilities, adding that “should he come to America, he will be an asset to the American people and to American institutions”.

A portrait by Apap of Captain Freeman in a US private collection was another of my many disco­veries. The question of whether Apap had toyed with the idea of emigrating to the other side of the Atlantic will remain a mystery since his return to Rome was overtaken by a frenzy of artistic activity.

Portrait of a Lady

Between July and August 1945 he put up his first personal exhibition at the Galleria di Roma, displaying 75 works comprising landscapes, interiors, portraits and flowers, stylistically still under the influences of Siviero.

Early in 1946, Apap was to follow up his Roman debut with another personale at the Galleria Russo, then at its exhibition place in Piazza di Spagna.

Weeks later, Apap was in Avezzano preparing for yet another exhibition when he was summoned to Rome for interrogation by (then) Major Vivian de Gray. He was rounded up with the other Maltese who had surrendered their passports six years before and placed under arrest at Regina Coeli prison, accused of “conspiracy and, in some cases treason”.

The third part in this series will appear in a forth-coming edition.