Peter Lowe

Untitled portrait of a girl

1944

Oil, paper, collage on board

14 x 10.25 inches

Signed and dated on front

Original artist frame

Good condition

Domestic shipping $35

Peter Lowe (1913-1989) is one of those gifted Asian American artists from the mid-century period who's life and work remains misunderstood. Lowe emigrated to China from San Francisco as a child. He studied caligraphy and sculpture with Buddhist monks there. When he returned to San Francisco he studied painting with Otis Oldfied. He first exhibited at the de Young Museum in the early 1930s as a member of the Chinese Art Association and the Chinatown Arts Club. He worked on the WPA at the behest of Dong Kingman, and assisted Herman Volz on his mural at the 1939 Treasure Island World's Fair. Volz tried to support his talent and soon after Lowe became a member of the San Francisco Art Association. He exhibited with the group at the San Francisco Museum of Art (now SFMOMA) in 1940, 1942 and 1945. But for whatever reason, he doesn't appear to have clicked with the establishment, and the rest of his life remains something of a mystery.