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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.

  FILTER RESULTS
by Artist
by Year
by Object Type
Image of Roy Alex, Eklutna, Alaska
Roy Alex, Eklutna, Alaska

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
1989

Image of Roy Alex, Portrait
Roy Alex, Portrait

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
1992

Image of Skunk Cabbage, Hatcher Pass, Alaska
Skunk Cabbage, Hatcher Pass, Alaska

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
1986

Image of The Owl Called My Name
The Owl Called My Name

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
ca. 1978

Image of The Perkins
The Perkins

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
n.d.

Image of Tombstone, Skagway, Alaska
Tombstone, Skagway, Alaska

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
1984

Image of Tree Bark, Carmel, California
Tree Bark, Carmel, California

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
1984

Image of Untitled [Birch trees in sky]
Untitled [Birch trees in sky]

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
1978

Image of Untitled [Birch trees in sky]
Untitled [Birch trees in sky]

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
1978

Image of Untitled [Butchering whale, Barrow, Alaska]
Untitled [Butchering whale, Barrow, Alaska]

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
ca. 1952

Image of Untitled [Church and whale bones, Barrow, Alaska]
Untitled [Church and whale bones, Barrow, Alaska]

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
ca. 1952

Image of Untitled [Fashion model leg with dancer]
Untitled [Fashion model leg with dancer]

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
ca. 1960

Image of Untitled [Inupiaq boy at window, Barrow, Alaska]
Untitled [Inupiaq boy at window, Barrow, Alaska]

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
ca. 1952

Image of Untitled [Little Susitna River, Hatcher Pass, Alaska]
Untitled [Little Susitna River, Hatcher Pass, Alaska]

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
1983

Image of Untitled [Portrait of man with sculpture, New York City]
Untitled [Portrait of man with sculpture, New York City]

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
ca. 1956

Image of Untitled [Portrait of woman at newspaper stand, New York, NY]
Untitled [Portrait of woman at newspaper stand, New York, NY]

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
ca. 1956

Image of Untitled [Tree roots, Carmel, California]
Untitled [Tree roots, Carmel, California]

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
1984

Image of Victor Antone, Kenai, Alaska
Victor Antone, Kenai, Alaska

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
1989

Image of Warren
Warren

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
1988

Image of Water Lilies, Seward, Alaska
Water Lilies, Seward, Alaska

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
1986

Image of Winter, Matanuska Valley, Alaska
Winter, Matanuska Valley, Alaska

Sam Isamu Kimura
Gelatin silver print
1984

Image of Balloon Lady
Balloon Lady

Beverly King
Acrylic and paper collage on fiber board
1972

Image of Bamboo No.14
Bamboo No.14

Robert Kraftt
Letterpress and print
1994

Image of Birch Lake
Birch Lake

Theodore Roosevelt Lambert
Watercolor on paper
ca. 1940

Image of Denali - Mt. McKinley (From the Susitna Valley)
Denali - Mt. McKinley (From the Susitna Valley)

Theodore Roosevelt Lambert
Oil on canvas
1940

Image of Evening on the Tundra, Alaska
Evening on the Tundra, Alaska

Theodore Roosevelt Lambert
Oil on illustration board
1937

Image of Mt. Drum
Mt. Drum

Theodore Roosevelt Lambert
Oil on illustration board
1935

Image of Solitude
Solitude

Theodore Roosevelt Lambert
Oil on Masonite
1939

Image of Sunrise at Akiak
Sunrise at Akiak

Theodore Roosevelt Lambert
Oil on panel
1937

Image of The Indian Buck
The Indian Buck

Theodore Roosevelt Lambert
Oil on Masonite
1940

Image of Tundra Cache
Tundra Cache

Theodore Roosevelt Lambert
Oil on Masonite
1942

Image of Winter, Ft. Yukon
Winter, Ft. Yukon

Theodore Roosevelt Lambert
Oil on illustration board
1936

Image of Cache by the River
Cache by the River

Sydney Laurence
Oil on canvas on Masonite
n.d.

Image of Camp with Mt. McKinley in the Background
Camp with Mt. McKinley in the Background

Sydney Laurence
Oil on burlap
n.d.

Image of Cordially Yours
Cordially Yours

Sydney Laurence
Pencil and ink on paper
1920

Image of Country Scene with House
Country Scene with House

Sydney Laurence
Oil on canvas
1933

Image of Deserted Beach
Deserted Beach

Sydney Laurence
Oil on canvas
1931

Image of Freighter at Sunrise
Freighter at Sunrise

Sydney Laurence
Oil on canvas
n.d.

Image of Lake Union
Lake Union

Sydney Laurence
Oil on canvas
n.d.

Image of View of Mt. Shuksan
View of Mt. Shuksan

Sydney Laurence
Oil on canvas
n.d.

Image of Mt. McKinley from the Headwaters of the Talkeetna River, Alaska
Mt. McKinley from the Headwaters of the Talkeetna River, Alaska

Sydney Laurence
Oil on canvas
1918

Image of Mt. McKinley from the Tokositna River
Mt. McKinley from the Tokositna River

Sydney Laurence
Oil on canvas
n.d.

Image of Mt. McKinley with Cache
Mt. McKinley with Cache

Sydney Laurence
Oil on canvas on board
1920

Image of Mt. McKinley with Trees
Mt. McKinley with Trees

Sydney Laurence
Oil on canvas
n.d.

Image of Northern Lights
Northern Lights

Sydney Laurence
Oil on canvas
n.d.

Image of Off to the Potlatch
Off to the Potlatch

Sydney Laurence
Oil on canvas
n.d.

Image of On My Venetian Travels
On My Venetian Travels

Sydney Laurence
Watercolor on paper
n.d.

Image of Sailing Off Shore
Sailing Off Shore

Sydney Laurence
Oil on canvas on cardboard
1920s

Image of Snoqualmie Falls
Snoqualmie Falls

Sydney Laurence
Oil on canvas, relined
n.d.

Image of Valdez, Alaska
Valdez, Alaska

Sydney Laurence
Watercolor on paper
1914