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
Venice Sailboats
Sydney Laurence
Oil on board
n.d.
View of Mt. McKinley
Sydney Laurence
Oil on canvas
n.d.
Bamboo No.25
Carolyn Law
Letterpress and lithograph
1994
Untitled
Isaac Layman
Photographic construction, inkjet on paper
2011
Untitled
Isaac Layman
Photographic construction, inkjet on paper
2011
Still Lives: Exposure
Susie J. Lee
Digital video (color, silent); 30 min.
2010
Du jaroj da seksa perforto kontrau virinaj Egiptaj manifestaciantoj, kaj jam ni portas trancilojn en la stratoj...
Ellen Lesperance
Gouache and graphite on tea-stained paper
2014
Birds Playing Among Peonies
Lucy Liu
Watercolor on paper
1980
From Goat Mountain
Helen Amanda Loggie
Etching
1932
Accibuk the Seal Hunter
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1946
Akon, Eskimo Boy
Fred Machetanz
Charcoal and pastel on paper
1947
Along Arctic Ice
Fred Machetanz
Oil on canvas
1977
Arctic Hunter
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1961
Arctic Sentinel
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1965
Arctic Twilight
Fred Machetanz
Oil on Masonite
1957
Chilkat Dancer
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1962
Coffee Break
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1972
Coming into the Open
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1966
Cutting Fish
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1956
Dividing the Muktuk
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1969
End of a Long Day
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1979
Eskimo Dance and Drummer
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1949
Eskimo Mother
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1946
Glow of the Lamp
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1975
Heritage of Alaska
Fred Machetanz
Offset lithograph
1984
Hiding the Trap
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1963
Ice Fall - Knik Glacier
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1953
Indian Trapper
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1953
Into the Open
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1966
Looking for Trouble
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1968
Mighty Hunter
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1967
Miowak the Bootmaker
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1956
Mission Accomplished
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1980
Moose Tracks!
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1969
Mother and Child
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1959
Now Back in '98
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1971
On Trail
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1957
Out of the Fog
Fred Machetanz
Oil on Masonite
1965
Over the Pass
Fred Machetanz
Oil on Masonite
1963
Panning for Gold
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1951
Proud Master
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1961
Purse Seining
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1960
Rough Weather
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1947
Seal Hunter
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1959
Seegoo, the Sled Dog
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1951
Seegoo, the Sled Dog
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1951
Skookum
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1949
Sled Pups
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1957
Song of the Huskies!
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1967
Sourdough
Fred Machetanz
Lithograph
1952