Loosely defined as the art of today or the art of our lifetime, the term “contemporary art” is usually used more specifically to describe artworks created since the 1980s or 1990s. For collection purposes, the Frye Art Museum currently delineates the scope as 1990 to the present.
In the more general sense, the Frye has collected and exhibited contemporary—or contemporaneous—art since its opening in 1952. This commitment to the art and culture of the present was catalyzed by Museum founders Charles and Emma Frye, who amassed a collection of paintings made within their own lifetimes and often purchased works directly from living artists. Over the last seven decades, directors of the Museum have each brought their own interests and interpretations to bear on the Frye’s engagement with contemporary art and thereby shaped a distinctive collection.
Prior to the tenure of Elsa “Midge” Bowman (Director, 2004–09), and often counter to dominant trends in art of the time, the Frye’s leadership focused exclusively on exhibiting and collecting representational art, citing Charles and Emma Frye’s preferences for figurative and landscape painting. Under Bowman’s direction, the exhibitions program at the Frye expanded into areas like video art and performance that questioned and upended the definition of representational art. In 2008, the Museum’s mission was revised to embrace art in its myriad forms. The Frye’s contemporary art collection has grown significantly since that time, reflecting the diversity of the institution’s engagement with local, national, and international artists working today.
John McIver
Acrylic on paper
1991
Pan Gongkai
Ink on paper
2014
Robert Connell
Sumi ink and gouache on paper
1993
Ann Leda Shapiro
Watercolor and watercolor pencil on archival paper
2022
Lucille Hulburt
Watercolor on paper
1990
Connie Hertner
Watercolor on paper
1991
Peter Sculthorpe
Watercolor on paper
1990
Marilyn Schutzky
Watercolor on paper
1990
Ted Rand
Watercolor on paper
1990
Jean-Claude Michel
Watercolor on paper
ca. 1994
Gary Bukovnik
Watercolor on paper
2002
Khari Johnson-Ricks
Watercolor on paper with acetate
2021