Frye Art Museum
Not far from our condo in First Hill was the Frye Art Museum, specializing in modern and contemporary art. Thanks to the generosity of its founders, Charles and Emma Frye, who gifted their art collection and estate to the people of Seattle in 1952, admission is free to all, all the time!
The museum building was a Modernist warehouse, repurposed as a museum. Behind it rose the distinctive towers of the brand new Museum House.
The Frye Salon had one hundred paintings from the founding collection, hung floor to ceiling. It was similar to what visitors to the Fryes’ home would have seen in the 1910s and 1920s. Seeing a salon-style hang at this scale was exciting, though it was a little hard to appreciate each individual painting. I particularly liked the three-way gossip chairs, with their wonderful curves and red velvet, which made viewing the art a more social experience.
There were exhibits featuring two contemporary artists. Jamie Wyeth’s paintings had the eerie, unsettling feel of an Alfred Hitchcock film or a Stephen King novel. They were very engrossing and a little bit spooky.
Hugh Hayden’s installations of wood and mixed media presented ordinary objects in a provocative way, using unexpected materials and textures. They were fascinating! If only we were allowed to touch them.
The Frye was the perfect size museum - large enough to offer an interesting variety of exhibits, and small enough to see in 90 minutes. The exhibits were well-curated and memorable. It’s definitely a Seattle treasure.
