Contemporary American artist Peter Adams is esteemed for his beautiful Impressionist paintings. He uses oil paints to create vivid landscapes and figurative works that saturate the canvas with color. Adams is known for combining the Western artistic tradition with Eastern influences picked up from his extensive travels.
Adams was born and raised in California. He studied at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California; the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles; the Instituto de Bellas Artes in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; and the Lukits Academy of Fine Arts in Los Angeles.
Four of Adams’s seven years at the Luktis Academy were spent as an apprentice to Theodore Lukits, a renowned Impressionist painter. He was also introduced to Chinese porcelains and sculptures, which sparked an interest in Asian art that spurred him to travel. In 1981, he traveled and painted unescorted through the People’s Republic of China, becoming the first American artist to do so. He was also the only American artist to travel with the mujahideen rebels of Afghanistan in 1987.
Adams became the president of the California Art Club in 1993, a role he has served in ever since. Established in 1909, the organization only had 80 members at the time. Under his leadership, the membership has grown to around 3,000.
In 2007, he earned the John J. Geraghty Award for advancing traditional fine art as well as the gold medal for the best painting from his fellow members at the California Art Club. In 2009, Fine Art Connoisseur presented Adams with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Adams is represented by American Legacy Fine Arts in Pasadena. His works are in the collections of the Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard, California; the Haggin Museum in Stockton, California; the USC Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, California; and Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of Peter Adams’s paintings.
Alberich's Vision (Rhinemaidens from Richard Wagner's The Ring)
By Peter Adams
Located in Pasadena, CA
Provenance Acquired by the gallery directly from the artist FRAMED: 82" x 58" x 2.25" UNFRAMED: 72" x 48" Oil on panel Signed "Peter Adams" on lower right Artist's Statement: Albe...
Oil, Panel
Harvest Time on the Farm
Located in New York, NY
This Barbizon influenced work is a moving and beautifully painted work. The artist took a strong interest in artists such as Corot and the French painters that took to depicting the...
Oil, Panel
$6,000
H 20 in W 32 in D 1 in
Let Go 3, Male Nude, Original Oil Painting on Panel, Realist Style, 21st Century
Located in Chicago, IL
Let Go 1, 2, 3 (Series) In these paintings, Zdrale depicts multiple figures—often iterations of the same man—locked in a cycle of struggle. The ropes that coil around or extend from ...
Oil, Panel
$12,000
H 32 in W 48 in D 1 in
Cowards - Three Male Figures, Framed Original Oil Painting on Panel
Located in Chicago, IL
Three figures, bent forward with their hands over their heads, seem caught in an emotional storm. Their mirrored postures convey shame, fear, and helplessness—states central to grief...
Oil, Panel
$19,240
H 19.69 in W 24.02 in
"The Painter and his Model", 19th C. Oil on Mahogany Wood Panel by E. L. Garrido
By Eduardo Leon Garrido
Located in Madrid, ES
EDUARDO LEÓN GARRIDO Spanish, 1856- 1949 THE PAINTER AND HIS MODEL signed "E. L Garrido" (lower right) oil on mahogany wood panel 19-3/4 x 24-1/8 inches (50 x 61 cm.) framed: 28-1/2 x 32-3/4 inches (72 x 83 cm.) PROVENANCE Private Spanish Collector Eduardo León Garrido (Madrid, 1856 - Caen, 1949) was a Spanish painter. He began his training at the Higher School of Painting in Madrid and as a disciple in Vicente Palmaroli...
Oil, Wood Panel
2 PM Shift Change
By Nicholas Berger
Located in Greenwich, CT
Men at work by a Brooklyn East District Terminal locomotive during an afternoon shift change. For over 100 years, the Brooklyn East District Terminal was responsible for floating fre...
Oil, Panel
$12,000
H 32 in W 48 in D 1 in
Carriers On - Three Male Figures, Framed, Original oil painting
Located in Chicago, IL
This oil painting on panel titled "Carriers On", depicts a quiet procession of repeated figures, each bowed forward in a gesture of weight and endurance. Rendered in warm, earthy ton...
Oil, Panel
Balloons
By Scott Duce
Located in Greenwich, CT
Scott Duce is an international artist working in New York. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States, with several solo exhibitions in New York City, Chicago, Boston, ...
Oil, Panel
$20,443
H 16.54 in W 25.6 in
"Coro de monaguillos ensayando", 19th Century Oil on Wood Panel by José Gallegos
By José Gallegos y Arnosa
Located in Madrid, ES
JOSÉ GALLEGOS Y ARNOSA Spanish, 1857 - 1917 CORO DE MONAGUILLOS ENSAYANDO signed, located and dated "JGallegos / Roma 1883" (lower right) oil on...
Oil, Wood Panel
Construction Worker .3
By Scott Duce
Located in Greenwich, CT
Scott Duce is an international artist working in New York. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States, with several solo exhibitions in New York City, Chicago, Boston, ...
Oil, Panel
$39,683
H 11.26 in W 15.28 in
"Preparing for fishing", 19th Century oil on canvas by E. Martínez Cubells
By Enrique Martinez Cubells y Ruiz
Located in Madrid, ES
ENRIQUE MARTÍNEZ CUBELLS Y RUIZ Spanish, 1874 - 1947 PREPARING FOR FISHING signed "E. M - CUBELLS. RUIZ" (lower right) oil on canvas laid on panel 11-1/4 X 15-1/4 inches (28.6 X 38....
Canvas, Oil, Panel
$15,392
H 70.87 in W 82.68 in D 3.15 in
Gold thistle screen oil painted - self-supporting exclusive piece of furniture
By Margherita Leoni
Located in Milan, IT
The main green gardening show in Milan, stimulated Margherita Leoni to create her first screen. Using her painterly skills, the artist designed and created a self-supporting, zig za...
Oil, Wood Panel
$3,006
H 6.23 in W 8.08 in
"Belem´s Tower, Lisbon", 19th Century Oil on Wood Panel by Enrique Atalaya
By Enrique Atalaya
Located in Madrid, ES
ENRIQUE ATALAYA Spanish, 1851 - 1913 BELEM´S TOWER, LISBON signed "ATALAYA" (lower right) oil on wood panel 6-1/4 x 8-1/8 inches (15.8 x 20.5 cm.) fram...
Oil, Wood Panel
Sold
H 30.5 in W 24.5 in D 1.25 in
St. Theresa in the Serra Chapel, Mission San Juan Capistrano
By Peter Adams
Located in Pasadena, CA
Description Using colored lights Peter Adams illuminated then painted this wooden statue of Saint Teresa of Avila, one of the Doctors of the Chur...
Oil, Panel
Cleopatra
By Peter Adams
Located in Pasadena, CA
Provenance Acquired by American Legacy Fine Arts directly from the artist Description Peter Adams takes a contemporary approach to a classical subject with Cleopatra. In this compos...
Oil, Panel