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Recent Acquisitions


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 ten 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.


Birmingham (right)

Toyin Ojih Odutola
Four-color lithograph with gold leaf
2014

Birmingham (center)

Toyin Ojih Odutola
Four-color lithograph with gold leaf
2014

Birmingham (left)

Toyin Ojih Odutola
Four-color lithograph with gold leaf
2014

Bamboo No.26

Nancy Mee
Letterpress and print
1994

Bamboo No.25

Carolyn Law
Letterpress and lithograph
1994

Bamboo No.24

Gayle Bard
Letterpress and lithograph
1994

Bamboo No.23

George Tsutakawa
Letterpress and Sumi ink
1994

Bamboo No.22

Karen Guzak
Letterpress and print
1994

Bamboo No.21

Michael Spafford
Letterpress and woodcut
1994