Born (Stella) Molly Friedman in New York City, Stella Drabkin was a Philadelphia-based artist who worked in a variety of media and styles throughout her long career. In the 1930s and 1940s, Drabkin found subjects in the urban working class. Later, her practice shifted towards experimental printmaking and mosaic, and her work became more abstract.
Drabkin studied at the National Academy of Design and began her career as a commercial artist. In the early thirties, she moved to Philadelphia where she studied at the Philadelphia Sketch Club and with Earl Horter. She made her mark quickly, winning first prize in the Gimbel art competition in 1933, and became a leader in the city's arts community. Drabkin later was awarded prizes by the American Color Print Society, the Philadelphia Print Club, and the New Jersey State Museum. She exhibited extensively in museums and galleries and showed with artists' societies in Philadelphia and New York. Drabkin had solo shows at Carlen Gallery and Everyman Gallery, both in Philadelphia, as well as at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, and a retrospective of her work from 1929 through 1952 was held at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
Her works are in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Metropolitan Museum of Art, in addition to other institutions.
