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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
Which Way Today   Van Zyle, Jon   Lithograph  1984 
After Boucher: Untitled   Vaughan, Molly Jae   Oil pencil on paper  2022 
Amur Tiger   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1991 
Arctic Circle   Wallen, R. T.   Screenprint  1978 
Arctic Ground Squirrel   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1973 
Arrival of the Sea Birds   Wallen, R. T.   Pointigraph  1980 
Bear   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1969 
Black Bear Study - Anan Creek   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1975 
Cat's Cradle   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1983 
Chilkat Eagle   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1973 
Gang of Four   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1988 
Golden Anniversary of Glacier Bay   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph and collage  1975 
Gooch Eesh   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1970 
Man from Fort Yukon   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1969 
Marten   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1973 
Naa Klaa   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1982 
Polar Bear   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  n.d. 
Polar Bear   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1973 
Raccoon   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1969 
Raven Child: Nathan Jackson   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1987 
Rest and Rumination   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1983 
Ribbon Seal   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1968 
Screech Owl   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1972 
Sea Lions   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1969 
Sheep Crossing   Wallen, R. T.   Lithograph  1985 


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