Byzantine art
Rapoport considered himself a practitioner of Russian Constructivism with roots in ancient Mediterranean and Byzantine art forms. He was strongly influenced by Tartu's school of structural semiotics and by its founder, Yuri Lotman. Concurrently, Rapoport pursued a deep study of Byzantine art and icons. His final studies while in Russia concentrated on the works of the Russian Orthodox priest Father Pavel Florensky and the art historian Lev Zhegin.