We are excited and pleased to announce that the world-class collections of the Seattle Art Museum and its associated museums are now represented in the Bridgeman Images archive. Since 1933, SAM has been the centre for world-class visual arts in the Pacific Northwest. SAM prides itself on being as much a part of the city’s landscape and personality as its coffee, rain, mountains, space needle and pike place market.

‘Our three distinct locations celebrate the region's position as a crossroads where east meets west, urban meets natural, local meets global. Our collections, installations, special exhibitions, and programs feature art from around the world and build bridges between cultures and centuries.’​

The Seattle Art Museum is proud of its heritage and history, with a detailed timeline available on its website. SAM acknowledges that it is located on the ancestral land of the Coast Salish people, and note that their native American galleries and exceptional collection of Australian aboriginal art are two of their most popular assets. Their collections include Asian, African, Ancient American, Ancient Mediterranean, Islamic, European, Oceanic, Asian, American, modern and contemporary art, and decorative arts and design. 

In 2007, the SAM was renovated with a striking expansion doubling its exhibition space. The expansion was designed to highlight the art within and create a center of creative expression and energy in downtown Seattle. Its elegant stainless steel façade responds to its urban surroundings, the light and the landscape of the Pacific Northwest, while spacious interiors provide an inviting environment for the experience of art. ​

In conjunction with the opening of the expansion​ and SAM’s 75th anniversary in 2008, the museum has also received an unprecedented series of gifts from prominent museum patrons and collectors. The gifts—nearly 1,000 works from more than 40 collections—significantly enhance SAM’s holdings and reinforce the museum’s dedication to artistic excellence. In a remarkable show of support, entire collections by some of the Northwest’s leading collectors have been committed over time, creating the largest gift in the museum’s history.​

We have only touched on the collection in this article – discover all our current Seattle Art Museum images here, with more being added daily.