"Dragutin Orak has been here since 1971. In 1972 he painted Vernal Call (Proljetni zov), a traditional motif, but with uniquely new chromaticity. Coral-shaped branches glow with green and blue colours on the scarlet background of the sky.
This painter, art teacher by vocation, is an example of transition from amaterism to Naive art, and it is an absolutely natural and logical transition, that occurred while he was teaching in his birthplace Gornja Rijeka. With typically Hlebine-like October (Listopad) from 1971, even without transparency of composition, he has reached envying level. Vernal Call evoked the old Generalic's theme of deer mating, but totally freely, with darkgreen and navy blue forest, scarlet sky and red deer. The iconic differential value enabled him to visely use the narrow connection with tradition without danger of getting lost in the average.
But differences and colour values, which are always expressed in the flat character of a painting, seem to be making yet another new Drava-basin alliteration."

Dr. Grgo Gamulin,I PITTORI NAIFS della Scoula di Hlebine, 1974.

"Growing up with the experiences of the Hlebine School of Naive Art, and inspired by the paintings of Ivan Generalić, Dragutin Orak became one of the active participants of that movement. That was confirmed when he was included in the book "The Hlebine School of Naive Art" by Dr Grgo Gamulin. Dragutin Orak was also included into representative exhibition "Naive Art '73" in Zagreb. Nevertheless, he did not stop at achieved success, but he continued following his path in the world saturated by artistic discoveries.
Led by knowledge, and encouraged by emotions, he directs his painting towards other ways of expressing.
Dragutin Orak joined the pleiad of artists who have established their own individual expression by "fleeing" from naive art."

Juraj Baldani, Foreword for Orak's 1998 catalogue