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Pacific Northwest Artists

The Frye Art Museum’s substantial collection of works by artists of the Pacific Northwest reflects the Museum’s transformation from a personal selection of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century—predominantly European—oil paintings to a museum dedicated to creative practice in its myriad forms. Since opening in 1952 to the present day, the Museum has remained steadfast in exhibiting and collecting artworks by contemporary artists, especially those living and practicing in the city of Seattle and surrounding region. Walser Sly Greathouse, executor of the Frye estate and founding director of the Museum, ensured Charles and Emma Frye's vision for a free, public art museum for the people of Seattle was brought to life. Beginning in 1952, Greathouse was the first of six directors who expanded the Museum’s collection, acquiring new works to enliven and contextualize the paintings bequeathed by the Fryes. Subsequent leaders sustained the Museum’s legacy within the evolving identity of the Pacific Northwest through the ongoing collection and exhibition of works by artists of the region—from Washington and Oregon up to Alaska. The Museum’s extensive holdings of Alaskan art were initially assembled by the Museum’s second director, Ida Kay Greathouse. Between 1969 and 1993, she acquired over 125 paintings and works on paper. Subsequent Frye directors Richard V. West, Midge Bowman, and Jo-Anne Birnie Danzker added 175 more works by artists associated with the northernmost state. Highlights of the Pacific Northwest holdings range from twentieth-century Alaskan landscapes by artists such as Sydney Laurence and Eustace Paul Ziegler, to evocative works by contemporary artists and artist collectives across a broad range of mediums, including Juventino Aranda, the Black Constellation, Alison Bremner, Degenerate Art Ensemble, Ellen Lesperance, Jeffry Mitchell, Buster Simpson, and Ko Kirk Yamahira, among others.

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Title Artist Medium Date
Golden's Opportunity   Van Hoesen, Jack   Acrylic on board  1978 
Fishermen's Wharf   Marshall, Fred B.   Acrylic on board  n.d. 
Clam Chowder   Marshall, May Warner   Acrylic on canvas  1975 
Mission Capistrano   Weekes, Shirley M.   Acrylic on canvas  ca. 1972 
Rock vs. Heather   Ferguson, Michael   Acrylic on canvas  ca. 1987-88 
Summer Fest   Hama, Take   Acrylic on canvas  ca.1992 
Spring Daffodils   Weekes, Shirley M.   Acrylic on canvas  ca. 1972 
Stylite Altarpiece   Seifu, Eden   Acrylic on canvas   2022 
Seattle Wharf   Marshall, Fred B.   Acrylic on cardboard  n.d. 
Tug Haven   Marshall, Fred B.   Acrylic on cardboard  n.d. 
Blue Wave   Marshall, Fred B.   Acrylic on cardboard  n.d. 
Home in the Woods   Marshall, Fred B.   Acrylic on cardboard  n.d. 
Tow Ahead   Marshall, Fred B.   Acrylic on cardboard  n.d. 
Celestial Carpenter   Fellows, Jack   Acrylic on Masonite  n.d. 
Ocean Harbor   Marshall, Fred B.   Acrylic on Masonite  n.d. 
Defending the High Ground   Van Hoesen, Jack   Acrylic on Masonite  1978 
Into the Flats   Van Zyle, Jon   Acrylic on Masonite  1982 
Sunday at Latona School   Werrbach, William   Casein on cardboard  1971 
Girl in Black   Hurd, Roland   Casein on Masonite  1962 
Chrysanthemums with Paper   Dudgeon, Earl   Gouache on canvas board  1965 
Bear Icon   Morgan, Leslie   Oil and copper leaf on linen  1993 
Mt. McKinley, painted at Talkeetna   Ziegler, Eustace Paul   Oil on board  1940 
Southhampton   Ziegler, Eustace Paul   Oil on board  n.d. 
Flowers in Urn   Powell, Rosalyn Gale   Oil on board  1961 
Portrait of Mrs. Walser (Kay) Greathouse   Phillips, William Arthur   Oil on board  n.d. 


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