OKLAHOMA CITY, OK.- The Oklahoma City Museum of Art has acquired two major works of art by American artist Anne Truitt (1921–2004). The Sea, The Sea (2003) and Memory (1981) were purchased with funds from the Kirkpatrick Family Fund and the Kirkpatrick Foundation in honor of the philanthropic work of the Joan Kirkpatrick, who died in 2009. The pieces will be on view in the Museum’s third floor galleries beginning October 20.

Joan Kirkpatrick’s life was centered in Oklahoma City and in many philanthropic pursuits. One of those was being a champion for the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. An accomplished artist and sculptor—hobbies she enjoyed throughout her life—Joan took an avid interest in the future of Oklahoma City’s art museum. She served on the Museum’s board and took great pride in being on the Collections Management Committee—a committee her mother had served on since the Museum's founding in 1945. She also supported the Museum financially, and in 1998, Joan, along with her father, John Kirkpatrick, made the first and most significant gift to the Museum’s Capital Campaign, which funded the Museum’s move from the Oklahoma City fair grounds to downtown.

"The acquisition of these works is such a fitting tribute to my mother and her love for minimalist design," Joan's son, Christian Keesee said. "Ann Truitt is such an important female American artist; I am so pleased that the museum will be adding these works for all of Oklahoma City to enjoy."

The Sea, The Sea is one of a handful of sculptures created by Truitt prior to the end of her life and is painted in layers of translucent blue with a thin, white crown along the top of the piece. Memory is a classic minimalist painting with a narrow field of color along the bottom edge of the canvas. Both of these works are excellent examples of the artist’s oeuvre and serve as companion pieces.

“The recent acquisition of Anne Truitt’s artwork honors the philanthropic legacy of Joan Kirkpatrick and brings two outstanding examples of a leading American minimalist artist’s work to the Museum’s permanent collection,” said Glen Gentele, president and CEO of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

Truitt is renowned for her large, vertical, painted, wooden sculptures, which she began making in 1961 and produced throughout her career. Though she continued to work on canvas, her interest in working with color evolved from a two-dimensional approach into the mesmerizing three-dimensional columns for which she became known. Truitt became a central figure in the development of minimalism following her 1963 solo exhibition at the André Emmerich Gallery, New York.

Her works are represented in numerous private and public collections, including the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Museum of Modern Art. The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. presented a retrospective exhibition of Truitt’s work in 2009–10, which solidly placed her within the historical cannon of contemporary art. The most recent exhibition of her work, Anne Truitt Sculpture 1962-2004, at Matthew Marks Gallery, New York, marked another major presentation of the artist’s work in the 21st century and featured the sculpture The Sea, The Sea.