Frye Art Museum
Encyclopedia
The Frye Art Museum is an art museum located in the First Hill
neighborhood of Seattle
, Washington, USA . The museum emphasizes painting and sculpture from the nineteenth century to the present. Its holdings originate in the private collection of Charles (1858–1940) and Emma (d. 1934) Frye. Charles, owner of a local meatpacking plant, set aside money in his will for a museum to house the Fryes' collection of over 230 painting
s. The Frye Museum opened to the public in 1952, and was Seattle's first free art museum. The museum building was originally designed by Paul Thiry
, although it has since been considerably altered.
Charles Frye's will required that the majority of the Fryes' own collection continue always to be on view in rooms of a certain size; stipulations were also made about lighting conditions and specifically cement floors (ultimately elided by placing wood over the cement). He also required that admission always be free. These conditions were enough to keep the Seattle Art Museum
from being interested in his collection.
The Fryes' collection consisted entirely of representational works, with a tendency toward "the dark, the dramatic, and the psychological" rather than "the genteel". The museum's permanent collection reflects Charles Frye's relatively conservative artistic tastes, and (despite the lack of any such stipulation in the will) the museum continued to be dedicated exclusively to representational art, both in its acquisitions and its exhibits. This conservatism reflected the artistic and social values of its first director, Walser Greathouse (d. 1966) and of his even more conservative widow and successor Ida Kay Greathouse, who ran the museum until 1993.
However, exhibits under new, professional management in recent years have been far more venturesome, eliciting comparisons to Seattle's Henry Art Gallery
. Exhibits in recent years have included "Wondertoonel," an exhibit of Mark Ryden
's often morbid images of childhood, "The Retrofuturistic Universe of NSK
" (2005), and "Henry Darger
: Highlights from the American Folk Art Museum
" (2006), The museum has also repeatedly redeployed its permanent collection, experimenting with exhibiting it in different arrangements. In 2007, for the first time, other pieces are sharing the rooms dedicated to the original Frye collection; they are being juxtaposed against pieces from the Henry Art Gallery's founding collection.
, William-Adolphe Bouguereau
, Félix Ziem
, Eugène Isabey
, Franz von Lenbach
, Tim Lowly
, Fritz von Uhde
(Picture Book), Hermann Corrodi
(Venice), Ludwig von Zumbusch, and Franz Stuck
(Judgment of Paris).
First Hill, Seattle, Washington
First Hill is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, named for the hill on which it is located. The hill, in turn, is so named for being the first hill one encounters traveling east from downtown Seattle toward Lake Washington....
neighborhood of Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, Washington, USA . The museum emphasizes painting and sculpture from the nineteenth century to the present. Its holdings originate in the private collection of Charles (1858–1940) and Emma (d. 1934) Frye. Charles, owner of a local meatpacking plant, set aside money in his will for a museum to house the Fryes' collection of over 230 painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s. The Frye Museum opened to the public in 1952, and was Seattle's first free art museum. The museum building was originally designed by Paul Thiry
Paul Thiry (architect)
Paul Thiry was an American architect most active in Washington state, known as the father of architectural modernism in the Pacific Northwest. Thiry designed "some of the best period buildings around the state of Washington during the 1950, 60s and 70s." - Life :Thiry was born in Nome, Alaska, of...
, although it has since been considerably altered.
Charles Frye's will required that the majority of the Fryes' own collection continue always to be on view in rooms of a certain size; stipulations were also made about lighting conditions and specifically cement floors (ultimately elided by placing wood over the cement). He also required that admission always be free. These conditions were enough to keep the Seattle Art Museum
Seattle Art Museum
The Seattle Art Museum is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, USA. It maintains three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill, and the Olympic Sculpture Park on the central Seattle waterfront, which opened on...
from being interested in his collection.
The Fryes' collection consisted entirely of representational works, with a tendency toward "the dark, the dramatic, and the psychological" rather than "the genteel". The museum's permanent collection reflects Charles Frye's relatively conservative artistic tastes, and (despite the lack of any such stipulation in the will) the museum continued to be dedicated exclusively to representational art, both in its acquisitions and its exhibits. This conservatism reflected the artistic and social values of its first director, Walser Greathouse (d. 1966) and of his even more conservative widow and successor Ida Kay Greathouse, who ran the museum until 1993.
However, exhibits under new, professional management in recent years have been far more venturesome, eliciting comparisons to Seattle's Henry Art Gallery
Henry Art Gallery
The Henry Art Gallery is the art museum of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA. Located on the west edge of the university's campus along 15th Avenue N.E. in the University District, it was founded in 1927 and was the first public art museum in the state of Washington. The...
. Exhibits in recent years have included "Wondertoonel," an exhibit of Mark Ryden
Mark Ryden
-Early life:Ryden is the son of Barbara and Keith Ryden, born in Medford, Oregon but raised in Southern California. He has two sisters and two brothers, one a fellow artist named Keyth Ryden....
's often morbid images of childhood, "The Retrofuturistic Universe of NSK
Neue Slowenische Kunst
Neue Slowenische Kunst , aka NSK, is a controversial political art collective that announced itself in Slovenia in 1984, when Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia. NSK's name, being German, is compatible with a theme in NSK works: the complicated relationship Slovenes have had with Germans...
" (2005), and "Henry Darger
Henry Darger
Henry Joseph Darger, Jr. was a reclusive American writer and artist who worked as a custodian in Chicago, Illinois...
: Highlights from the American Folk Art Museum
American Folk Art Museum
The American Folk Art Museum is a museum devoted to American folk art, as well as the work of international self-taught artists. It has branches at 45 West 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, in Midtown Manhattan .In May 2011 the Museum of Modern Art bought its 53rd Street location...
" (2006), The museum has also repeatedly redeployed its permanent collection, experimenting with exhibiting it in different arrangements. In 2007, for the first time, other pieces are sharing the rooms dedicated to the original Frye collection; they are being juxtaposed against pieces from the Henry Art Gallery's founding collection.
Collection
The Frye Art Museum's collection highlights many kinds of paintings, prints, works on paper, and sculptures. Artisits represented at the museum include Eugène BoudinEugène Boudin
Eugène Boudin was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors.Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores...
, William-Adolphe Bouguereau
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
William-Adolphe Bouguereau was a French academic painter. William Bouguereau was a traditionalist; in his realistic genre paintings he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of Classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female human body.-Life and career :William-Adolphe...
, Félix Ziem
Félix Ziem
Félix Ziem was a French painter in the style of the Barbizon School.Born Félix-Francois Georges Philibert Ziem in Beaune in the Côte-d'Or département of the Burgundy région of France, his mother was a native of Burgundy who married a Croatian immigrant...
, Eugène Isabey
Eugène Isabey
Eugène Louis Gabriel Isabey was a French painter, draftsman, and printmaker.-Career:Born in Paris, the son of Jean-Baptiste Isabey, a painter as well, Eugène Isabey studied and worked at the Louvre Museum. Early in his career his paintings consisted of mostly watercolor landscapes...
, Franz von Lenbach
Franz von Lenbach
Franz von Lenbach was a German painter of Realist style.-Biography:Lenbach was born at Schrobenhausen, in Bavaria. His father was a mason, and the boy was intended to follow his father's trade or be a builder. With this view he was sent to school at Landsberg, and then to the polytechnic at Augsburg...
, Tim Lowly
Tim Lowly
Tim Lowly is a Chicago artist, musician, and teacher. He is known for compassionate egg tempera pictures of children in mysterious circumstances.-Biography:...
, Fritz von Uhde
Fritz von Uhde
Fritz von Uhde was a German painter of genre and religious subjects. His style lay between Realism and Impressionism.- Biography :...
(Picture Book), Hermann Corrodi
Hermann David Salomon Corrodi
Hermann David Salomon Corrodi was an Italian painter of the 19th Century.Corrodi was born in Frascati and lived for many years in Rome." Corrodi studied at the Accademia di S. Luca under his father, Salomon Corrodi and in Paris...
(Venice), Ludwig von Zumbusch, and Franz Stuck
Franz Stuck
Franz Stuck , Franz Ritter von Stuck after 1906, was a German symbolist/Art Nouveau painter, sculptor, engraver, and architect.-Life and career:...
(Judgment of Paris).