Doel Reed
Born Indiana, 1894
Died New Mexico, 1985

Born in Logansport, Indiana, Doel Reed was raised in Indianapolis. He originally studied and worked in architecture but his interest in art led him to enroll in the Cincinnati Art Academy in 1916. His studies were interrupted the following year when he left for France to serve in Word War I. He was blinded temporarily after being gassed and spent several months in a base hospital in France. Following his discharge in 1919, he returned to the Art Academy where he studied for another year. While at the Academy, Reed studied under James R. Hopkins, H.H. Wessel, and L.H. Meaken.

It was under L.H. Meaken that Reed had his first, and only, formal training in the graphic arts. The artist developed an interest in the medium after he observed Meaken print from the plates of Frank Duveneck. There were few schools that taught the subject of graphic arts at that time so Reed began by studying the aquatints of Francisco Goya and later observed the techniques of fellow artists working in the field. The majority of his studies were essentially based on trial and error. By the 1950's Reed was considered to be a premier printmaker and was elected to membership in the National Academy of Design for graphic arts in 1952.

In addition to printmaking, Reed worked regularly in several mediums including oil and casein. In 1924, he began a thirty-five year long teaching career as the head of the art department at Oklahoma State University. His only extended absence from the university during that time occurred in 1926 and 1930-31 when the artist studied in France.

Beginning in the late 1940's many of his summers were spent in Taos, New Mexico, with his family. Following his retirement from the university in 1959, Reed relocated to Taos where he set up a studio.

Exhibited: Society of Independent Artists, 1927 & 1929; Society of American Etchers, 1930-1946; Kansas City Art Institute, 1932; "100 Etchings of Year," 1932-44; Art Institute of Chicago, 1934, 1937, 1939; National Academy of Design, 1934-46, 1965 (Samuel Morse Medal); Tulsa Art Association, 1935 (prize); Paris Salon, 1937; Rome, Italy, 1937; Sweden, 1938; Chicago Society of Etchers, 1938 (prize); Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1940; Philadelphia Print Club, 1940 (prize); Venice, Italy, 1940; Carnegie Institute, 1941; Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH,1942, (prize); Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1942; Whitney Museum of American Art, 1942; Northwest Printmakers, 1942 (prize), 1944 (prize); Herron Art Institute, 1943; Library of Congress, 1944-46; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1944-45; Philbrook Art Club, 1944 (prize); Laguna Beach Art Association, 1944 (prize); Southern States Art League, 1944 (prize); "50 American Prints," 1944; Oakland Art Gallery, 1945 (prize); Audubon Artists, 1945, 1951 (Gold Medal of Honor), 1954 (John Taylor Arms Memorial Medal); Albany Institute of History and Art, 1945; Pasadena Art Institute, 1946; London; Allied Art Association; National Society of Painters Casein; Mission Gallery, Taos, NM, and Blair Galleries, Ltd. Santa Fe, NM.

Works Held: Carnegie Institute; Honolulu Academy of Art; Grinnell College; Library of Congress; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Art, Houston; New York Public Library; Oklahoma Art Club; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Philbrook Art Club; Seattle Art Museum; Southern Methodist University; University of Montana; University of Tulsa; Biblioteque Nationale, Paris; Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Further Reading: Harmsen's Western Americana: A Collection of One-Hundred Western Paintings with Biographical Profiles of the Artists, Dorothy Harmsen, Northland Press, Flagstaff, Arizona, 1971.; The Illustrated Biographical Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West, Peggy and Harold Samuels, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1976.; Taos Artists and Their Patrons, 1898-1950, Dean A. Porter, Tessa Hayes Ebie and Suzan Campbell, Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, 1999.; Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Vol. 3. Peter Hastings Falk, Georgia Kuchen and Veronica Roessler, eds., Sound View Press, Madison, Connecticut, 1999. 3 Vols.

Biography courtesy of David Cook Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/davidcook