Two Visionaries Harry Lowe Acquires James Hampton's Throne

In 1964 in Washington, D.C., a landlord entered a small house which he had been renting out to be astounded by what he found. 180 pieces consisting of altars, pulpits, crowns, plaques and a seven-foot-tall winged throne, all made from crumpled and shaped tin foil. It had been created by James Hampton, a janitor and former tenant. The media was contacted…and soon the acting director of the Smithsonian Art Museum, Harry Lowe was saying the first time he visited Hampton’s work space “it was like opening Tut’s tomb.” He paid the back rent, and acquired the masterpiece for the collection in 1970. Curator and museum director Harry Lowe was born on April 9, 1922, in Opelika, Alabama. In 1959, he became director of the Tennessee Fine Arts Center, where he organized collections and curated exhibitions. In 1964, Lowe moved to Washington, D.C. to take up a position as head of exhibitions and design at the National Collection of Fine Art. Today it is known as the Smithsonian American Art Museum.…