French art critic Anatole Jakovsky described him in 1972 as "one of the greatest naïve painters of all times and countries".

He had little formal training as an artist, but his first solo exhibition in 1960[3] proved successful and he changed careers, becoming a professional painter in 1962.

[3] Rabuzin's art is characterized by dense geometric patterns of vegetation and clouds that form rich, arabesque-like structures painted in gentle pastel colors.

[3] He took a stab at industrial design in the 1970s with a 500-piece run of the upscale Suomi tableware by Timo Sarpaneva that Rabuzin decorated for the German Rosenthal porcelain maker's Studio Linie.

[5] In 1989, at the time of the 9th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade, municipalities from Zagorje, Gospić, Karlovac and Sisak region provided a mural by Ivan Rabuzin as a commemorative gift for a building in Knez Mihailova Street.