Joe Draegert, American, was born in Chariton, Iowa in 1945.  He is best known for his playful approach to composition and color harmonies in his remarkable trump-l'oeil still life and landscape paintings of California and Italy.  Described as “magic realism” in what would commonly be considered a quite formal study of compositional elements of color, line, shape and texture, Draegert’s passion for painting has the ability to transform everyday objects and forms into extraordinary, significant moments.

 

Draegert received his BFA from Kansas City Art Institute along with a solid foundation and technical mastery of drawing skills.  With his move out west to California, Draegert received his MFA at UC Davis at a truly vibrant and electric time in the art world.  The exposure to and development of friendships with Roy Deforest, Wayne Thiebaud, Raymond Saunders, William Wiley, Roland Petersen, Ralph Johnson, Robert Arneson and Manuel Neri were highly influential.  In 1979 international acknowledgement came to Draegert with the Prixe de Rome and invitation to study at the Academy in Rome, Italy.  Awarded a full Fellowship at Yale and finding home in various permanent collections such as the San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art and the Oakland Museum of Art, Draegert continues to win regional and international acclaim.

 

 

Collections and exhibitions include the DeYoung Museum, San Francisco, CA., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA., Oakland Museum of California, Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, CA., American Academy, Rome, Italy, Transamerica Corporation, San Francisco, CA., Bechtel International Center, Stanford, CA University of California at Davis CA., Redding Art Museum, Redding, CA., John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, CA., Peoples Republic of China., Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO., City of Sunnyvale, Sunnyvale, CA., Rabobank, Singapore