Lowe, Alton

Alton Lowe (born Abaco, The Bahamas, 1945) is an important figure in Bahamian art whose realist oil paintings celebrate the beauty of the Bahamian landscape and island life.  A seventh-generation Abaconian who can trace his family heritage to the first Eleutheran Adventurers settlers from the mid-1600s, Lowe’s exquisite pieces, drawn from his birthplace, help Bahamians appreciate the bounty of their surroundings and heritage.  

Lowe’s appreciation for art developed at a young age when he would observe his father draw seascapes with ships at the dining table of their home in Green Turtle Cay.  At nine years old, Lowe developed this passion through art classes with a local American woman who lived on the Green Turtle Cay settlement.  

At age 14, Lowe met an American couple who ran a successful art gallery in Miami Beach.  The couple, long active in the international art community, invited Alton to live and study with them after he graduated school.  After a two-year study period in Florida, he headed to the prestigious Frank Reilly School of Art in New York City with their generous assistance.  In New York, Lowe studied classical drawing and painting, completing the four-year program in only three years.  

Following graduation, Lowe travelled in England and Canada, sketching and painting, before returning home to The Bahamas and holding his first exhibition in 1966.  The exhibition served as a fortuitous beginning for his prolific career.  Following his earliest success, Lowe became known for his spectacular and social annual exhibitions -- which took place for decades at the Nassau Beach Hotel.   

With a great interest in the environment, Lowe is deeply committed to protecting and preserving the Bahamian landscape he so beautifully depicts in his work.  In 1976, he found the Albert Alton Museum at New Plymouth, a beautifully restored Loyalist home that gives insight into the history and culture of Abaco. Soon thereafter, he created the Loyalist Memorial Sculpture Garden which pays tribute to founders of the community. In the late 1990s, Lowe opened his own gallery space, Alton Art Gallery in Green Turtle Cay, where he continues to host on-going cultural projects, exhibitions, lectures, concerts and performances.  

Lowe's Lucayan paintings were reproduced as postage stamps by the Bahamian Government in 1992 to celebrate the Quincentenary of the Columbus landfall.  Lowe also produced a series of  stamps for the 200 year anniversary of the Loyalist landing, as well as a “tropical flowering paradise” series of stamps depicting native flora.

Lowe’s paintings can be found in collections around the world, as well as in the private collections of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, HRH Prince Charles, the late Princess Diana, and Mr. and Mrs. Reginald Sands.