First major retrospective of artist opens November 22, 2025, at OKCMOA
OKLAHOMA CITY (October 9, 2025) — The Oklahoma City Museum of Art (OKCMOA) will open its fall exhibition Paul Reed: A Retrospective on Saturday, November 22, with a week of preview events leading up to the public opening. This exhibition, the first major retrospective devoted to Washington Color School artist Paul Reed (1919-2015), will run through April 12, 2026.
Paul Reed: A Retrospective showcases the life and career of an artist whose contributions to both abstract art and Washington, D.C.’s art scene have gone largely overlooked. The exhibition will present a chronological survey of Reed’s art and accomplishments from his early days as a graphic designer, to his success as one of the founding artists of the Washington Color School in the 1960s, to the innovations of his later work.
In 1968, OKCMOA, then the Oklahoma Art Center, purchased the collection of the Washington Gallery of Modern Art (WGMA), which had organized the groundbreaking 1965 exhibition, The Washington Color Painters, featuring Reed and five other artists. In 2016, OKCMOA included Reed’s painting No. 17 (1964), the work of his acquired in the WGMA purchase, in the exhibition Matisse in His Time. This inclusion helped set in motion the Paul and Esther Reed Trust’s gift of 125 paintings and works on paper, a donation that made OKCMOA the definitive home of Reed’s work.
“Many will remember seeing Reed’s painting in Matisse in His Time or more recently the works-on-paper installation of his later career work, and we’re excited to introduce our visitors to a more comprehensive view of Reed’s important career,” said President and CEO Michael Anderson, PhD.
Paul Reed: A Retrospective is guest curated by David Gariff, PhD, senior lecturer at the National Gallery of Art, and will consist of over one hundred works, several of which are large-scale paintings. The checklist is drawn primarily from OKCMOA’s permanent collection, with additional loans from important museum and private collections. The exhibition will include a catalog, published by Marquand Books, available now for preorder from the Museum Store at okcmoa.com/store.
Opening alongside Paul Reed: A Retrospective is The Legacy of the Washington Color School, which will draw from both OKCMOA permanent collection works as well as outside loans. This installation expands the legacy of the Washington Color School to include a diverse group of artists historically overlooked in its initial narrative, such as Sam Gilliam, Alma Thomas, Anne Truitt, and Kenneth Victor Young. Often referred to as the second generation, these artists actively contributed to the art landscape of Washington, D.C., alongside the first-generation Washington Color School artists.
Sponsorships for Paul Reed: A Retrospective are currently available. For more information, please contact Development Officer CC Phenix at 405.278.8242.
Tickets for the exhibition will go on sale Monday, November 17. Members and children 17 and under see Paul Reed: A Retrospective and all other exhibitions for free. For more information on memberships and to purchase tickets, please visit okcmoa.com.
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Image Credit: Paul Reed, No. 17 (detail), 1964, acrylic on canvas, 67 x 67 in., Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Museum purchase, Washington Gallery of Modern Art Collection, 1968.174, © Paul and Esther Reed Trust, photo © Oklahoma City Museum of Art
