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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Corner in bindery
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_M831Co
Date: 1918?
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Symbolic stylistic form
Helmi Juvonen was born in Butte, Montana on January 17, 1903. She worked in many media including printmaking, painting and paper-craft. She attended Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle where she met artist Mark Tobey with whom she was famously obsessed. Although she was diagnosed as a manic-depressive in 1930, she gained wide appreciation in the Northwest for her linocut prints depicting Northwest Indian people and tribal ceremonies. She worked with a number of artists on the Public Works of Art Project including Fay Chong and Morris Graves. Over the years, her mental health deteriorated and in 1960 she was declared a ward of the state and was committed to Oakhurst Convalescent Center. She was much beloved and had many friends and benefactors (including Wes Wehr) and was able to have exhibitions despite the confinement. She died in 1985.
Identifier: spl_art_J989Sy2
Date: n.d.
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Roy Jackson Interview, April 5, 1988
Roy Jackson (1916-2000) was the deputy director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and active in protecting salmon. He was born and raised in Juneau, Alaska. Jackson graduated from the University of Washington College of Fisheries in 1939 and studied salmon in the Fraser River. In 1948 he graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in civil engineering. Between 1938 and 1955, he held a variety of roles with the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission including chief engineer and assistant director. In his time with the organization, he helped restore salmon spawning beds and establish fishways for salmon to travel, resulting in a dramatically more robust salmon population. In 1955 he accepted a role as the executive director of the International North Pacific Fisheries Commission which he held for several years before moving to Rome in 1964 to work for the United Nations. He became the deputy director of the U.N.’s Food and Agricultural Organization in 1972. In 1979, he returned to Seattle and co-founded Natural Resources Consultants. He also held the role of chairman of the board for the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources.
Identifier: spl_ds_rjackson_01
Date: 1988-04-05
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Pencil sketches of CCC camps: building trail - mountain lake; Orcas Island, Wash.
Identifier: spl_art_N779Pe06
Date: 1934
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Pencil sketches of CCC camps: road construction - the shovel gang; Orcas Island, Wash.
Identifier: spl_art_N779Pe07
Date: 1934
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Late summer
Paul Horiuchi was born in Kawaguchi, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan in 1906. He was a collagist, painter, and muralist. He participated in the Works Progress Administration program in Wyoming with Vincent Campanella in 1923. He exhibited in the Northwest Annual at the Seattle Art Museum in 1930. He moved to Seattle in 1946 where he and his family ran an antique shop called Tozai. He was introduced to Mark Tobey and the Northwest School of artists around this time. In 1956, he began to work in collage in addition to paint for which he became quite famous. He died in 1999.
Identifier: spl_art_H782La
Date: 1958
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Roland Trafton Interview, 1986
Roland Trafton (1920-2005) was CEO of Safeco Corporation and a leading figure in local philanthropic efforts. Trafton was born in Venice, California and his family moved to Washington when he was young. He attended the University of Washington, leaving during World War II to serve in the Army Air Corps. Upon his return to the University after the war, he earned his law degree. Trafton married his wife Rose Marie in 1943 and together the couple had five children. In 1952, Trafton began working at Safeco where he held a number of positions before becoming CEO in 1979. During his time with the company he created the Safeco Art Collection which became home to works from many Pacific Northwest artists. Trafton retired from Safeco in 1979. He was heavily involved in charitable projects, fundraising for many local organizations such as the Pacific Science Center, Seattle Art Museum, Children’s Hospital and the 5th Avenue Theatre. His interests also extended to the outdoors where he was an experienced mountaineer and marathon runner.
Identifier: spl_ds_rtrafton_01
Date: 1986
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