Michael Dailey

Russo Lee Gallery is pleased to present Four Decades: Works from the Estate, an exhibition of paintings by Michael Dailey. Spanning work made between 1969 and 2009, the exhibition offers an opportunity to trace the arc of Dailey's artistic vision—one defined by a lifelong devotion to the light, atmosphere, and expansive beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Working through abstraction, Dailey transformed land, sea, and sky into luminous, meditative images, building up layers of translucent color to create an inner glow that feels both intimate and boundless. Through the balance of line and color, Dailey's paintings explore the nuances of space and landscape that shape our memories of time and place. His compositions are quietly architectural, using horizontal and vertical structures to frame generous open expanses, inviting the viewer to settle into something contemplative and still.

Originally from Iowa, Michael Dailey (1938–2009) moved to Seattle in 1963 to teach painting and drawing at the University of Washington. He was an influential teacher and artist whose select exhibitions included shows at the San Francisco Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, Frye Art Museum, Denver Art Museum, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In 2008, Dailey was honored with a major retrospective exhibition at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art in Salem, OR. His work is held in numerous public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, NY; the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; the Seattle Art Museum, WA; the Portland Art Museum, OR; and the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland. Corporate collections include the Bank of America Collection, San Francisco, CA; Hilton Hotels Corporation, Portland, OR; Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR; and Safeco Insurance Company, Seattle, WA.

Four Decades: Works from the Estate

March 5 – 28, 2026

Press Release