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.
by Artist
by Year
by Object Type
Antonia Kuo
Ceramic
2017
Hayv Kahraman
Oil and acrylic on linen
2023
Rafael Soldi
Aquatint photogravures
2022
Diane Simpson
Collagraph print
1975
LaKela Brown
Silkscreen and letterpress
2024
LaKela Brown
Silkscreen and letterpress
2024
LaKela Brown
Silkscreen and letterpress
2024
Sterling Ruby
Fabric, glue, paint, bleached canvas on panel in bronze frame
2012
Nikki Maloof
Single-color lithograph on soft white Somerset velvet
2025
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