Northwest Art Collection
Preview up to 100 items from this collection below. Prints, drawings and paintings by artists Mark Tobey, Kenneth Callahan, Helmi Juvonen, Robert Cranston Lee and others celebrate the Northwest. Many pieces hail from the 1934 Public Works of Art Project.
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[Wood pile]
Fay Chong was born in Canton, China in 1912. He worked primarily in printmaking and in watercolor. He and his family moved to Seattle in 1920. He attended Edison High School where he was a classmate of George Tsutakawa. Chong worked on the Public Works of Art Project in the 1930's with Robert Bruce Inverarity, Jacob Elshin and Julius Twohy. Chong taught art at Cornish College for the Arts, Seattle Community College, Washington Senior High School and Ingraham High School. He received a Bachelor's degree from the University of Washington in 1968 and an MAT from the University of Washington in 1971. He died suddenly of a stroke in 1973.
Identifier: spl_art_C455Wo
Date: 1949
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Letter from Edward S. Curtis to Harriet Leitch, September 22, 1950
Letter from Edward Curtis to Harriet Leitch in which he briefly touches on discussing "The Lure of Gold" before moving on to talk about the financial difficulties he experienced while producing "The North American Indian." He writes "[...] once upon a time I was confronted with the North American Indian quota which was 1,800,000 plus. I have always thought that ignorance alone allowed me to tackle that task?" Curtis also touches on his continued struggles with arthritis and shares that his youngest daughter, Billy, has recently moved to Australia with her husband. He says he has encouraged Billy to keep notes on the journey in hopes that she can one day use her talents as a writer to compile a book on the subject. Curtis ends with the story of when he helped to bury Chief Joseph, writing "In order to bury him the second time we had to dig him up: I did most of the digging. It was a very hot day and the Noble Red Men said "let the white men do the digging they know how.""
Identifier: spl_esc_017
Date: 1950-09-22
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Pencil sketches of CCC camps: roadside cleaning - fire prevention; Orcas Island, Wash.
Identifier: spl_art_N779Pe09
Date: 1934
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Reference room
Stuart Morris was born in West Virginia in 1882 (?) and studied art in Columbus, Ohio and Philadelphia. He came to Seattle and became art editor for the Seattle P.I. where he was on the staff for nearly 20 years. When he retired in 1928, he was working on the editorial staff of the Times. He is famous for two sketches. One was of the ex-president Theodore Roosevelt which appeared in the paper the day after the president's death in 1919. The other famous sketch was of an old Catholic church on Denny Hill. Both images were requested by people from all over the country for many years.
Identifier: spl_art_M831Re
Date: 1918?
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Sawdust burner
Thomas Handforth was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1897. He was an etcher, author and painter. He studied under Mahonri Mackintosh Young and at the University of Washington. He is the author of a Caldecott medal winning children’s book called "Mei Li" about a young girl in China, set during Chinese New Year. The book is full of illustrations of China where Handforth lived and visited.
Identifier: spl_art_H192Sa
Date: n.d.
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Spanish ships departing from Neah Bay
Parker McAllister, born in 1903 in Massachusetts, was a Seattle Times artist from 1924 to 1965. McAllister started his career as an illustrator at 14 for a Spokane publication; he joined the art staff at the Seattle Times in 1920. His first Sunday magazine cover was a poster-type illustration celebrating the University of Washington crew races in spring 1924. During McAllister's career, he created illustrations depicting “local color” events and situations now routinely handled by photographers. As the technology improved, he expanded his repertoire - he illustrated articles, drew covers for special sections and the weekly Seattle Sunday Times Magazine, and drew diagrams, comics, cartoons, and portraits for the Times’ editorial page. In 1956, an exhibition of his watercolor and oil paintings of Pacific Northwest scenes and historical incidents - including some paintings from the “Discovery of the Pacific Northwest” series - were exhibited at the Washington State Historical Society Museum in Tacoma. He was also a member of the Puget Sound Group of Men Painters. McAllister retired from the Seattle Times in 1965; he passed away in Arizona in 1970.
Identifier: spl_art_291985_17.167
Date: 1965
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Municipal News v. 55, no. 12, Jun. 28, 1965
Identifier: spl_mn_818362_55_12
Date: 1965-06-28
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Launching Meares' new schooner
Parker McAllister, born in 1903 in Massachusetts, was a Seattle Times artist from 1924 to 1965. McAllister started his career as an illustrator at 14 for a Spokane publication; he joined the art staff at the Seattle Times in 1920. His first Sunday magazine cover was a poster-type illustration celebrating the University of Washington crew races in spring 1924. During McAllister's career, he created illustrations depicting “local color” events and situations now routinely handled by photographers. As the technology improved, he expanded his repertoire - he illustrated articles, drew covers for special sections and the weekly Seattle Sunday Times Magazine, and drew diagrams, comics, cartoons, and portraits for the Times’ editorial page. In 1956, an exhibition of his watercolor and oil paintings of Pacific Northwest scenes and historical incidents - including some paintings from the “Discovery of the Pacific Northwest” series - were exhibited at the Washington State Historical Society Museum in Tacoma. He was also a member of the Puget Sound Group of Men Painters. McAllister retired from the Seattle Times in 1965; he passed away in Arizona in 1970.
Identifier: spl_art_291985_15.147
Date: 1955
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