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.
Julie Paschkis
Letterpress and linocut
1994
Mauricio Robalino
Letterpress and print
1994
Robert Schwartz
Gouache on paper
1994
Michael Spafford
Letterpress and woodcut
1994
Rebecca Struck
Letterpress and print
1994
George Tsutakawa
Letterpress and Sumi ink
1994
Ruth Weisberg
Monotype
1994
Richard C. Whitten
Oil and copper leaf on panel
1994
James Aponovich
Oil on canvas
1993
Jeffrey Bishop
Letterpress and lithograph
1993
Robert Connell
Sumi ink and gouache on paper
1993
Mrs. Crispwick
Letterpress and lithograph
1993
Dennis Evans
Letterpress and print
1993
George Fischer
Oil on canvas
1993
T. Michael Gardiner
Letterpress and lithograph
1993
Jimmy Jet
Letterpress and lithograph
1993
David Ligare
Oil on linen
1993
Gene Gentry McMahon
Letterpress and woodcut
1993
Peter Millett
Letterpress and woodcut
1993
Leslie Morgan
Oil and copper leaf on linen
1993
Scott Smith
Letterpress and woodcut
1993
Take Hama
Oil on cotton
ca. 1992
Odd Nerdrum
Oil on canvas
ca. 1992-93
Henk Pander
Oil on linen
1992
Andrew Wyeth
Pencil on paper
1992
Stephen Fisher
Graphite on paper
1991
Connie Hertner
Watercolor on paper
1991
John McIver
Acrylic on paper
1991
Rosalyn Gale Powell
Oil on canvas
1991
Jamie Wyeth
Oil on panel
1991
Byron Bratt
Mezzotint and acrylic wash
1990
Lucille Hulburt
Watercolor on paper
1990
Ted Rand
Watercolor on paper
1990
Marilyn Schutzky
Watercolor on paper
1990
Peter Sculthorpe
Watercolor on paper
1990
Buster Simpson
Archival inkjet print in artist-made frame
1974/2013
Buster Simpson
Archival inkjet print in artist-made frame
1974/2013
Buster Simpson
Archival inkjet print in artist-made frame
1974/2013
Kat Lyons
Oil on canvas
2021
Gisela McDaniel
Oil on panel, found object, sound
2021
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