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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
Portrait of Eustace Ziegler   Blackstock, Dorothy   Oil on canvas  1968 
Bamboo No.9   Blocker, Mare   Letterpress and linocut  1994 
Mission at Cuernavaca   Bonath, Harry   Watercolor on paper  ca. 1966 
Gloaming   Brask, Gudrun   Watercolor on paper  ca. 1963 
Great Notions   Bratt, Byron   Mezzotint and acrylic wash  1990 
Stereoscopic Viewer   Bratt, Byron   Mezzotint and acrylic wash  1995 
The Changeling   Bratt, Byron   Mezzotint and acrylic wash  1980 
The Three Graces   Bratt, Byron   Mezzotint and acrylic wash  1988 
Chemically Tanned   Bremner, Alison   Latex paint on deer hide with horsehair  2017 
Landscape #7   Browning, Matt   Tree sap on handmade wood panel  2012 
Tradition as Adaptive Strategy   Browning, Matt   Tree sap and carved wood  2010 
Bouquet in Frye Shortening Pail   Bruce, Marjorie   Watercolor on paper  ca. 1978 
Eidolon   Bruch, Cris   Aluminum composite  2015 
Emollients: Ingram's, Marinello's, Purola, Velvatone   Bruch, Cris   Blown glass  2016 
Minus Tide - Point No Point   Bundas, Rudolph   Watercolor on paper  1989 
Vegetables & Pear   Bundas, Rudolph   Watercolor on paper  1972 
Denali   Burgert, Julius   Oil on canvas  1990 
Rye Grass   Burns, Mike   Watercolor on paper  ca. 1970 
Ecdysis   Butler, Ishmael   Audio, 24:51 min.  2015 
Untitled   Calderon, Mark   Book spine repair tape  2012 
Tacoma Smelter   Cauthorn, Jess Dan   Watercolor on illustration board  1964 
Bamboo No.15   Chacona, George   Letterpress and print  1994 
Blue Still Life   Charouhas, Betty   Mixed media on paper  ca. 1963 
Landscape   Chase, Doris Totten   Oil on Masonite  ca. 1964 
The Trees   Chase, Doris Totten   Oil on Masonite  1958 


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