The Founding Collection reflects the distinctive vision of museum founders Charles and Emma Frye and celebrates late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century European and American art. The children of German immigrants, the Fryes became prominent business leaders and patrons of the arts after settling in Seattle in 1888. Their collection of 232 oil paintings, almost half of which features German artists, was formed during the years around 1900.
Charles and Emma Frye developed their passion for art at the Columbian Exposition, a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893. The experience had a great influence on the painterly subjects and artists the couple would collect in years to come. Over the next four decades, the Fryes acquired paintings while traveling abroad in Europe and from auctions, most notably those of American collections formed by Hugo Reisinger and Josef Stránský.
The Fryes famously hung their paintings floor to ceiling, salon style, in a specially built gallery space attached to their home on First Hill. Beyond Germany, the Fryes collected works by artists from Austria, Denmark, England, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, and the United States.
Highlights include works by two generations of artists from Munich—those of the Münchener Künstlergenossenschaft (Munich Artist’s Association) such as Franz von Defregger, Franz von Lenbach, Wilhelm Leibl, and Friedrich August von Kaulbach—and artists who formed the Munich Secession including Ludwig Dill, Hugo von Habermann, Otto Hierl-Deronco, Franz von Stuck, Wilhelm Trübner, Fritz von Uhde, and Heinrich von Zügel. Other notable works include paintings by Eugène Boudin, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Lillian Genth, Gabriel von Max, and Mihály de Munkácsy.
The Founding Collection continues to serve as a catalyst for artistic inquiry at the Frye Art Museum in exhibitions that reframe its works and history through a lens of contemporary scholarship.
Gorter, Arnold
Raschen, Henry
Boudin, Eugène
Ebert, Carl
Max, Gabriel von
Lenbach, Franz von
Schreyer, Adolf
Kaulbach, Friedrich August von
Wenglein, Josef
Raschen, Henry
Defregger, Franz von
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Braith, Anton
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Raschen, Henry
Lenbach, Franz von
Corrodi, Hermann
Cachoud, François
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Bouguereau, William-Adolphe
Marais, Adolphe Charles
Raschen, Henry
Zügel, Heinrich von
Lenbach, Franz von
Ricci, Arturo
Trotter, Hortense
Heffner, Karl
Watson Junior, William
Slevogt, Max
Raschen, Henry
Dill, Ludwig
Hengeler, Adolf
Braith, Anton
Isabey, Louis Gabriel Eugène
Gorter, Arnold
Strützel, Otto
Kaulbach, Friedrich August von
Hoch, Franz-Xaver
Defregger, Franz von
Barillot, Léon
Zügel, Heinrich von
Lhermitte, Léon-Augustin
Lenbach, Franz von
Thoma, Hans
Raschen, Henry
Gorter, Arnold
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Hengeler, Adolf
Barillot, Léon
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Knaus, Ludwig
Lenbach, Franz von
Stuck, Franz von
Petuel, Rudolph
Beda, Giulio
Baer, Fritz
Raschen, Henry
Boudin, Eugène
Stuck, Franz von
Gorter, Arnold
Salinas y Teruel, Juan Pablo
Gorter, Arnold
Raschen, Henry
Schreyer, Adolf
Willroider, Ludwig
Habermann, Hugo von
Max, Gabriel von
Strützel, Otto
Kaulbach, Friedrich August von
Raschen, Henry
van Veen, Pieter
de Bock, Théophile
Koester, Alexander Max
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Douglas, Walter
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Scheuerer, Julius
Ebert, Carl
Watson Junior, William
Lenbach, Franz von
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Genth, Lillian
Lenbach, Franz von
Raschen, Henry
Wimmer, Gustav
van Veen, Pieter
Gorter, Arnold
Stevens, Alfred (in the manner of)
Moeller, Louis
Wenk, Albert
Kaulbach, Friedrich August von
Raschen, Henry
Winterhalter, Franz Xaver
Welch, Thaddeus
Hinkson, Mary
Kaulbach, Friedrich August von
Knaus, Ludwig
Uhde, Fritz von
Willroider, Ludwig
Diez, Wilhelm von
Defregger, Franz von (attributed to)
Max, Gabriel von
Feuerbach, Anselm
Ziem, Felix
Johnson, Charles Edward
Max, Gabriel von
Boudin, Eugène
Dahl, Hans
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Heffner, Karl
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Raschen, Henry
Lenbach, Franz von
Stuck, Franz von
Geffcken, Walter
Weber, Marie
Califano, John
Max, Gabriel von
Baer-von Mathes, Carola
Uhde, Fritz von
Zügel, Heinrich von
Jongkind, Johan Barthold
Diaz de la Peña, Narcisse Virgile
Schmutzler, Leopold
Firle, Walther
Lenbach, Franz von
Raschen, Henry
Munkácsy, Mihály de
Dahl, Hans
Heinisch, Karl A.
Uhde, Fritz von
Lenbach, Franz von
van Veen, Pieter
Wierusz-Kowalski, Alfred von
Montemezzo, Antonio Matteo
Wenk, Albert
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Defregger, Franz von
Schmid, Mathias
Munkácsy, Mihály de
van Marcke de Lummen, Emile
Lenbach, Franz von
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Raschen, Henry
Hoch, Franz-Xaver
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Schmutzler, Leopold
Zügel, Heinrich von
Thoma, Hans
Hoch, Franz-Xaver
Steppes, Edmund
Zügel, Heinrich von
Watson Junior, William
Max, Gabriel von
Geffcken, Walter
Raschen, Henry
Dubovskoi, Nikolai Nikanorovich
Knaus, Ludwig
Jardines, Jose Maria
Unterberger, Franz
Carlsen, Soren Emil
Strützel, Otto
Manet, Edouard (in the manner of)
Knaus, Ludwig
Ebert, Carl
Baer, Fritz
Voltz, Johann Friedrich
Geyer, Georg
Max, Gabriel von
Hengeler, Adolf
Stuck, Franz von
Canal, Gilbert von
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Cachoud, François
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Max, Gabriel von
Bouguereau, William-Adolphe
Willroider, Ludwig
Lenbach, Franz von
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Corrodi, Hermann
Max, Gabriel von
Stuck, Franz von
Zügel, Heinrich von
Lenbach, Franz von
Louyot, Edmond
Rosseau, Percival
Feuerbach, Anselm
Weber, Paul
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Raschen, Henry
Lier, Adolf Heinrich
Zügel, Heinrich von
Heffner, Karl
Stuck, Franz von
Cachoud, François
Gorter, Arnold
Soulacroix, Frederic
Hassam, Childe
Neuhuys, Albert
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Defregger, Franz von
Koester, Alexander Max
Somogyi, Dániel
Max, Gabriel von
Defregger, Franz von
Bouguereau, William-Adolphe
Heffner, Karl
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Raschen, Henry
Hierl-Deronco, Otto
Zumbusch, Ludwig von
Liebermann, Max
Carlsen, Soren Emil
Raschen, Henry
Willroider, Ludwig
Speyer, Christian
Lenbach, Franz von
Majer, Gustav
Raschen, Henry
Monticelli, Adolphe
Lenbach, Franz von
Kaulbach, Friedrich August von
Wierusz-Kowalski, Alfred von
Zügel, Heinrich von
Gorter, Arnold
Schmutzler, Leopold
