Oklahoma State Art Collection

Painting by Alexander Hogue Oklahoma State Capitol, 1st Floor, West Wing
Open every day of the week
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Admission is free and open to the public

The Oklahoma State Art Collection is a visual anthology of the history of artistic expression in Oklahoma. The works of art within this significant collection celebrate creativity across Oklahoma and give voice to the cultural diversity that make up our state. By offering works of art that reflect our state’s history and culture, we learn and recognize the various and diverse cultures and voices as threads that comprise the fabric of Oklahoma.

ABOUT THE GALLERY

Curated by the Oklahoma Arts Council, this inaugural exhibition features nearly 100 works of art by artists who were born in, trained in or have produced a significant portion of their work in the state. This new museum quality gallery will feature rotating exhibitions of the Collection that now holds more than 175 pieces of art. The Council manages and cultivates the Collection by continuing to acquire donated works.

The inaugural exhibition of the Oklahoma State Art Collection is organized into five sections: Highlights of the Collection, Recent Acquisitions, Photography, Modern and Contemporary Art and Sculpture.

Print by TC Cannon HISTORY OF THE COLLECTION

Established by the Oklahoma Arts Council in January 1971, the Oklahoma State Art Collection was created to collect and preserve the work of Oklahoma artists. Under the leadership of Jerome Westheimer and dedicated committee members, the State Art Collection grew with additions of works by artists born in or practicing their art as citizens of Oklahoma. For its first ten years, the Collection toured communities throughout the state and the region.

In 1976, a special Bicentennial exhibit at the Kennedy Center in conjunction with Oklahoma Day in Washington, D.C., gave world visitors a glimpse of Oklahoma talent. Selected works from the Collection were exhibited for several years at the Oklahoma City Art Museum and then later at the Omniplex Science Museum. In 2006, the Oklahoma Legislature and Governor Brad Henry approved this gallery space in the State Capitol to showcase this Collection. This gallery is the realization of the founding members’ vision for a permanent facility for this remarkable Collection.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE COLLECTION

The first section, Highlights of the Collection, features more than 20 masterworks by significant artists including Edward Ruscha, Alexandra Alaupovic, Oscar Jacobson, Doel Reed and Nan Sheets. Capturing a full range of expression, the works consist of a vast array of media including basketry, sculpture, metal relief, painting, printmaking, ceramics, and mixed media.

As initiators, these artists embraced innovation and progressive expression, and ushered new challenges and directions for Oklahoma artists. Their legacy is alive within the art schools they established and can be experienced in the works of those they inspire.

RECENT ACQUISITIONS

The Recent Acquisitions section includes works by Oklahoma artists who have established national and international reputations and whose works have recently been added to the Collection. The selected works reveal the various artistic styles and mediums employed by Oklahoma artists from Mitsuno Reedy’s traditional pastel portrait Brenda (Woman with a Turban) to Benjamin Harjo, Jr.’s colorful acrylic painting Conversation Between Friends.

The examples in this section illustrate both the technical mastery of printmaker Woody Crumbo and woodturning artist Nathan Hart’s renewed interest in a traditional art medium represented in a contemporary fashion. In addition, this section includes examples of paintings and fiber art by award-winning artists Elizabeth Hahn, Pamela Husky and Sue Moss Sullivan.

PHOTOGRAPHY

The current photographs on display exhibit the extreme versatility of the medium. Each photograph provides an example of the spectrum of talent as well as offers a presentation of the evolution of the photographic processes. From the wet plate collodian ambrotype process patented in 1854 to the current technology of digital imaging, these images bring to light the artistic expression of photography.

The selected works include silver gelatin prints, also defined as black-and-white photography on any type of silver-impregnated photographic paper, color photography, and photomontage, the process of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining a number of photographs. From documentary photographs committed to depicting the changes in the Oklahoma landscape to unexpected vantage points and close observation of international cultures, the works also include a number of examples of portraiture, still life, and street photography. A diverse portfolio, the artists represented in this section include noted photographers David Fitzgerald, C. Ned Hockman and E.J. Deighton.

MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART

This section integrates selected modern and contemporary paintings, ceramics, sculptures, and mixed media works. This broad selection by familiar and lesser-known Oklahoma artists displays significant examples of the major art movements and directions that influenced Oklahoma artists over the last seven decades. Created from the early 1900s to the present, these works make it possible to trace the transition from the end of the Modern art era to the emergence of new artistic developments in Contemporary art in Oklahoma.

Not surprisingly, in conjunction with the Collection’s establishment in 1971, the Collection is notably strong in Contemporary art of the 1960s and 1970s. Significant postwar developments include Abstract Expressionism, Geometric Abstraction and Post-Painterly Abstraction.

SCULPTURE

Featuring works in mediums ranging from classical bronze to contemporary metals, this section explores the power of sculpture to depict familiar forms as well as its effect on the space around it. Ranging from Western works, such as Tasso Pitsiri’s bronze bust entitled The Cowboy, to the abstract as seen in David Robert’s painted steel Ground Writing, the sculptures in this section exhibit styles from traditional sculpture to modern-contemporary interpretations.

As the direction of many contemporary sculptors continues to change in technique and theme, sculptors are incorporating new media and common objects in their works. In Melvin R. Smith’s The Ford Mask, the artist utilizes an ordinary object, the body panels of a Ford Ranger truck, to construct an African-American inspired mask. In addition, contemporary sculptors are expanding their repertoire to include functionality into their works as seen in Kelly Gale Amen’s 1898 Weatherford, Oklahoma bronze bench.