James Hampton (artist)

James Hampton (born April 8, 1909 in Elloree , South Carolina , † November 4, 1964 in Washington, DC ) was an American cook , caretaker and artist of the Art brut style . His life's work, discovered only after his death, a throne room constructed from everyday objects with the title "The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly", is considered one of the most important religious works of art by an American. In addition, he left a notebook written in a script that had not yet been deciphered .

Life

James Hampton was born in Elloree, South Carolina in 1909. His father was a gospel singer and Baptist itinerant preacher . In 1928 James left the city of his birth and moved to Washington, DC, where he moved into the apartment of his older brother Lee, who was already living there. Until 1942 he worked as a cook in a fast food restaurant. After three years in the service of the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War , he worked from 1946 as a caretaker on night duty in the General Services Administration . In 1948 his brother died.

In 1950 he rented a garage in northwest Washington, DC, and began work there on the “Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly”. On November 4, 1964, Hampton died of stomach cancer before completing his work . He was never married.

A month after Hampton's death, the garage's landlord, Meyer Wertlieb, discovered the throne and the other items belonging to it. Wertlieb knew James Hampton was working on something in the garage, but Hampton kept his venture a secret from his relatives. Wertlieb sold the throne room to two buyers who then donated it to the Smithsonian Institute 's "National Museum of American Art" . In today's American Art Museum , the throne is in the permanent collection. The story of the discovery of the throne first became known to the general public through an announcement in the Washington Post on December 15, 1964.

The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly

For 14 years, James Hampton worked on the central throne and the remaining 176 mostly strictly symmetrical objects. Certainly due to his limited financial possibilities, he resorted to everyday objects such as cardboard, old furniture, light bulbs and mirrors, which he attached to one another with glue, tape, thumbtacks and nails to construct the Christian-motivated total work of art . The characteristic glittering appearance of the throne room results from the large amount of aluminum and gold foil with which the objects of Hampton were clad. The name of the work, "The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly" (German: "The Throne of the Third Heaven of the General Millennium Assembly of Nations") can be found in Hamptons cursive on various objects. Above the throne is clearly visible on a board the motto "FEAR NOT" (German: "Fear not") from Genesis 26:24 b. Quotations from the New and Old Testament can also be found on many other objects, especially from the Revelation of John .

The Book of the 7 Dispensations

James Hampton also kept a notebook, which he entitled "The Book of the 7 Dispensations by St. James" (German: "The Book of the 7 Liberations of St. James"). The 112-page book is written in a script that has not yet been deciphered and is thus reminiscent of the even better-known Voynich manuscript or the Codex Rohonczi . St. James was a pseudonym chosen by Hampton himself , which also appears in various places in the manuscript. At the end of each page of the script is the word "REVELATION" (German: "Revelation"). It is therefore very likely that the notes are a religious text. Hampton also wrote several other texts in cipher. A direct comparison with the Ten Commandments in English is remarkable . However, the characters in this text are not identical to those used in the notebook and have not yet been deciphered.

Web links

• Deciphering James Hampton's Secret Writing (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Linton Weeks: The Revelation of the Folk Artist. In: The Washington Post. December 10, 2005, accessed May 26, 2008 .