Doel Reed, painter, printmaker, and teacher, was born in Logansport, Indiana on May 21, 1894. Raised in Indianapolis, Reed began art lessons at the John Herron Art Museum while in grade school. In 1916, he entered the Art Academy of Cincinnati where he studied with Lewis Henry Meakin, James Hopkins, and H.H. Wessel. Reed served with the United States 47th Infantry during World War 1 and was stationed in France between 1918 and 1919. After the war, Reed returned to the Art Academy where he honed his skills in printmaking. Reed taught printmaking at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater between 1924 and 1959 and eventually became chairman of the art department. Upon his retirement he moved to Taos, New Mexico where he had previously passed his summers.

Doel Reed was elected a full Academician of the National Academy of Design and was also a member of and exhibited with the Allied Artists of America; the Audubon Artists; the Chicago Society of Etchers; the Indiana Print Makers; the Prairie Print Makers; the Printmakers Society of California; and the Society of American Graphic Artists. He exhibited extensively throughout the United States and his work won numerous awards and prizes. In October 1976, Reed was presented The Governor’s Award for Achievement and Excellence in Visual Arts by the Governor of the State of New Mexico.

Reed’s work is represented in the Bibliothèque national de Frances, Paris; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Dayton Art Institute; the El Paso Museum of Art; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the National Academy of Design Museum; the New York Public Library Print Department; the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; and the Library of Congress.

Doel Reed died on September 30, 1985, in Taos, New Mexico.