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.
by Artist
by Artist
by Year
by Object Type
Unvanquished
Dorothy Rising
Watercolor on paper
ca. 1956
Red Car
Gene Rivers
Pastel on illustration board
ca. 1988
Bamboo No.11
Mauricio Robalino
Letterpress and print
1994
Mount Williams
David Rosenthal
Oil on linen
1999
Asian Market
William E. Ryan
Oil on board
n.d.
Mother and Two Children
Lisel Salzer
Oil on Masonite
ca. 1966
Winter Afternoon
Ray Sandberg
Oil on canvas
1988
Washtucna
Victoria Savage
Oil on Masonite
1964
Love Cyclamen
Marilyn Schutzky
Watercolor on paper
1990
Stylite Altarpiece
Eden Seifu
Acrylic on canvas
2022
Night Forest
Ann Leda Shapiro
Watercolor and watercolor pencil on archival paper
2022
Skagit Sky
William Sheppley
Watercolor on paper
1989
Painted Silhouette
Buster Simpson
Archival inkjet print in artist-made frame
1974/2013
Street Action
Buster Simpson
Archival inkjet print in artist-made frame
1974/2013
Tree Guard
Buster Simpson
Powder-coated cast iron
1978/2013
Window Installation
Buster Simpson
Archival inkjet print in artist-made frame
1974/2013
Chilkat Valley, Bald Eagle
Gil Smith
Watercolor and gouache over graphite underdrawing on paper
1982
Bamboo No.5
Scott Smith
Letterpress and woodcut
1993
The Hammock
James H. Sobota
Watercolor on paper
1969
Untitled (XIV)
Rafael Soldi
Archival pigment print
2013
Bamboo No.21
Michael Spafford
Letterpress and woodcut
1994
Grecian Caribou #13
Lynn Hale St. Amand
Watercolor on paper
ca. 1978
And Now One for You
Michael A. Stark
Pen and ink on card
1988
Fall Chores
Michael A. Stark
Pen and ink on paper
ca. 1988
Fresh Daily
Michael A. Stark
Pen, ink, and colored pencil on paper
ca. 1988
Palace Guards
Michael A. Stark
Pen and ink on paper
ca. 1988
Eat Frye's Baby Beef
Victor Steinbrueck
Pen and ink on paper
1973
An Eskimo Smile
Bettina Steinke
Oil on canvas
1979
Eskimo Beauty Marks
Bettina Steinke
Pastel on paper
ca. 1979
Santa Clara Dancer
Bettina Steinke
Reproduction
1977
The Redhead
Bettina Steinke
Pastel on paper
ca. 1979
Village Dancers
Terrill Stephens
Pastel on paper
1982
Bamboo No.19
Rebecca Struck
Letterpress and print
1994
Old Maple Tree
Roy Terry
Watercolor on paper
ca. 1964
Ode to Octavia Part 12: (Sparkles)...Recollections of the Wraith
The Black Constellation
Digital video (color, sound); 4:49 min.
2012
Ode to Octavia: Cranium Adornment #5
The Black Constellation
Composited bone, enamel, found goggles
2012
Ode to Octavia: Neo-Ancient Taliswoman
The Black Constellation
Incantation, repurposed bronze, brass, silver, stainless steel, rosewood, beechnut, abalone shell, ibex and dik-dik horn, precious and semiprecious stones, 1996 GMC truck key
2012
The Storm
Diana Tillion
Octopus ink on paper
ca. 1974
Seated Man
Mark Tobey
Mixed media on paper
1940
Bamboo No.23
George Tsutakawa
Letterpress and Sumi ink
1994
El Sisifo (The Sisyphus)
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Three-channel digital video (color, sound); 12 min.
2015
Hedonic Reversal #1
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #10
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #11
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #12
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #13
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #14
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #15
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #16
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015
Hedonic Reversal #17
Rodrigo Valenzuela
Archival pigment print
2015