Doel Reed the Icon

Acclaimed artist and educator, Doel Reed (1894-1985) is an icon of aquatint printmaking. Oklahoma State University's Doel Reed Center honors his legacy. 

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The OSU Doel Reed Center in Taos is an extension of Oklahoma State University that offers educational opportunities to students, alumni and friends in multi-cultural and artistically rich northern New Mexico. The center exists because of the generous contribution of Doel Reed’s daughter, Martha Reed, who gifted the Reed property to OSU in honor of her father for his many contributions to the arts and education.  

 

Chester Doel Reed came to Oklahoma A&M College as a professor in the Art Department in 1924. Between 1924 and 1980, Reed became a nationally recognized painter and printmaker, establishing a national reputation for his expertise in aquatint. 

 

Under his leadership, the Art Department gained recognition for excellence in the graphic arts. Reed’s national reputation as a printmaker resulted in his selection as a member of the prestigious National Academy of Design.

 

In the 1940s, Reed and his family began to summer in New Mexico. When he retired from Oklahoma State University in 1959, he and his wife Jane purchased a property consisting of three adobe buildings; two residences and a goat shed that he converted to his studio.

 

Reed exhibited his work widely throughout the second half of his career, regularly winning awards for his New Mexico inspired paintings and prints. He is widely cited as the “master of aquatint.” 

 

Sun Patterns, Dark Canyons: The Paintings and Aquatints of Doel Reed, recently concluded at the OSU Museum of Art. The exhibit will then move to the Wichita Art Museum for public viewing Nov. 20, 2021 to Feb. 15, 2022. The exhibit will then travel to Taos Art Museum at Fechin House  May 24, 2022 to Aug. 28, 2022.