Skip to main content

Joseph Drapell Paintings

German, b. 1940
Joseph Drapell was born into the German- (and later Soviet-) occupied small town of Humpolec (near Prague) in 1940. His parents brought up their three boys not to believe in the official propaganda of the occupying regimes. Like the Czech novelist Milan Kundera, Drapell felt that life was elsewhere. Drapell escaped his birth country at his first opportunity at the age of twenty-five in order to develop his art in the free West. He landed in Halifax in 1966, grateful to Canada for accepting him. Drapell adopted an island (B-109) in Georgian Bay as his new spiritual home. The island has inspired (directly or indirectly) all his mature artistic developments to date. Drapell's aim was to contribute to the art of painting, rather than to merely make a living as an artist. Between 1968 and 1970, he studied under various visiting artists and lecturers at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. This is where he first started to develop his compression technique as a response to the paintings of Morris Louis. He settled in Toronto in 1970. Drapell walked the streets of New York with a roll of large paintings, until he was discovered by the Robert Elkon Gallery on Madison Avenue. After three exhibitions there (and several in Toronto where he was discovered by Jared Sable of the Dunkelman Gallery), Drapell achieved his first artistic breakthrough in 1974 with the Great Spirit Paintings. Joseph divides his time between Toronto and Georgian Bay (Lake Huron).
to
6
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
4
2
1
2
1
6
2
2
2
6
6
6
6
6
8
781
713
707
690
2
1
Artist: Joseph Drapell
"In Memory of Clement Greenberg" - colourful, impasto abstract acrylic on canvas
By Joseph Drapell
Located in Bloomfield, ON
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...
Category

1980s Abstract Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Aarons Galaxy - rich, dark, impasto, gestural abstract, acrylic on canvas
By Joseph Drapell
Located in Bloomfield, ON
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...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Descent of Light - rich, dark, impasto, gestural abstract, acrylic on canvas
By Joseph Drapell
Located in Bloomfield, ON
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...
Category

1990s Abstract Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Flute - grey, white, green, brown, gestural abstract, acrylic on canvas
By Joseph Drapell
Located in Bloomfield, ON
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...
Category

1980s Abstract Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Equanimity - contemporary, impasto, gestural abstract, acrylic on canvas
By Joseph Drapell
Located in Bloomfield, ON
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...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Danish Middle
By Joseph Drapell
Located in Austin, TX
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...
Category

1970s Abstract Expressionist Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Related Items
Ducks Contemporary Abstract
By Agata Koczan
Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL
Ducks Contemporary Abstract Agata Koczan graduated from the University of Fine Arts Nicolaus Copernicus in Torun, Poland. Graduated with honors in paintings and visual arts 2014. Sh...
Category

2010s Abstract Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Ducks Contemporary Abstract
Ducks Contemporary Abstract
$1,500
H 39 in W 39 in D 1.5 in
Original-Sunset Clouds Diptych-British Awarded Artist-en plein air-Oil canvas
Located in London, GB
This diptych Sunset Clouds , is part of Sunset Song Series, painted entirely en plein air under dimmed light in sunset hours, with no artificial light to guide her, Shizico Yi embrac...
Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Gesso, Canvas, Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel

#610, original painting, abstract art
By Jessie Woodward
Located in Deddington, GB
#610 Jessie Woodward Original abstract painting Acrylic painting Image Size: H 100cm x W 100cm Canvas Size: H 100cm x W _100cm x D 5cm Sold Unframed Original abstract piece exploring the language of paint and colour mixing, to evoke emotion in the viewer. Painted in her Bristol garden...
Category

2010s Abstract Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas

Articulate 6, contemporary abstract, neutral, seafoam, tan, white 24x24 inches
By Juanita Bellavance
Located in Cumming, GA
“Articulate 6” 24 x 24 inches is a one-of-a-kind original non-objective abstract painting by Juanita Bellavance. In this spontaneous expressive abstract piece, Juanita created an e...
Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Ruz 2961 original abstract acrylic canvas painting
By Rafael Ruz
Located in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FL
"black" original abstract acrylic canvas painting Original work by the Spanish painter Rafael RUZ. Acrylic on canvas . Perfect condition. RUZ, Rafael (Barcelona 1956) While contempla...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Silence, Original painting, Abstract art, Calming, Acrylic on canvas, Blue
Located in Deddington, GB
This original abstract painting on canvas is called Silence. Calming layers of inks overlap and are punctuated with white and grey billowing lines. This abstract painting, is calming...
Category

2010s Abstract Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Untitled 12-120
Located in Crested Butte, CO
Original abstract Acrylic Painting on Canvas, affixed to Windsor Newton paper. The moods and whims of nature influence the work of Sarah Van Beckum. D...
Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Charcoal, Acrylic, Archival Paper

Untitled 12-120
Untitled 12-120
$580 Sale Price
20% Off
H 30 in W 22 in D 0.1 in
French Contemporary Art by Diana Torje - Vibrant Blue
By Diana Torje
Located in Paris, IDF
Acrylic on canvas, Framed Diana Torje is a prizewinning Romanian artist born in 1983 & based in Paris whose works have been exhibited in solo and group shows throughout France & wor...
Category

2010s Abstract Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Huge French Modernist Expressionist Abstract Painting, red, black and yellows
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: French, late 20th century, indistinctly signed Title: abstract expressionist composition Medium: mixed media painting on canvas, unframed canvas: 28.75 x 39.25 i...
Category

20th Century Abstract Expressionist Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Black Yellow Red Abstract Expressionist Art by Contemporary British Artist
By Angela Wakefield
Located in Preston, GB
Black Yellow & Red Abstract Expressionist Painting by Leading Contemporary British Artist, Angela Wakefield Art measures 36 x 36 inches This original marks a return to Wakefield’s ...
Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic

" I think I Missed Something " Acrylic on Raw Canvas, Framed
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Ali Enache (b. 1985, Washington, D.C.) is a Los Angeles-based abstract painter whose minimalist, textural works are characterized by warmth, subtle movement, and tonal depth. With a ...
Category

2010s Abstract Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Articulate 7, contemporary abstract, seafoam, tan, white 24x24 inches
By Juanita Bellavance
Located in Cumming, GA
“Articulate 7” 24 x 24 inches is a one-of-a-kind original non-objective abstract painting by Juanita Bellavance. In this spontaneous expressive abstract piece, Juanita created an et...
Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Previously Available Items
Lithe Movements - bright, colourful pastels, gestural abstract acrylic on canvas
By Joseph Drapell
Located in Bloomfield, ON
Pastel colours of luminous mauve and yellow acrylic are drawn, fan like swaths that fill the picture plane. This area is anchored at a lower centre point by passages of coral, mauve,...
Category

1980s Abstract Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Life Fulfilled - Psychedelic abstract with bright pinks, purples and blues
By Joseph Drapell
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This fantastically psychedelic abstract painting by Joseph Drapell is created with acrylic paint and holographic additives. Wave-like textures ripple through the pink, purple, and bl...
Category

1980s Contemporary Joseph Drapell Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Joseph Drapell paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Joseph Drapell paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of paintings to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue, orange, pink and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Joseph Drapell in acrylic paint, canvas, fabric and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Joseph Drapell paintings, so small editions measuring 30 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Fred Darge, Adolphe Lechtenberg, and Heinrich Richter (b.1884). Joseph Drapell paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $18,000 and tops out at $25,000, while the average work can sell for $18,000.

Recently Viewed

View All