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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
Pack Train   Ziegler, Eustace Paul   Watercolor on paper  n.d. 
Pinnacle Peak, Tatoosh Range   Ziegler, Eustace Paul   Watercolor on paper  n.d. 
Tatoosh Range   Ziegler, Eustace Paul   Watercolor on paper  n.d. 
Valdez, Alaska   Laurence, Sydney   Watercolor on paper  1914 
Flowers in a Vase   Forkner, J. Edgar   Watercolor on paper  1920s 
Captain's House, Mendocino California   Jensen, Arne Rudolph   Watercolor on paper  n.d. 
Crowned Heads, Ferndale, California   Jensen, Arne Rudolph   Watercolor on paper  n.d. 
Sagebrush Dropout (Eastern Oregon)   Jensen, Arne Rudolph   Watercolor on paper  n.d. 
Road to Knowledge   Jensen, Arne Rudolph   Watercolor on paper  n.d. 
Ocean Harvest, Hoh River's Mouth, Pacific Ocean   Jensen, Arne Rudolph   Watercolor on paper  n.d. 
Ballard Bricks   Jensen, Arne Rudolph   Watercolor on paper  n.d. 
The Last Port, Clam Bay, Kuper Island, B.C.   Jensen, Arne Rudolph   Watercolor on paper  n.d. 
The Race   Marshall, May Warner   Watercolor on paper  n.d. 
Mexican Bread Boy   Marshall, May Warner   Watercolor on paper  n.d. 
Indian Horses at Sekiu, Washington   Marshall, May Warner   Watercolor on paper  n.d. 
Market at Guadalupe   Marshall, Fred B.   Watercolor on paper  n.d. 
Dry Falls   Marshall, Fred B.   Watercolor on paper  n.d. 
Kalaallit Study   Kent, Rockwell   Watercolor on paper  1935 
The Journey   Marshall, May Warner   Watercolor on paper  1935 
Hooverville   Fitzgerald, Edmond J.   Watercolor on paper  1939 
White Shasta Daisies   Immel, Paul   Watercolor on paper  1940-45 
Daisies in a Round Bowl   Immel, Paul   Watercolor on paper  1940-45 
Mt. Index   Ziegler, Eustace Paul   Watercolor on paper  1944 
Mutiny Bay, Whidbey Island, WA   Marshall, Fred B.   Watercolor on paper  1950 
Swinomish Slough (LaConner, Washington)   Jensen, Arne Rudolph   Watercolor on paper  1950s 


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