March 18th – June 7th, 2026
Cascadia Art Museum presents the first solo exhibition of early Seattle modernist R. Bruce Inverarity (1909-1999). Inverarity was born and raised in Seattle. He attended Cornish College of the Arts in the 1920’s and later became an instructor there. His passion for Northwest Coast Native American design was fostered by his father, Duncan Inverarity (1868-1949), who participated in the 1899 Harriman Expedition to Alaska alongside Edward Curtis (1868-1952).In the 1920’s, Inverarity befriended Canadian painter Emily Carr (1871-1945) and often worked in her studio. He was an early advocate for modernism in the Seattle art community, often incorporating abstracted themes inspired by Haida Gwaii culture. During this time, he also worked in puppetry as carver, instructor, writer, and gave classes and performances along the west coast.
As a printmaker and painter, he exhibited in many cities throughout the United States and Canada. Inverarity, like his father, also became a talented photographer and produced an important body of work in that medium. Bruce served as the State Director of the Federal Art Project in 1937 and Washington State Art & Craft Project, WPA from 1939-41. During this period, he led one of the most successful WPA programs in the country at the Spokane Art Center.
In addition to his visual art practice, Inverarity published a number of seminal books, including A Manual of Puppetry (1936), Masks and Marionettes of the Northwest Coast Indians (1940), Moveable Masks and Figures of the North Pacific Coast Indians (1941), Northwest Coast Indian Art (1946), articles on puppet construction and block printing, as well as writings on museum design and anthropology. He was widely known for his classic book Art of the Northwest Coast Indians, originally published in 1950. The publication was the culmination of years of ethnological study and documentation of the various Northwest Costal tribes he visited and studied first-hand.
Inverarity designed two large linoleum mosaic murals for Bagley Hall on the UW campus in 1941 which are still extant. In the early 1970’s Inverarity’s collection of Northwest Native American art and objects was acquired by the British Museum where parts of it remain on display to this day.
Image Credits:
- R. Bruce Inverarity (1909-1999), Lonely Sentinels, circa 1935. Color woodblock print.Collection of John and Annick Impert.
- R. Bruce Inverarity (1909-1999), Untitled, circa 1932. Pastel. Collection of Sharon Loper and Mark Clatterbuck.