“With Friedel’s painting the devil was in the details. If you compare closely a small sketch to a large painting, the large painting will have all the details that the small ones don’t. And it’s in those details that Friedel sought his identity.”
-Wes Frantz, Former Studio Assistant to Friedel Dzubas
Friedel Dzubas, originally from Germany, fled Nazi Germany in 1939 and settled in New York City. In the early 1950s, he shared a studio with Helen Frankenthaler and began exhibiting Abstract Expressionist paintings. Notably, his work was featured in the Ninth Street Show in 1951 and group exhibitions at prominent galleries.
In the 1960s, Dzubas transitioned to Color Field painting and Lyrical Abstraction, gaining recognition in the 1964 exhibition "Post-painterly Abstraction" curated by Clement Greenberg. He developed friendships with influential figures like Greenberg and Jackson Pollock.
Known for expansive works, some up to 24 feet wide, Dzubas held over sixty solo exhibitions worldwide. Represented by André Emmerich and Knoedler Contemporary Arts for over thirty years, his art was displayed in various New York City galleries. In 1976, he settled in Massachusetts but maintained a connection with New York City, where his paintings were regularly exhibited.
Dzubas' works are included in the collections of prestigious institutions such as The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Art Institute of Chicago, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), National Gallery of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.