Skip to Content

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.


  FILTER RESULTS
by Artist
by Year
Mrs. Greathouse

Gerry Abbott
Mixed media on board
1975

Camano Crossing

Perry Acker
Watercolor on paper
ca. 1950-65

Dona Rosa

Perry Acker
Watercolor on paper
ca. 1976

Dreaming of Springtime

Perry Acker
Oil on illustration board
1981

Dogs in Camp

George Ahgupuk
Pen and ink on paper
n.d.

Reindeer Herd

George Ahgupuk
Pencil and ink on paper
n.d.

Seal Hunters

George Ahgupuk
Ink on caribou skin
n.d.

Northern Scene

Jack Alger
Oil on cardboard
1958

Raven Watchers

Tony Angell
Steatite (soapstone)
1984

Untitled (Badlands)

Juventino Aranda
Oil on wool Pendleton blanket
2018

Pueblo Girl

Shirley Arrants
Pastel on velvet
ca. 1982

Spring Beauty

Win Bainbridge
Watercolor on paper
1987

Bamboo No.24

Gayle Bard
Letterpress and lithograph
1994

Black River Quarry

R.A. Benson
Watercolor on paper
1985

Winter in South Bend

R.A. Benson
Watercolor on paper
ca. 1983

Clinkers

Leo Berk
Duratrans on sculptural lightbox
2012

Specular Reflections

Leo Berk
Glass, black pond dye
2015

Wind Jangle

Leo Berk
Aluminum, fishing line, weights
2015

Bamboo No.8

Jeffrey Bishop
Letterpress and lithograph
1993

Bamboo No.9

Mare Blocker
Letterpress and linocut
1994

Mission at Cuernavaca

Harry Bonath
Watercolor on paper
ca. 1966

Gloaming

Gudrun Brask
Watercolor on paper
ca. 1963

Great Notions

Byron Bratt
Mezzotint and acrylic wash
1990

Stereoscopic Viewer

Byron Bratt
Mezzotint and acrylic wash
1995

The Changeling

Byron Bratt
Mezzotint and acrylic wash
1980

The Three Graces

Byron Bratt
Mezzotint and acrylic wash
1988

Chemically Tanned

Alison Bremner
Latex paint on deer hide with horsehair
2017

Landscape #7

Matt Browning
Tree sap on handmade wood panel
2012

Eidolon

Cris Bruch
Aluminum composite
2015

Denali

Julius Burgert
Oil on canvas
1990

Rye Grass

Mike Burns
Watercolor on paper
ca. 1970

Ecdysis

Ishmael Butler
Audio, 24:51 min.
2015

Untitled

Mark Calderon
Book spine repair tape
2012

Tacoma Smelter

Jess Dan Cauthorn
Watercolor on illustration board
1964

Bamboo No.15

George Chacona
Letterpress and print
1994

Blue Still Life

Betty Charouhas
Mixed media on paper
ca. 1963

Landscape

Doris Totten Chase
Oil on Masonite
ca. 1964