Oklahoma Art History

with an emphasis on representational art

 

Introduction

This section of the Traditional Fine Arts Organization (TFAO) catalogue Topics in American Art is devoted to the topic "Oklahoma Art History." Articles and essays specific to this topic published in TFAO's Resource Library are listed at the beginning of the section. Clicking on titles takes readers directly to the articles and essays.

Following the links to Resource Library articles and essays are a listing of museums in the state which have provided materials to Resource Library for this or any other topic.

Listed after museums are links to online resources outside the TFAO website. Following these resources is information about offline resources including DVDs, paper-printed books, journals and articles. Our goal is to present complete knowledge relating to this section of Topics in American Art.

We recommend that researchers always search within Resource Library for additional material. Please see TFAO's page How to research topics not listed for more information.

 

Resource Library essays listed by author name in alphabetical order, followed by articles:

Oklahoma Capitol Portraits

Winter Camp: Honoring the Legacy - Contemporary Expressions of Oklahoma Tribal Art

 

Museums and other non-profit sources of Resource Library articles and essays:

Gilcrease Museum

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

Oklahoma City Museum of Art

Philbrook Museum of Art

Price Tower Arts Center

Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History

 

(above: Grace Carpenter Hudson,Tskararalisin (Eagle Chief), 1904, oil on canvas, 20 1/4 x 16 3/16 inches, Denver Art Museum, William Sr. and Dorothy Harmsen Collection. 2001.1212.)

 

Other online information:

Artists from Oklahoma in Wikipedia. Accessed August, 2015.

Between the Isms: The Oklahoma Society of Impressionists and Selected Oklahoma Expressionists is a 2019 exhibit at the Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art  which says: "In 1987, the Oklahoma Society of Impressionists originated in a workshop in Taos, New Mexico, when a group of like-minded artists with ties to Oklahoma decided to form an organization dedicated to the lasting influence of Impressionism. This exhibition features recent paintings from the group as well as a selection of paintings by Oklahoma artists working in expressionist styles. Between the Isms offers a fresh perspective on the diversity of painting styles present in the state." Also see 5/19/19 article in the Transcript. Audited 4/20

The First Fifty Years of Oklahoma Art is a 2015 exhibit at the Gaylord-Pickens Museum. NewsOK says in a January 21, 2015 review: "The exhibit contains a rich selection of works from the Melton Art Reference Library, Shawnee's Mabee-Gerrer Museum and the Oklahoma State Art Collection." The exhibit discusses a number of early Oklahoma artists. Accessed 3/19

Kiowa Agency: Stories of the Six is a 2020 exhibit at the Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art which says: "From 1927 to 1929, while at the University of Oklahoma, six Kiowa artists created many paintings featuring Kiowa culture. Now referred to as the Kiowa Six, this cohort included Spencer Asah, James Auchiah, Jack Hokeah, Stephen Mopope, Lois Smoky, and Monroe Tsatoke." Accessed 4/21

Ledger Book Art by Bobby D. Weaver, from Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Accessed August, 2015.

List of Native American artists from Oklahoma in Wikipedia. Accessed August, 2015.

Midwest Modern: Works by J. Jay McVicker (1911-2004) of Oklahoma, from a private collection is a 2023 exhibit at the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery. Cori Sherman North, Curator, says: "As contemporary American modernism. developed in the 1950s, eclipsing realism as the style of choice in art departments all over the country, the art world coalesced around the bicoastal cities of New York and Los Angeles. As these sites on opposite sides of the country claimed avant-garde status and importance, artists in "fly-over" states all but disappeared from the ranks of experimental progressives. Among those forgotten modernists is Oklahoman J. Jay McVicker (1911-2004)"  Accessed 3/23

O. Gail Poole's Sideshow is a 2020 exhibit at the Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art which says: "O. Gail Poole's Sideshow explores the oddities of the artist's late work. Sideshows are, by definition, diversions that use the spectacular, unusual, or bizarre to entertain or distract the masses, and Poole's work reminds us that the sideshow is everywhere we look." View website of the artist. Also see 1/31/20 article by Doug Hill in The Transcript  Accessed 10/20

Oklahoma State Capitol (text only) from State of Oklahoma. Accessed August, 2015.

Oklahoma State Capitol Art Collection - from Oklahoma Arts Council. Accessed August, 2015.

"Outdoor Sculpture" by Dianna Everett, from Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Accessed August, 2015.

Visual Voices: Contemporary Chickasaw Art is a 2018 exhibit at the Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art which says: "The artworks analyze the complex relationship between contemporary Chickasaw life and rich tribal history and culture." Also see press release. Accessed 8/18

Weaving History into Art: The Enduring Legacy of Shan Goshorn is a 2020 exhibit at the Gilcrease Museum which says: "Shan Goshorn was internationally recognized for weaving archival documents and photographs into baskets using traditional Cherokee techniques to create historical, political and cultural commentary on Native American issues that continue to resonate in the 21st century." Accessed 4/21

"What About Indian Art?" An Interview With Mary Jo Watson, from KGOU. Accessed August, 2015.

Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project by Sally Bradstreet Soelle, from Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Accessed August, 2015.

 

Sampler of books, listed by year of publication, with most recently published book listed first:

Oklahoma Indian Art., by Thomas Gilcrease Museum Association - 1995

Oklahoma Artists of Distinction, by Tom & Dorothy Notestine. 50.pages. Publisher: Paintspree Publications (1989). ASIN: B000CLJHVK

Folk Art in Oklahoma: An Exhibition Presented by the Oklahoma Museums Association: the Oklahoma Art Center's Arts Annex, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, May 3-June 19, 1981. By Oklahoma Museums Association, Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma Museums Association. Published by The Association, 1981. 104 pages

New Deal Murals in Oklahoma: A Bicentennial Project, By Nicholas A. Calcagno. Published by Pioneer Printing, 1975. 52 pages

Indian Artists from Oklahoma, By Oscar Brousse Jacobson. Published by University of Oklahoma Press, 1964. 19 pages

Artists in Oklahoma: A Handbook, By Bess England. Published by University of Oklahoma. 168 pages

 

Musical accompanyment:

Oklahoma! musical soundtrack, search > Wikipedia > Oklahoma! musical soundtrack

Return to Individual States Art History Project

 

Links to sources of information outside of our web site are provided only as referrals for your further consideration. Please use due diligence in judging the quality of information contained in these and all other web sites. Information from linked sources may be inaccurate or out of date. TFAO neither recommends or endorses these referenced organizations. Although TFAO includes links to other web sites, it takes no responsibility for the content or information contained on those other sites, nor exerts any editorial or other control over them. For more information on evaluating web pages see TFAO's General Resources section in Online Resources for Collectors and Students of Art History.

 

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