The Collectors: Richard and Betty Hedreen
Authors: Tobias Czudej, Susan McDonough
03.26.2026
“The more we looked at art, the more there was for us to see and appreciate,” Richard said. “Collecting art became a deeply satisfying way for us to expand our horizons, and so the collection grew.”
Over six decades, the couple amassed a collection that consisted of more than 200 artworks across themes, mediums, and periods, ranging from contemporary and modern art to 18th- and 19th-century art and 15th century Old Masters. “[From] the Mannerist paintings by Pontormo and the recently acquired Matthew Wong imaginary landscape…[to] Cecily Brown and Amy Sherald paintings…the common element is the skill shown,” Richard said.
In 2024, the Hedreen Collection was gifted to Seattle University along with a further $25 million of seed funding to build the new Seattle University Museum of Art. The donation marked the largest art gift ever made to a U.S. university, and the largest gift of any kind in the University’s 133-year history. Among the works donated are Sherald’s “The Make-Believer (Monet’s Garden)” (2016), Rashid Johnson’s “Seascape ‘Jitter Bug’” (2022), and Gustav Courbet’s “Le Moulin” (1874-76). Prior to the 2024 donation, the couple gave outdoor sculptures by Joel Shapiro and James Rosati; paintings by modern and contemporary artists like Jo Baer, Elizabeth Murray, Larry Poons, and Francesco Clemente, and Henri Matisse’s “Jazz” series.
The Hedreens’ Washington roots run deep. Born in Seattle, Richard attended the University of Washington, where he graduated with a degree in civil engineering in 1957. He went on to found the real estate business R.C. Hedreen Co., and played a pivotal role in developing hotels central to Seattle’s hospitality industry. Betty was born in Tacoma, Washington, and her love of the arts was a driving force in her life. She became a founding member of the Contemporary Collectors Forum in 1983 and Seattle Art Museum Supporters (SAMS) in 1985. She became a member of the Seattle Art Museum board of trustees in 1990 and served in a variety of roles.
In the mid-1970s, the couple was invited by art dealer and curator Charlie Cowles to join the Seattle Art Museum’s Contemporary Art Council. Alongside 30 or 40 other individuals, the group traveled to New York and Europe, visiting contemporary and centuries-old museums. The trips exposed the Hedreens to great Renaissance masters; the oil paintings of Nicolas Poussin at the Louvre in Paris and Caravaggio at the Uffizi in Florence were especially influential to Richard. Betty, who died in 2022, was “somewhat fonder of some of the exceptional contemporary works of art in the collection,” her husband noted.
The Hedreens preferred to source artworks via “close friendships with people in the auction houses, galleries, and in some cases with the artists themselves,” Richard said. Every work in the Hedreen Collection is marked by intentionality. “I don’t think we ever bought a work of art—whether it was a poster, a photograph, or a painting—when we didn’t feel it was a serious piece of art,” he said. “We never thought of ourselves as serious collectors, we simply found works of art that were appealing and added them from time to time to our collection.”
Before parting with their masterpieces, the Hedreens displayed their collection in a home known as “Gallery House.” Commissioned in 1984 and designed by Jim Olson with interior design by Terry Hunziker, the space was built with art in mind. Per Richard, “[We] always felt we were the custodians of these great artworks, holding them in trust for a larger purpose.”
Image: Willem De Kooning; Magdalena Abakanowicz; Alberto Giacometti, “Buste d’homme assis (Lotar III)” (1965-66); Jean Dubuffet. Photo: Robert Pisano
Authors: Tobias Czudej, Susan McDonough
03.26.2026
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