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Portrait (of Virginia Wright)

1974

American, 1927 - 2023

The subject of this portrait, Virginia Wright, is one of the most influential arts patrons in Seattle. Beginning in the 1950s, she boldly collected the art of her day and simultaneously nurtured a growing commitment to contemporary art within the Seattle Art Museum. A glance around the adjacent galleries will reveal the extent to which she has shaped the museum's collection.

Oil on canvas

61 3/4 x 49 5/8 in. (156.8 x 126cm)

Gift of the Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum

2014.25.41

Provenance: [Richard Bellamy, New York, New York]; purchased from gallery by Virginia and Bagley Wright, Seattle, Washington, Sept. 17, 1974

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistoryNew York, New York, Barbara Flynn Gallery, Alfred Leslie: The Red Paintings, 1973 - 1975, Mar. 18 - July 10, 1992

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, The Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection of Modern Art, Mar. 4, 1999 - May 5, 1999. Text by Trevor Fairbrother. No cat. no., p. 201, reproduced fig. 19, p. 39.

Seattle, Washington, Bumbershoot Olympic Room, Bumberbiennale: The Portrait Project, Aug. 23 -25, 2002

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, permanent galleries changeover, May 3 - Nov. 30, 2010

Published ReferencesKangas, Matthew, Relocations: Selected Art Essays and Interviews, 2008, p. 401.

Fairbrother, Trevor. The Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum in association with University of Washington Press, 1999; p. 201, reproduced fig. 19, p. 39 [not in exhibition].

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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