The Fred Jones Jr.

Art Museum remembers Harold Stevenson: featuring his exhibition

The Great Society

Audrey Young

NORMAN, Okla. Nov.10, 2019-1936 marked the beginning of what, today, is known as the Fred

Jones Jr. Art Museum. It all began with collections of art donated by Lew Wentz and Gordan

Matzene.

Oscar Jacobson was the first director of the Oklahoma Museum of Art and grew the collection

into more than 2,500 works of art. The museum was originally housed in what is now Jacobson

Hall, so where does the name Fred Jones Jr. come into all of this? In 1971, the parents of Fred

Jones. Jr donated a fine arts building in memoriam of their son who passed during his senior

year at the University of Oklahoma.

The museum is nothing short of impressive holding works from Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir and

Gauguin, just to name a few. Alongside these notable French artists, the museum contains

copious exhibitions, the school of Art and its administrative offices.

Exhibitions are chosen and rotated by the museum staff such as the director and curator.

This year there are have been five exhibitions featured in the museum and currently Harold

Stevenson’s The Great Society is a must see in the museum.

Harold Stevenson passed November 2018 and his memory should be commemorated.

Andrew Russeth for ARTnews breaks down the life of Harold Stevenson. Stevenson was born

and raised in Idabel, Oklahoma and attended the University before entering the sphere of art.
He is known for his titanic painting of a male nude, The New Adam. The work was not well

accepted, and Stevenson made that known.

After creating a pamphlet exposing his artwork and denial he received, he was given the

opportunity to display one of his works off the Eiffel Tower. Another notable moment in Harold’s

life came from his friendship with Andy Warhol, who featured Stevenson in a few of his films.

Stevenson’s life is beneficial to understanding his creation of The Great Society, which he

donated to the Fred Jones Jr. Art Museum.

The Great Society only contains portraits of local residents from Idabel, Stevenson’s birthplace.

The portraits are mixed media paintings on large 50 ½ by 30-inch canvases and draw attention

to a facial feature of each subject.

Some prominent features that stand out in the paintings are eyes and noses which are difficult

to achieve on such a large medium. The age, gender and race of the individuals drastically

varies which makes the exhibit refreshing and inclusive.

Although the portraits are of all different people, Harold purposefully left off names. He did this

with the intention for people to see themselves through his portraits.

The purpose behind The Great Society is deeper than just painting people who grew up or live

where Stevenson was born. The name ties back to Lyndon B. Johnson’s agenda, The Great

Society.
History.com describes Johnson’s purpose of this agenda as an attempt to bring the American

people together and put an end to poverty, crime and inequality.

Stevenson had these same ideals and message in mind when creating this collection. He was

aiming to inspire people to make a change to better the society as a whole.

The gallery is featured on the bottom level of the Fred Jones Jr. Art Museum in a large room

with white walls and floors drawing attention to Stevenson’s work. In the back-left corner of the

gallery there is a section featuring mirrors and supplies to draw your own self portrait.

Kaylee Kain, the director of communication at the museum gave insight into the attendance of

visitors for the exhibition.

“Harold Stevenson’s work always draw[s] a crowd and many visitors have come to see the

exhibition from all over the country,” said Kain.

Even students are taking advantage of the opportunity to see Stevenson’s work on campus.

Madison Bacon a current student at the University of Oklahoma spoke about what the gallery

meant to her.

“Being from Ada, a small town in Oklahoma, it was awesome to see a well-known artist focus in

on people from Oklahoma and draw attention to changes that need to be implemented in the

world today,” said Bacon.

The museum is a nonprofit institution, free of admission and open to the public and will feature

The Great Society up until December 29, 2019.

Word Count: 726