Bates Lowry (June 23, 1923 – March 12, 2004) was an art historian who was a director of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

and founding director of the National Building Museum.

Early life

He was born in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

received an undergraduate degree from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

. He was in the United States Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He returned to the University of Chicago after the war and earned a masters and Phd.

Career

He had teaching stints at the University of Chicago,

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

New York University Institute of Fine Arts The Institute of Fine Arts (IFA) of New York University is dedicated to graduate teaching and advanced research in the history of art, archaeology and the conservation and technology of works of art. It offers Master of Arts and Doctor of Philoso ...

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became t ...

, the

University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a public research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Massa ...

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...

and Brown University. In 1966 he was a founder of the Committee to Rescue Italian Art to raise funds for the protection of Italian art endangered in Florence, Italy flooding. He remained chairman until 1976. In 1968–69 he served a 10-month tenure as director the Museum of Modern Art.

David Rockefeller David Rockefeller (June 12, 1915 – March 20, 2017) was an American investment banker who served as chairman and chief executive of Chase Manhattan Corporation. He was the oldest living member of the third generation of the Rockefeller family, ...

, chairman of the museum, said he was dismissed because he had attempted to take on the job of curator of the painting and sculpture at the museum which caused strife in the department and because he did a major renovation to his office without MoMA board approval. In 1980 he became founding director of the National Building Museum and oversaw the establishment and renovation of its home in the 1881 Pension Building. He remained there until 1987.

Personal life

Lowry died in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

while visiting his daughter. He had been living in Boston at the time.

Publications

* 1961: ''The Visual Experience: An Introduction to Art,'' Prentice-Hall Inc., *1965: ''Renaissance Architecture,'' George Braziller Inc., *1985: ''Building a National Image: Architectural Drawings for the American Democracy, 1789-1912,'' National Building Museum, *1994: ''Looking for Leonardo: Naive and Folk Art Objects Found in America,''

University of Iowa Press The University of Iowa Press is a university press that is part of the University of Iowa. Established in 1969, thUniversity of Iowa Pressis an academic publisher of poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction. The UI Press is the only universit ...

, *1998: ''The Silver Canvas: Daguerreotype Masterpieces from the J. Paul Getty Museum,'' J. Paul Getty Trust Publications,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowry, Bates 1923 births 2004 deaths Writers from Cincinnati University of Chicago alumni University of Chicago faculty Brown University faculty Directors of museums in the United States People associated with the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) University of California, Riverside faculty New York University faculty Pomona College faculty University of Massachusetts faculty University of Delaware faculty United States Army personnel of World War II American art historians Historians from Ohio Historians from California