Lou Klepac was born in Croatia in 1936. Moving to Italy in 1944 he went to school in Venice and Trieste and in 1950 emigrated to Australia. After graduating from the University of Western Australia in 1958, he spent several years in London and Italy. He was Curator of Paintings at the Art Gallery of Western Australia 1964-66; and at the Art Gallery of South Australia 196670. After a period in London, he became Senior Curator and Deputy Director at the Art Gallery of Western Australia 197480. Among the many exhibitions he has organised are: Master Drawings of the 17th century from the Witt Collection 1968; Walter Sickert Retrospective, 1968 Adelaide Festival; Contemporary Drawing International 1977; Giorgio Morandi etchings 1978; Emilio Vedova graphic works 1979; The Drawings of Walter Richard Sickert 1979; Russell Drysdale drawings 1980; Russell Drysdale paintings 1983; Giorgio Morandi: the dimension of inner space (paintings and etchings) 1997; La Serenissima, the fascination of Venice 2003; and James Gleeson Retrospective 2004. Among his books are William Scott drawings 1974; Russell Drysdale, Life and Work 1983; Australian Painters of the 20th Century 2000; Brett Whiteley drawings 2014; Hans Heysen 2016; and Tim Storrier 2018. He has lived in Sydney with his family.where he founded and has run The Beagle Press since 1980.
