Frye Art Museum
704 Terry Ave
Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 622-9250
- Hours:
Tue-Wed 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Thu 10:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Sun 12:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. - Good for Kids: Yes
44 Reviews for Frye Art Museum
It's a dreary Sunday afternoon, what is a hungover broke art student to do? Why go to the Frye of course!
It's awesome. I've been there too many times to count. I love the mix of super realism and modern art. It's free, so even when the permant is the only thing there, you still feel as though you saw something new. WHich you probably did.
Most of the permant collection is German, sort of a homage to the founders. The real gems are the shows. Hug was intense and inspiring. R Crumb was amazing. This is the one true gem in Seattle for art museums.
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What's not to like about a FREE museum? It's a quaint museum with some odd collections and they don't have pieces by well-known artists, but they do have art. In every form and in every media, they have art.
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The Frye is free, yes people FREE meaning you can see art in Seattle and pay nothing, gratis, zilch, nada!
The Frye always has something interesting. One rainy Sunday afternoon I headed up to the Frye while the R. Crumb's Underground exhibit was going on. I have to say that was some messed up semi x-rated stoned out comic exhibit but it was interesting and entertaining and kept me out of the rain for a while.
Right now they have the Alloy of Love, by San Antonio artist Dario Robleto and you can see antique laboratory glassware which looks beautiful.
Besides the art exhibits you can see also attend films, gallery talks, lectures and music events all for FREE. On Sunday, July 20 at 2:00 pm Seattle Opera's education staff will share highlights and anecdotes about each of the operas in the 2008-09 season and provide an orientation of Aida, the season's opening performance and if I didn't already have plans I'd go because I want to go to the opera this year.
Go to the Frye and check it out for yourself.
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Lots of oil paintings (my favorite art!) in the front half of the musuem. Not terribly old paintings; I don't think any date back to further than the late 1800's. Traditional subjects: landscapes, animals, wistful little girls with large eyes sitting in meadows.
The back half of the museum is modern experimental exhibits using a variety of media.
I am deducting a star because I didn't particulary like it when the museum was on a kick and rearranged the oil paintings so they were all bunched together, without a placard next to each painting. So if you wanted to know more about a particular painting you had to go hunt down a laminated list containing that information.
I can't recall, but they may have put the paintings back into a more proper arrangement.
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this place is weird.
its the kind of weird that makes you think, what is up with the person who thought up creating art out of shredded audio tapes of the married couple holding the record for longest marriage...
its also free, and the exhibits are always changing. i think this museum satisfies seattlites need to be slightly different and edgy, while providing its people with loads to see and do...
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Free. Awesome. Worth a visit. (Keeping this brief 'cause I can't add it to my list of recommended art galleries without writing a review, but I'll update this with a more useful review later.)
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This museum is free, and therefore, a very good place to spend an afternoon when you have to board a plane in the early evening of that same day. You wouldn't want to spend money on a museum admission when you know you won't have adequate time to mill about and get your money's worth. You don't have to worry about that when the museum is free.
This is a very small museum, and the single exhibit there when we went was "R. Crumb's Underground," which will be on display through 4/27/08. I gathered from R. Crumb's work that he was pretty disturbed, so I enjoyed the exhibit very much. R. Crumb's work made more sense to me when I read a sign about his life that contained the words "questionable batch of LSD."
My favorite exhibit was "R. Crumb Presents R. Crumb," a 3-page self-portrait of the artist that shows multiple panels of a socially awkward man staring off into space and muttering to himself. The highlight occurs midway, when he proudly announces that he fixed his toilet.
Rachel S., who brought us up a great big hill to this little free museum, told us that the displays come from a private collection, so the content varies quite a bit. I notice that as of this writing, three people have voted that the Frye Museum is "good for kids." I suspect those were not people who viewed "R. Crumb's Underground," else I would fear for the welfare of those kids.
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FREE!! And awesome to boot....
I am a fan of free things, my couch was free, my haircuts are free, the air I breath is free, and so is the Frye Art Museum!!!
My first visit to the Frye was this past March. I had a friend in town from Maine and we did all things Seattle, by the end of her visit we were broke, tired and truly unmotivated to do anything. Fortunately I live like 3 blocks from this place so it didn't take much effort to get there.
The R. Crumb exhibit was a mind-f@*K in its own right. I had seen some of his works, but didn't really get his influence until I saw this show. The permanent collection was quite impressive as well. It is honestly kind of freaky to look back at how life was in the 1600's and how people lived.
I will definitely be bringing people here when they come to visit, and I look forward to the next exhibit.
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How can you not like an art Museum with free admission and parking?! This leaves no excuse to not go and see the different exhibits. There is also a small but inviting cafe for before or after discussion of what you just saw. Right now they are showing a massive R. Crumb exhibit that could easily take all day to view/read the whole thing. They also have a cell phone audio tour you can use. It isn't a perfect system but I love any new ideas on how to get people engaged in what they are viewing.
Also, I think the monthly schedule of events looks pretty diverse and interesting. I hope to go to a few of these in the next month.
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Great free museum! Always have interesting stuff and hey it's free with free parking, what's not to like.
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Um.. It's an art museum and it's free. Duh.
Mmmmm... the Frye is tasty (or as tasty as a museum can be)! Free admission... free parking and the stuff on the walls (and the floor) ain't bad either ;-) Seriously, apart from the permanent collection (which leaves a little to be desired, but which allows all the rotating work to remain free) the exhibits are almost always fascinating. And word is they are loosening up their mission statement to include more non-representational work. Should be interesting to see exactly how they roll out the new stuff.
By the by, the cafe isn't half bad either.
Two favorites that have been there both times I've been over the past year:
- The big ass Venice port one. The water is very pretty. Take a few steps away from it and shut out the world. I stood about 5 feet away to really enjoy it--and then walked up close to inspect how silly I was for mistaking these fat brush strokes for water.
- The two ladies in bright yellow and blue dresses. How this painter added bloom effects is beyond me. These dresses are brighter than when you look at the sun through binoculars. Their expressions also make me feel like hot white girls smile when they see me.
EDIT: upon closer inspection, the two girls are not looking at me, they're looking to my right. /sigh :)
Currently, an anti-establishment, horny-ass, crazy comic artist is on exhibit, Robert Crumb. His style might be offensive to some, but I found him hilarious. Don't miss what I think were the wooden spools for thread that were drawn over with pen. Very fun to look at from front and back.
Otherwise what I would say has been said. You can't be disappointed; other than the time you spend, it's free. Ask yourself how many times you've been disappointed at a museum that costs money.
...WTF the [name of famous painting like "Persistence of Memory" or "Starry Night"] is THAT SMALL? Why the heck did I pay $XX to NOT BE ABLE TO SEE IT in crowds of people when I could have just stayed at home and looked at bigger pictures on the web...
Did you know, this place is open until 7:30 on Thursdays (4:30 other days)? I didn't get to finish, so I'll be back later to look at the rest of Robert Crumb's exhibit and buy something/donate some bills.
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"Free Parking", the sign proclaimed. "For Frye Museum visitors." "Score!", I said to myself.
The permanent collection features an impressive collection of Realism. Images so perfect that they seem to capture every littlest emotion, every nuance of motion, every pencil of light.
However, there are also a disturbing number of pictures of cows and horses and sheep and such. Scenes with domesticated animals grow tiresome quickly - even if they are velvet paintings of cows playing poker.
Additionally, there are also an almost-disturbing number of paintings of the generous Mr. and Mrs. Frye, including 2 life-sized pieces that guard the exit to one room.
But I guess that if such is the price of admission to this rather pleasing collection in this rather pleasing museum, who am I to complain?
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I find myself being pulled to the Frye. I will be taking the bus home and then suddenly realize I can get off and walk a couple blocks to see what the latest show at the Frye is all about. Why not? So I do, and I am never disappointed. Ever since Robin Held became the curator at the Frye, every exhibit has had something awesome to offer. Some greats I remember: Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore's stuff, Henry Darger, and Neue slowenische Kunst (NSK) - so cool to see all those old Laibach music videos in the Frye theatre! Always free, always satisfying... I always leave the Frye wanting more! I can never stay too long, though, because it makes me want to get out and live my life - I guess you would call that inspiring.
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I don't know why everyone says this place is free, it's cost me more then a little in hospital and astrologist bills?
Perhaps I should explain...
Last time I was here my heart broke when I looked into a painting of the Swiss Alps, (see picture). I lost myself... died a little, was resuscitated by the sheer beauty splayed out before me, foolishly reminded myself that I was having a heart attack and consequently died again.
I've since been resurrected by a Wicca friend of mine (thanks Willow),, and will be going back to the Frye as soon as my cardiologist and my astrologist say it's OK.
You should go before then.
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I love this museum. LOVE IT! And not just because it's free, either! I have been 3 times now, and have been consistently impressed by the diversity of it's collections and rotating exhibitions.
We first discovered the Frye when they hosted an exhibit by one of our favorite artists, Mark Ryden- a ridiculously gifted (and expensive) painter who does not generally receive the kind of respect from the mainstream art world that the Frye bestowed upon him.
So when visiting Seattle for the 2nd time, we drove on up First hill and were so blown away by the main collection @ the Frye, mainly by the great pieces by 2 painters of note, Bougereau and Max von Stuck. von Stuck painted the famous "sin" painting (woman with the snake wrapped around her) and quite a few other really interesting pieces in the collection. It's obvious that Charles and Emma Frye (and the previous museum directors, who were close friends with the Fryes) had a great eye for art and many different stylistic approaches.
It's a really great place to check out some beautiful pieces of art by lesser known artists of days past and present. And it's free!!!
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Frye! in F's:
Free, Fabulous, Freaky, Fun, Film, Food
About every 2 months I stop in for a nice 'Free' afternoon to view new off the beaten path exhibits that have included artists such as:
Mark Ryden, Harvey Darger, Patricia Piccinini (Hug) to the recent Crumb Comic exhibit. They sometimes show a film or have a lecture about the artist, these events are also usually 'Free'! Also theres a 'Free' parking lot!
They have a decent cafe and a great gift shop onsite. So I always make sure to buy a few cool cards, gifts or books and donate a few bucks.
The Frye is a great asset to our city!
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I've only been here once to see the Henry Darger exhibit which was amazing. I love how they had the artwork set up. Really nice and welcoming unpretentious place. Free parking? Free admission? Nice.
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Free parking dedicated for Frye visitors.
Admission Price? Free!
What more can you ask for? .. Cool exhibits, Cool old school paintings, a variety of genre.... Place is moderate in size, and expect to spend a minimum of an 1 hour in this place to excite you eyes and ears.. Clean bathrooms and no hobos, or look-a likes...
Did I forget to mention it's free..
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5 stars - it's frickin' free, dude. If you knock it down a star, why?? It's free!!
Although you should always donate, but that's just me. I always overtip, and always donate to free things.
I heart free things, and that puts Frye Art Museum on the list.
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The BEST small arts museum I've been to. It's got a great atmosphere, and some really special pieces. Definitely worth the price...oh and by price I mean it's FREE.
Dark and brooding, a place where the art will observe the spectator as much as the spectator will observe the art. It's hushed and cool, quiet and pensive. The Frye Art Museum will go there, oh yes it did. The exhibitions are executed well and simply delicious. I can't seem to escape the adjectives here due in part to the huge, gushing crush I have on this place. There are museums in New York I would pass up for an afternoon at the Frye. It is representational art at its finest.
The Frye seems often overlooked. While the other museums and galleries in town have their share of offerings worthy of visitors, the Frye taps the shoulders of those who are unlikely to leave their comfort zone or have the opportunity to be exposed to some new ideas. To exhibit the art and propaganda of the NSK was a bold move. Other museums will create lovely spectacles but rarely toe the line between beauty and making people think.
As if the roving exhibitions weren't enough, the Frye offers talks with artists, films, and music to further support and educate visitors. Additionally, studio art classes and lecture series are available to those who just can't get enough. To keep the subdued theme going, a caf can be found in the museum should one get the stomach music going. Oh and for the note takers and sketchers, pencils only. Enjoy!
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You get what you pay for, right? WRONG!
At the Frye Art Museum you don't pay a cent (well, you really should donate) and you get to see all sorts of interesting works from around the globe. Generally the artists aren't the blockbusters that SAM brings in, but they are almost always interesting.
Almost always, so check the site to see what is on rotation, cause you may love it or hate it. Now the permanent collection is another story, to me it's kind of a snoozer, I don't really get it, oh well that's art. If I like everything they would be doing something wrong, you gotta offend a few people if you are pushing boundaries.
It's relatively small so you only need to devote an hour or so of your day to checking out what's haute in the art world.
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Even though I once worked very close to the Frye, I have only been there once when the Mark Ryden exhibit was in town. That, however, is enough for me to shower it with praise (and not water since that would likely damage the art work). Yes, any time you have an attractive space for art without any defined admission price is nothing but good. Admittedly, my fondness for the Ryden works painted my impression in a positive fashion (my memories of the permanent collection aren't especially strong), but I wholeheartedly support the Frye and its continued existence. Now, if only I could get my butt over there a bit more often...
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The Frye is an awkward teenager of a museum trying very hard to grow up. The museum formed after the Seattle Art Museum turned down a bequest from meat-packer and art collector Charles Frye. His will left very specific instructions for the construction of a wing, dedicated to his collection, that was to be added to SAM. Unfortunately, the restrictive nature of his wishes for this wing caused SAM to reject the bequest and left the executors of Chuck's estate with a couple hundred contemporary paintings from Munich and no options but to set up their own museum.
Today, the Frye is desperately trying to define its art niche in Seattle. The founding collection seems quite anachronistic at this point, but the museum must continue to display the works as per the wishes of the deceased. Right now the museum is going through a major self-examination as it tries to somehow connect its odd collection of works that, like so many David Hasselhofs, are more famous in Germany than in the U.S. to contemporary works that will allow the museum to remain a relevant institution within the community.
Currently, the museum exists as a sort of cutting edge contemporary donut with a Bavarian painted center. The result shows just how close genius and madness really are. Over the next couple years, keep an eye on this place as the currently disjointed exhibitions attempt to blend into a coherent whole.
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Charming private museum with pretensions in inverse proportion to the uniqueness of its programming. I recall with pleasure the exhibitions devoted to the costumes of Nijinsky, the oeuvre of Fairfield Porter, and others--far from the blockbuster exhibitions, and hype, of what large urban art museums favor these days.
The benefactors, Charles and Emma Frye, ensured that their own private collection be turned into a museum after their deaths and that would be always free to the public. This represents, in my opinion, the kind of public-spirited generosity that Seattlities have exemplified for decades (think of Dorothy Bullitt and King-FM, et. al.).
The Frye offers varied programming as well--recitals as well as round-table discussions (witness the round-up of the best films of the year, moderated by Robert Horton of KUOW, with local movie critics of the caliber of Sheila Benson, etc.), and noted guest speakers.
The Frye could give the Clark Art Institute (on the East Coast) a run for its money....
Some of the gems of its collection include German and French academic painting of the 19th century, including the famous Franz Stucke painting of female "Sin" as well as some works by the once very popular (and considered sentimental to the point of bathos) Bouguereau, who fell out of favor with the rise of modernism (think abstract painting) in the early 20th century..
A visit to the Frye makes for a relaxed time spent looking at various forms of the visual arts...and you usually do not have to navigate crowds as one does at SAM.
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The Frye is an interesting place. Around the families core collection of classical art are interesting distractions of assorted modern art, mixed media, and photography.
There is also a pleasant though pricy cafe where you can take a break and enjoy a quiet respite.
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The Frye is a beautiful little museum. Free admission and free parking are wonderful. There's a lovely cafe as well. The permanent collection is nice and they bring in some pretty unusual special exhibitions.
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I admit, when I worked close by to the Frye, and was craving one of their salads, I used to get a little irritated about the fact that the cafe would never let you take anything to go at lunch. Understandably, they didn't want people traipsing around their beautiful exhibits with doggy bags in hand. The space however, is truly lovely, with unpretentious docents/gallery guides and diverse exhibitions. And best of all, it's free.
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First Thursdays? Who needs 'em? The Frye is free 7 days a week! The permanent collection is terrific, and I saw a badass Mark Ryden exhibition here last year. For the love of God, don't just sit there...go to the Frye!
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I've never been to an art museum that had as many different paintings clustered together as the Frye Art Museum. When I say clustered, I mean the paintings of the main gallery look like a type of wallpaper lining the walls from floor to ceiling. Don't get me wrong, wallpaper can be ok (especially if you are into the kitschy look), but, in this case, you need to navigate around the room to get a good look at the paintings toward the top of the room without getting light reflecting into your eyes.
The upside of the museum is that it is located in a great space - I love the Frye Museum's architecture! Plus, the museum is free (with free parking across the street).
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The Frye is perfect for one or couple hours. It is small and the temporary exhibits are wonderful, contemporary and innovations artists. The permanent is interesting but I love more the temporary. The building is great!
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The Frye is one of my favorite museums--free, well-designed, and uncrowded. It's very small and mostly contains works by lesser-known artists, contemporary and otherwise, in both the permanent collection and small travelling/temporary exhibitions. The best part of the Frye is the variety of works and the relatively short rotation cycles for their nonpermanent exhibits--there's something different every few months (check the website for exhibition schedules). The cafe serves seasonally-influenced, well-presented, slightly pricey lunch food--hey, you saved on admission so you can splurge on a sandwich.
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The Frye is definitely worthy of repeated visits. It is an excellent place to go when you're hungover.
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Art is good. Free admission is good. The marriage of the two is the Frye, but the whole is more than the sum of its parts in this case. This intimate space houses the lovely and old and the new and modern in thought provoking, shoulder rubbing ways and I never walk away from a visit feeling like I've just seen the same old thing.
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The Frye, next to the Henry Art Gallery, cosistently provides Seattle with its most interesting art shows. The permanent collection is remarkable and the museum's layout provides an intimate experience for the imagination. Nice museum cafe, too, and I've heard the classes offered for those wanting to brush up their techniques are great fun.
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Frye Art Museum is a great place. First of all, it's free!! There is ample parking across the museum, as well. It's conveniently located right off of I-5, too. It's not a big museum, but is clean and it's got a cafe inside. It's a must see place for art lovers.
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The FRYE! Such a great place to take a friend who doesn't explore Seattle much. Wonderful eccentric exhibits, great docents, guaranteed educational experience.
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The Frye brings in some wonderful displays and showings and all for the price of air. One of the best free museums in Seattle. Come play in the fountain! Parking is a bit tough sometimes so I couldn't give it a full 5 stars but the museum itself is great.
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