This exhibition explores paintings from the late 1980s and works on paper from the mid-1940s created during his time living and working in Laramie, Wyoming. Known for his extraordinary command of color, dynamic sense of movement, and deeply felt painterly vision, Opper bridged early modernist encounters with later abstract expressionist innovations over a six-decade long career. The works in this exhibition reveal Opper’s sustained engagement with movement and color as lived, felt experiences. Across gouaches, watercolors, and paintings, color operates as both structure and sensation: layered, juxtaposed, and allowed to interact freely. Opper rejected the idea of chromatic dissonance, instead embracing unexpected combinations that build luminosity through accumulation and tension. In these works, color does not describe form; it creates it.
John Opper | Paintings and Works on Paper
Current exhibition
Maya Frodeman Gallery is pleased to present Paintings and Works on Paper, solo exhibition with artist John Opper (1908–1994), on view at the gallery's downtown location from February 13th through March 29th, 2026. An opening reception will be held Friday, February 13th from 5 to 7pm. All are welcome to attend. Opper's daughter, Jane Opper, will be in attendance and will give a talk at 4pm on Friday, February 13th.
