John Braseth guides art gallery as it marks 50 years

As Seattle’s Woodside/Braseth Gallery celebrates its 50th anniversary, John Braseth shares his perspective on the business of art.

At the opening night of two new exhibitions at his downtown art gallery last month, John Braseth, silver-haired and elegantly gray-suited, wandered from group to group, talking to artists and collectors in his charming, gregarious way.

It’s something he’s done for many years now, as director and owner of Woodside/Braseth Gallery, Seattle’s oldest major fine-art gallery, known for carrying high-caliber works by painters and sculptors working in the Northwest tradition.

• 03/14/2011
• Seattle Times

William Cumming, 93, colorful member of Northwest School of artists passes away

When preparing for a 2008 exhibition of his paintings, William Cumming, a spirited and colorful icon of Northwest art, said, “This might be my last show, considering that I am 91 years of age. On the other hand, it might not, considering my arrogant refusal to act my age.”

It was, in fact, the last solo show for the artist, who died Nov. 22 of congestive heart failure at age 93, leaving behind vibrant works of art that blend astute social observation with stunning abstraction

• 11/27/2010
• Seattle Times

The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia, 1860 to 1989

At the Guggenheim Museum, NYC January 30th, 2009 – April 19th, 2009. Includes Works by Morris Graves, Mark Tobey, Kenneth Callahan, & Paul Horiuchi. Reviewed in the New York Times, “Gaze East and Dream.”

• 01/30/2009
• New York Times

The Mystic Artists: A Puget Sound Quest

The painting — a big, dark cityscape of Seattle as seen from Capital Hill, with Lake Union shining like a whale in the foreground and the hump of Queen Anne Hill rising behind into the belly of a low black cloud — is so tactile and kinetic it makes you want to touch the paint. And that’s exactly what John E. Braseth, co-owner of the Gordon Woodside/John Braseth Gallery in Seattle, does.

• 03/12/2006
• New York Times