Paul Reed (artist)

Paul (Allen) Reed (born 1919) is an American artist most associated with the Washington Color School and Color Field Painting.

Biography

Reed was born in Washington DC and currently resides in the Virginia suburbs outside of DC. He attended and graduated from both San Diego State College in San Diego, CA and the Corcoran School of Art in Washington DC. Reed’s group show debut was in 1958 in the Watkins Gallery, American University. He and a few of his select his contemporary peers made a splash in a 1965 group show at the Washington Gallery of Modern Art entitled The Washington Color Painters. Also called the Washington Color School, this group had a profound influence in the abstract arena and the pushing of artistic boundaries from mid-century forward. His first solo show was in January 1963 at the Adams Morgan Gallery in Washington, DC. In November of that same year, he had another solo show in the East Hampton Gallery in New York City.

From 1962 to 1971 Paul Reed served as Art Director for the Peace Corps after which he joined the Corcoran School of Art in the position of Assistant Professor. In the mean time, he was featured in several dozen group and solo exhibitions including:

Paul Reed is also in more than 50 public collections including: the Detroit Institute of Art in Detroit, Michigan; Emory University in Atlanta, GA; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC; the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC; the Phoenix Art Museum in Phoenix, AZ; the Boca Raton Museum of Art in Boca Raton, FL; the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in Santa Barbara, California; and the Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford, CT.

References

Who’s Who in America 1976-1997

Who's Who in American Art 1973-1997

The Dictionary of Art (MacMillan Co., London 1989)

L’Avant Garde Abtraite L’Art Americain de 1950 a 1970 “Nouvelle Abtraction” – Claudine Humblet, Bruxelles

The National Museum of American Art, Interactive CD ROM, 1995

Introduction & Text by Roy Slade, "The Corcoran & Washington Art" Copyright 1976 The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.: 2000 copies printed by Garamond Press, Baltimore, MD LCCC# 76-42098

The Vincent Melzac Collection, Forward by Walter Hopps, Introduction by Ellen Gross Landau, Retrospective Notes on the Washington Color School by Barbara Rose, Copyright 1971 The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.: printed by Garamond/Pridemark Press, Baltimore, MD LCCC#75-153646

Smithsonian Archives of American Art, Interview with Gerald Nordland Conducted by Susan Larsen, Chicago, Illinois May 25–26, 2004 http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/nordla04.htm

Gariff, David, “The Art of Paul Reed: Color, Creativity, Curiosity,” in Evolution Through Color: The Art of Paul Reed, Washington, D.C., Fairchild Gallery, Georgetown University, 2011. Reprinted in Ultraviolet to Infrared: Paul Reed – 50 Years, Lorton, Virginia, Workhouse Arts Center, 2011.

External links