OKLAHOMA CITY, OK.- Organized by the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Julius Shulman: Oklahoma Modernism Rediscovered is the first-ever retrospective of photographs taken in Oklahoma by legendary architectural photographer Julius Shulman. The exhibit runs from April 30 through June 7 and will feature over 65 images – many unseen by the public for decades – of buildings designed by such world-renowned architects as Bruce Goff, Herb Greene, William Caudill, Truett Coston, Robert Roloff, and PaulHarris. Twenty-one architectural projects from six Oklahoma cities and towns will be represented in the exhibition including homes, banks, churches, museums and hospitals.

“When several of Julius Shulman’s Oklahoma photographs began appearing in the recently published books of his work, a handful of passionate local collectors reached out to him about the possibility of exhibiting this virtually unseen work. Mr. Shulman was very enthusiastic about his work in Oklahoma and agreed to work with our Museum to develop this special exhibition in collaboration with the Getty Research Institute. We believe these extraordinary images stand alone as photographic works of art while celebrating Oklahoma’s unique architectural heritage,” stated curator Brian Hearn.

Perhaps best known for his iconic photographs of Los Angeles' Case Study houses and of Palm Springs architecture, Shulman's incredible body of work includes more than 70,000 images. Now archived at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, Shulman’s photographs encompass a 70-year-and-counting career that includes thousands of images of buildings that would have been likely overlooked by the architectural world had he not photographed them.

Throughout his long career, Shulman often ventured inland from his base in California to explore the modernism movement in other regions of the United States. During these trips, which spanned over 30 years, he frequently stopped in Oklahoma and photographed some of the state's most innovative modern architecture. The long, low lines and bold forms of mid-century architecture were an especially good fit, when placed against the backdrop of Oklahoma's flat plains and vast, often mercurial skies, and Shulman's lens dramatically captured this symbiotic relationship in images of Greene's "Prairie Chicken" House, Goff's Bavinger House, and Roloff's State Capitol Bank, among others.

Indeed, Shulman's stunning Oklahoma photographs – and his tenacity in getting them published in national magazines – brought much-deserved attention to the Sooner State and helped launch the careers of Greene, Robert Alan Bowlby, Conner & Pojezny, Murray-Jones-Murray, and other area architects and firms.

As he approaches the century mark, Julius Shulman has himself become an icon in the architectural world, and this exhibit celebrates his incredible life and career. In addition, it pays tribute to the visionary architects whose designs continue to be appreciated and admired today.