Mark Rothko, American, born Russia (now Latvia) (1903–1970), Untitled, 1963. Oil on canvas, 69 × 90 in. (152.4 × 228.6 cm). Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the Friday Foundation in honor of Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis, 2020.14.16. Photo by Spike Mafford / Zocalo Studios. Courtesy of Friday Foundation. © 2021 The Mark Rothko Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

 SEATTLE, WA.- The Seattle Art Museum presents Frisson: The Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis Collection (October 15, 2021–ongoing), celebrating the gift of 19 exceptional works of art recently donated by the Friday Foundation in honor of late Seattle collectors and philanthropists Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis.

Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis built their collection during the 1970s and early 1980s, filling their home with singular works of art. In little more than a decade, they assembled one of the most significant private collections of Abstract Expressionist paintings and sculptures on the West Coast, augmented by two towering European artists of the same period. They were also devoted philanthropists in a burgeoning Seattle cultural scene. This exhibition celebrates their legacy of generosity and passion for art, particularly the “frisson” of excitement that arises from engaging deeply with art.

Mark Rothko, American, born Russia (now Latvia) (1903–1970), Untitled, ca. 1945, oil on canvas, 22 1/2 × 30 3/8 in. (57.1 × 77 cm). Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the Friday Foundation in honor of Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis, 2020.14.3. Photo by Spike Mafford / Zocalo Studios. Courtesy of Friday Foundation. © 2021 The Mark Rothko Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Rarely seen in public in the last 40 years, the works in Frisson is being presented in dynamic juxtapositions with each other that capture the spirit of the Langs’ shared endeavor. Conducting careful research, they chose leading examples from an artist’s career or works that marked important turning points. 

“This is a special moment for SAM and for Seattle,” says Amada Cruz, Illsley Ball Nordstrom Director and CEO. “Dick and Jane believed in the transformational power of art in a community, and they have transformed our collection with these extraordinary gifts that people for generations to come can now sit with and enjoy. It’s something we all need right now—to connect again in our beautiful downtown galleries with inspiring art.”

Francis Bacon, British, born Ireland (1909–1992), Portrait of Man with Glasses I, 1963. Oil on canvas, 13 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the Friday Foundation in honor of Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis, 2020.14.6 © The Estate of Francis Bacon. Photo: Spike Mafford / Zocalo Studios. Courtesy of the Friday Foundation.

Many of the works donated represent a first for SAM’s collection, including the first paintings by Francis Bacon (Portrait of Man with Glasses I, 1963 and Study for a Portrait, 1967), Lee Krasner (Night Watch, 1960), and Clyfford Still (PH-338 (1949-No. 2), 1949); it also marks the first artwork by Alberto Giacometti, the sculpture Femme de Venise II (1956). As a group, all of the works transform SAM’s collection of post-war art and present new possibilities for its artistic program. The exhibition is accompanied by a major publication with scholarly texts dedicated to each work by leading experts in the field.

“It’s thrilling to share with the public these formidable examples of Abstract Expressionism and post-war European art,” says Catharina Manchanda, Jon & Mary Shirley Curator of Contemporary Art. “The emotional current of these works, reflective of their specific time and context, runs from exuberant to contemplative, fierce to soaring. They are an invitation to engage.”

Francis Bacon, British, born Ireland (1909–1992), Study for a Portrait, 1967 [67-11], , oil on canvas, 61 x 55 in. (155 x139.8 cm). Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the Friday Foundation in honor of Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis, 2020.14.7. Photo by Spike Mafford / Zocalo Studios. Courtesy of Friday Foundation. © 2021 The Francis Bacon Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Frisson features 21 works of art—18 paintings, two sculptures, and one drawing—by 17 influential American and two European artists of the post-war period, spanning the years between 1945 and 1978. The works are on view in the museum’s modern and contemporary galleries.

In addition to the 19 new works in the museum’s collection, Frisson features two paintings previously gifted to the museum: the portrait Richard Lang (1978) by Alice Neel, and Andy Warhol’s double portrait of Jane Lang (1976). Alice Neel, the subject of a major retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2021, was in her late seventies when she painted the portrait of Richard Lang. The portrait of Jane Lang was commissioned as a surprise gift on the occasion of the exhibition Andy Warhol: Portraits at SAM in 1976. The Langs donated one of the panels to the museum following the exhibition; the second panel, which stayed in their home, was gifted to SAM in 2020 by the family.

Alberto Giacometti, Swiss (1901–1966), Femme de Venise II, 1956, bronze, overall: 473/8 × 53/4 × 127/8 in. (120.2 × 14.8 × 32.7 cm). Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the Friday Foundation in honor of Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis, 2020.14.8. Photo by Spike Mafford / Zocalo Studios. Courtesy of Friday Foundation. © 2021 Alberto Giacometti Estate / VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Lee Krasner, American (1908–1984), Night Watch, 1960, oil on canvas, 70 x 99 in., Gift of the Friday Foundation in honor of Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis, 2020.14.4, ©️ 2021 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Franz Kline, American, 1910–1962, Painting N°11, 1961, oil on canvas, 61 × 82 1/4 in. (155 × 208.9 cm). Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the Friday Foundation in honor of Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis, 2020.14.12. Photo by Spike Mafford / Zocalo Studios. Courtesy of Friday Foundation. © 2021 The Franz Kline Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Jackson Pollock, American (1912–1956), Untitled, 1951. Black and colored ink on mulberry paper, 24 3/4 x 38 3/4 in. Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the Friday Foundation in honor of Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis, 2020.14.13 © The Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Photo: Spike Mafford / Zocalo Studios. Courtesy of the Friday Foundation.

Helen Frankenthaler, American (1928–2011), Dawn Shapes 1967, acrylic on canvas, 77 1/4 × 94 1/2 in. (196 × 240 cm). Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the Friday Foundation in honor of Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis, 2020.14.5. Photo by Spike Mafford / Zocalo Studios. Courtesy of Friday Foundation. Artwork © 2021 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Willem de Kooning, American, born the Netherlands (1904–1997), Town Square, 1948, oil on paper mounted on Masonite, 17 3/8 × 23 3/4 in., Gift of the Friday Foundation in honor of Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis, 2020.14.2, © 2021 The Willem de Kooning Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Clyfford Still, American (1904–1980), PH-338, 1949, oil on canvas, 91 1/2 × 68 3/4 in. (232.5 × 174.5 cm). Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the Friday Foundation in honor of Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis, 2020.14.17. Photo by Spike Mafford / Zocalo Studios. Courtesy of Friday Foundation. © 2021 The Clyfford Still Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Ad Reinhardt, American (1913–1967), Painting, 1950, 1950, oil on canvas, 60 x 36 in., Gift of the Friday Foundation in honor of Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis, 2020.14.14, © 2021 Estate of Ad Reinhardt / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Philip Guston, American, born Canada (1913–1980), T0 B.W.T., 1952, oil on canvas, 48 × 51 in. (122 × 129.2 cm). Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the Friday Foundation in honor of Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis, 2020.14.10. Photo by Spike Mafford / Zocalo Studios. Courtesy of Friday Foundation. © The Estate of Philip Guston, courtesy Hauser & Wirth.

Joan Mitchell, American (1925–1992), The Sink, 1956, oil on canvas, 54 5/8 × 111 3/4 in. (138.7 × 283.9 cm). Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the Friday Foundation in honor of Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis, 2020.14.15. Photo by Spike Mafford / Zocalo Studios. Courtesy of Friday Foundation. © 2021 Estate of Joan Mitchell.

Adolph Gottlieb, American (1903–1974), Crimson Spinning #2, 1959, oil on canvas, 90 × 72 in. (228.7 × 182.9 cm). Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the Friday Foundation in honor of Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis, 2020.14.9. Photo by Spike Mafford / Zocalo Studios. © 2021 Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Robert Motherwell, American (1915–1991), Irish Elegy, 1965, acrylic on canvas, 69 1/2 × 83 3/4 in. (176.5 × 212.8 cm). Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the Friday Foundation in honor of Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis, 2020.14.1. Photo by Spike Mafford / Zocalo Studios. Courtesy of Friday Foundation. © 2021 The Robert Motherwell Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Robert Motherwell, American (1915–1991), Before the day, 1972, charcoal and acrylic on canvas, 72 1/2 × 96 5/8 in. (184.1 × 245.3 cm). Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the Friday Foundation in honor of Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis, 2021.1.1. Photo by Spike Mafford / Zocalo Studios. Courtesy of Friday Foundation. © 2021 The Robert Motherwell Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York