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
Uganda Lunchtime
Alfred G. Milotte
Oil on Masonite
n.d.
Not Waving, but Drowning
Jeffry Mitchell
Glazed earthenware on artist-made wood pedestal
2012
Snowflake Drawing #5 (Double Lotus Pod)
Jeffry Mitchell
Graphite, ink, carbon transfer, and watercolor on paper
2018
Bear Icon
Leslie Morgan
Oil and copper leaf on linen
1993
Portrait of Machetanz
Yvonne Mozée
Gelatin silver print
n.d.
Sonnet Manifesto
Paul Mullin
Text installation
2015
Berry Pickers
Rie Muñoz
Woodcut
1970
Cannery Workers, Naknek
Rie Muñoz
Watercolor on paper
1977
Mermaid Legend
Rie Muñoz
Wool tapestry
1979
Reindeer Roundup
Rie Muñoz
Watercolor on paper
1992
From a Gull's Eye #5
Kay Myers
Acrylic on paper
ca. 1973
Bamboo No.18
Barbara Noah
Letterpress and print
1994
Universal Love and Compassion
Michi Osaka
Mixed media on paper
n.d.
Tsunami Capable Tide Stations > West Coast
DK Pan
Digital video (color, sound); 38:58 min.
2015
Prayer Before the Night
Henk Pander
Oil on linen
1992
Bamboo No.10
Virginia Paquette
Letterpress and lithograph
1994
Portrait of Erwin Wurm
Joseph Park
Oil on panel
2007
Morning Light
Willard E. Parker
Casein on paper
1956
Bamboo No.16
Julie Paschkis
Letterpress and linocut
1994
Near Hope Island, Wash.
James Peck
Watercolor and gouache on paper
1951
Steamboat Rock, Grand Coulee, Washington
James Peck
Watercolor on paper
ca. 1950
this trembling turf (the shallows)
Mary Ann Peters
White ink
2018
Elbe, WA
William Arthur Phillips
Watercolor on paper
1982
Portrait of Mrs. Walser (Kay) Greathouse
William Arthur Phillips
Oil on board
n.d.
Girl with Aechmea Rhodocyanea
Eva Pokorny
Monotype
1980
In the Ravine, from the New York-Russian Series
Eva Pokorny
Monotype
1978
The Duel, from the New York-Russian Series
Eva Pokorny
Monotype
1977
Basket of Flowers - Summer '91
Rosalyn Gale Powell
Oil on canvas
1991
Clown
Rosalyn Gale Powell
Oil on panel
1961
Fall Flowers
Rosalyn Gale Powell
Oil on cardboard
1966
Flowers in Urn
Rosalyn Gale Powell
Oil on board
1961
Still Life: Candlestick, Compote and Fruit
Rosalyn Gale Powell
Oil on canvas mounted on Masonite
1960
Thistles
Rosalyn Gale Powell
Oil on canvas
1960
The Pink Belt
Priscilla Preus
Mixed media on paper
ca. 1970
The Unknown
Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe
Oil on canvas
2020
Halibut Cove
Ted Rand
Watercolor on paper
1990
Five Doves
Ebba Rapp
Oil on cardboard
1960
Stringbean
Ebba Rapp
Cast bronze
1938, cast 1995
Skan-Doo
Bill C. Ray
Lithograph
1980
Ben Trujillo-Taos Pueblo
William F. Reese
Oil on canvas
n.d.
Country Patterns
William F. Reese
Oil on canvas
n.d.
El Campesino (The Peasant)
William F. Reese
Charcoal on paper
1980
Essence of Spring
William F. Reese
Oil on canvas
1977
Fiesta Time
William F. Reese
Watercolor on paper
1980
Girls of Veracruz
William F. Reese
Watercolor on paper
1979
Peaches
William F. Reese
Oil on canvas
1980
Peaches and Teacup
William F. Reese
Oil on Masonite
1980
The Raven
William F. Reese
Watercolor on paper
ca. 1985
Winds of March
William F. Reese
Oil on canvas
1981