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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
Weed Bouquet   Dudgeon, Earl   Oil on linen mounted on Masonite  ca. 1965 
Confidence   Eaton, Sydney K.   Oil on linen  ca. 1965 
Rehearsal   Eaton, Sydney K.   Oil on linen  ca. 1960 
Don Quixote Enthroned   Elshin, Jacob Alexander   Oil on Masonite  1965 
West Seattle Beacon   Erickson, Jean Elshin   Oil on canvas  n.d. 
Bamboo No.7   Evans, Dennis   Letterpress and print  1993 
Inside the Tent   Fejes, Claire   Oil on canvas  ca. 1976 
Kahhoaruk of Noatak   Fejes, Claire   Watercolor on paper  1963 
Sewing Mukluks   Fejes, Claire   Etching  n.d. 
Splitting Walrus Hide at St. Lawrence Island   Fejes, Claire   Oil on linen  1973 
Celestial Carpenter   Fellows, Jack   Acrylic on Masonite  n.d. 
Seine Man   Fellows, Jack   Mixed media on panel  1968 
Landscape with Chad   Fenton, Anne   Color photograph  2012 
Rock vs. Heather   Ferguson, Michael   Acrylic on canvas  ca. 1987-88 
Be the First To Review The B83   Fisk, Steve   Four-channel audio installation  2015 
Hooverville   Fitzgerald, Edmond J.   Watercolor on paper  1939 
March Sunlight in Hogan's Alley   Fitzgerald, Edmond J.   Watercolor on paper  n.d. 
Sheldrake Pond   Fitzgerald, Edmond J.   Watercolor on paper  ca. 1950 
Get up!   Focke, Anne   Letterpress  2013 
Flowers in a Vase   Forkner, J. Edgar   Watercolor on paper  1920s 
Karla Kay Keeley   Fullmer, Ray   Oil on canvas  ca. 1952-57 
Tom Neighbors   Fullmer, Ray   Oil on linen mounted on Masonite  ca. 1972 
Lacers   Gannon, William L.   Oil on Masonite  1967 
RFD Wagon   Gannon, William L.   Oil on illustration board  1967 
Street Cleaner   Gannon, William L.   Gouache on mat board  1967 


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