The Frye Art Museum continues to strategically build its collection through purchases and gifts, both deepening existing areas of strength and diversifying holdings to reflect the Museum’s expansive curatorial program and Seattle’s globalized present.
Acquisitions of the last five years demonstrate the Museum’s commitment to growing and contextualizing its distinctive historical collections of late nineteenth- and twentieth-century European and American art while broadening its holdings of contemporary works to embrace previously underrepresented identities, perspectives, and forms of expression. To some extent, acquisitions mirror the Museum’s exhibition history, creating a material record of the institution’s engagement with local, national, and international artists and commemorating the special audience connection formed through temporary presentations. Contemporary artworks chosen for the collection often respond to or complicate the narratives around mediums and genres traditionally associated with the Frye, like painting, landscape, and portraiture.
ESTAR(SER), with special acknowledgment to the Committee on Vitreous Phenomena (Justin Ginsberg and Anna Riley)
Glass, with custom made iron and wood stand
n.d.
Natalie Ball
Cotton cloth, twine, clay, leather, metal jingles, deer legs, and shoes
2018
Liz Magor
Polymerized gypsum, cans of beer
2001
Jennie C. Jones
Audio tape from the 1992 Kenny-G recording “Breathless”, under plexiglass
2008
Jennie C. Jones
Earbuds and acrylic
2008
Eva Koťátková
Mixed media collage
2011
Eva Koťátková
Mixed media collage
2011
Eva Koťátková
Mixed media collage
2011
Clarissa Tossin
Porcelain
2021
Clarissa Tossin
Silicone, black pigment, tree bark
2022
Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe
Oil on canvas
2020
Eden Seifu
Acrylic on canvas
2022