Joseph Drapell Paintings

An explosion of colour radiates from one side of the canvas in this extraordinary abstract painting dedicated to renowned NY art critic, Clement Greenberg. As a student, Joseph Drapell met and was influenced by Greenberg while studying at an American art school. This piece is rendered in thickly applied waves of shiny orange, purple, plum, white, and turquoise. Holographic materials are also used. The Czech-born artist creates remarkably vibrant paintings using trowels...

Acrylic with rhinestones on canvas. A compelling and inventive abstract painter, Joseph Drapell’s stunning work has long been considered masterful by art critics and collectors alike. The Czech-born artist creates remarkably vibrant paintings using trowels...

This large colourful abstract painting is by Joseph Drapell. Joseph Drapell is considered as one of the most important painters of his generation, an artist who continues to explore new frontiers in painting techniques. In the 1990’s he was a founding member of a group of artists called the New New Painters who exhibited their avant garde work on the international stage. In this intense and provocative painting, a rainbow of bright colours swirls around the canvas. Gradations of orange, purple, pink, lime green, sky blue and white draw the viewer into the center of this abstract piece. The Czech-born artist creates remarkably vibrant compositions using trowels...

This contemporary abstract painting is by one of Canada’s most important abstract artists, Joseph Drapell. Lauded by critics and art lovers alike, Joseph Drapell has been called ‘a towering figure’ and 'one of the great masters of our age.’ At the age of 25, the Czech-born artist left behind his Russian-occupied village, convinced that he needed to be in the ‘free world’ to pursue his art. Drapell is known for his innovative style and unique talent in creating emotive and dramatic abstract work. He developed a compression technique using trowels, serrated blades and his own fingers to add remarkable detail and depth to his paintings. Living on an island in Georgian Bay, Drapell learned to appreciate the powerful mystical culture of the First Nations residents living there. This is one of a series of paintings he created, named for Canada’s indigenous...

This grey, white, green, brown, gestural abstract, acrylic on canvas painting is by Canadian artist Joseph Drapell. Fute is considered an important work as it debuted at the artist’s...

This deeply dramatic abstract painting is by the masterful Canadian expressionist Joseph Drapell. Thick layers of swirling paint in black with patches of red, green and turquoise are...

Waterline Fine Art, Austin, TX is pleased to present the following work: Acrylic on canvas. Signed, titled, and dated on verso. 34.25 x 87.5 in. 36 x 89.5 in. (framed) Custom framed in in a natural cherry floater. Provenance Dunkelman Gallery, Toronto Born Josef Drapell in German-occupied territory near Prague in the present-day Czech Republic, his interest in art was piqued as a young boy growing up in a country that traded one occupier for the next. Czechoslovakia - under communist Soviet control following the war - would never allow Drapell to enjoy true freedom of artistic expression. He eventually fled his homeland, first stopping in Vienna, before ultimately settling in Canada in 1966. After a brief spell at the venerable Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI, Drapell returned to Canada in 1970, settling in Toronto - though he frequently traveled between the two countries in pursuit of exhibition opportunities in both Toronto and New York. Those opportunities arrived almost immediately, as he enjoyed solo exhibitions with both Robert Elkon Gallery in New York, and Dunkelman Gallery back home in Toronto. Drapell splits time between his homes in Toronto and Georgian Bay on Lake Huron...