SJIMA Collections
Since 2017, SJIMA has acquired several distinguished art collections it is very proud and honored to have in its possession. The collections range from extraordinary works in various mediums by a new generation of First Nation artists, to fine art/documentary photography by a native son of Friday Harbor, to stunning examples of the Japanese art of woodblock printing created by an American.
First Nation Legendary & Emerging Artists
The voices of their ancestors speak through the works of a new generation of First Nation artists and their honored mentors in this exceptional collection. The creations by these multiple artists occupied all three galleries of the museum in the 2017 exhibit EMERGENCE (May 26 - September 4, 2017). This noteworthy collection highlights twenty-five contemporary artists, members of Coastal Pacific Northwest and Inuit tribes from the Hudson Bay area, as they interpret traditional cultural images in glass, prints, stone, bone and wood.
The gallery of images below provides a glimpse of this powerful and extraordinary collection.
[Click on the thumbnail images to open a larger view and use the arrow on the right to move the gallery forward.]
Looking into Kabul: The Fine Art Documentary Photography of James Longley
Friday Harbor’s Oscar-nominated James Longley created LOOKING INTO KABUL to provide a view of Afghanistan that is both epic in scope and intimate in detail. Focusing on everyday life in Kabul’s old city, this collection of 42 photographs combines vast panoramic images with intimate portraits to create a breathtaking look into an unseen world of winding streets, childhood games, shop keepers, madrasas and markets – all steeped in the atmosphere and culture of this ancient and troubled city. The collection was on display in the Nichols and North galleries of the museum from June 9 - September 12, 2022.
The gallery of images below provides a glimpse of this powerful and extraordinary collection.
[Click on the thumbnail images to open a larger view and use the arrow on the right to move the gallery forward.]
The Woodblock Prints of Luigi Rist
Luigi Rist was an unusually talented wood-block printmaker of some renown in the early-and mid-20th century. His prints reflect a distinctly Japanese woodblock printing aesthetic introduced to him by painter and printmaker, Morris Blackburn. Luigi Rist left an indelible mark on the art of printmaking through his inventive adaptation of tools and printing techniques. Rist’s innovations enabled him - through subtle variations in the printing process - to create highly individualized prints, truly achieving his stated goal of “painting through the medium of printing.”
The collection consists of 39 framed prints, with several notable highlights including Zinnias (1939) - an early example of how Rist integrated experiments from two earlier prints to create a more complicated and colorful work; Roses #2 (1946) that exhibits how he mixed both eastern and western traditions in his print making; Three Red Roses (1942), which was selected to be the American Print Society’s third presentation print, a very high honor; and Magnolia Grandiflora which was used for the cover of the Sunday supplement of the Christian Science Monitor on Feb. 2, 1946.
Rist invented tools and techniques that yielded him some of the most unique prints of his day and the scope of Rist’s accomplishment was astounding. Japanese printmaking methods are slow, meticulous, methodical, and technically demanding, requiring hundreds of hours to produce a single print. Traditionally, Japanese woodblock prints were produced in large workshops with several craftsmen collaborating in the production: one Japanese artist made the drawings; another carved the blocks; while a third did the printing. Each of these craftsmen apprenticed for years to learn their art. However, Rist amazed Japanese artists by doing all of the work himself, from initial preparatory drawings to finished print, all without any formal training.
Twenty-four of these prints were generously loaned to SJIMA by Mr. Gregory Maynard for the Museum’s 2015 exhibition A Twist of Rist: Lasting Impressions by Luigi Rist. The entire collection was gifted by Mr. Maynard and acquired by SJIMA in 2022.
The gallery of images below provides a glimpse of this powerful and extraordinary collection.
[Click on the thumbnail images to open a larger view and use the arrow on the right to move the gallery forward.]
