Flute

About Flute

This compelling abstract painting by Canadian artist Joseph Drapell is considered an important work as it debuted at the artist’s groundbreaking solo exhibition at the renowned Thomas Segal Gallery in Boston, Mass. Drapell’s signature style in blue-gray, moss green, terracotta, pale blue, deep red, and white is evident here.
Drapell is known for his innovation and skill in using trowels, serrated blades and his fingers to achieve remarkable texture and depth in his work.

“In terms of real painting innovation, I admired the work of Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, Van Hoffman, Morris Louis, and Canadian artist Jack Bush. It took me 50 years or so to develop my own art, to contribute to the chain of the art of painting.” Joseph Drapell

“Drapell has become a towering figure. He stands out as one of the great masters of our age.” Kenworth W. Moffett, Art Curator

Joseph Drapell was born in Czechoslovakia in 1940. He emigrated to Canada in the mid-1960s in search of Western freedom. Drapell studied art at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. Inspired by the abstract paintings of Morris Louis, he experimented with different techniques to apply wide swaths of paint in thick layers. In the 1990’s he was a founding member of a group of artists called the New New Painters devoted to exhibiting advanced art internationally. Drapell is a member of the Royal Academy of Art. His works are held in national and international collections—both private and public including the Guggenheim, the British Museum and the National Gallery in Prague, among others. The artist divides his time between Toronto and a beloved island retreat in Georgian Bay.