Art

Featuring 99 paintings created between 1809 and the present by masters such as Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent and Andrew Wyeth, For America: Paintings from the National Academy of Design opened November 6, 2021 at OKCMOA and runs through January 30, 2022. These masterworks provide a unique history of American art as told by many of the best-known American artists.

After relocating to Santa Fe, New Mexico, for a teaching position, American artist Fritz Scholder (Luiseño) stated he saw one too many over-romanticized and generalized depictions of Indigenous people “looking at the sunset.” With his Indian series, started in 1967, Scholder sought to replace the tourist-approved narratives perpetuated by white artists with the realities he witnessed every day. By combining realism and spirituality with vivid colors and expressive brushstrokes, Scholder created radical new imagery of modern-day Indigenous life. Fritz Scholder: Beyond Stereotypes features 10 prints and one painting from Scholder’s revolutionary Indian series.

In the spring of 2019, we reopened our second-floor galleries with an exciting new presentation of our permanent collection. Headlining this reinstallation is the Museum’s latest acquisition, Kehinde Wiley’s monumental new portrait Jacob de Graeff (2018) from the artist’s Kehinde Wiley: Saint Louis exhibition. Wiley’s extraordinary painting anchors a new portrait gallery that also features works by Anthony van Dyck, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and George Bellows.

Redesigned in collaboration with Chihuly Studio, the galleries incorporate a unique design that features a three-dimensional approach to viewing some objects in the collection. The presentation allows visitors to explore the large Float Boat and Ikebana Boat installations from all sides as well as includes viewing slots for the Reeds.