Wayman Adams Interior Paintings

A fine impressionist painting of figures dancing by American artist Wayman Elbridge Adams (1883-1959). Adams was born in Muncie, Indiana, studied at the Herron Art Institute in India...

Wayman Adams The Courtship, circa 1920 Signed upper right; titled on the reverse Oil on board 16 x 12 inches Adams was born on a farm in rural Indiana near Muncie. His father, a horse farmer and amateur artist, encouraged the younger Adams’ interest in art. At age twenty-one, Adams moved to Indianapolis to attend the John Herron Art Institute. There, he began to paint portraits. He took two trips to Europe, the first in 1910 when he traveled to Italy with William Merritt Chase. Two years later, he accompanied Robert Henri to Spain where he met fellow artist Margaret Boroughs, whom he married six years later. In 1914, Adams painted a series of portraits for the city hospital in Indianapolis. He was to paint children whose families had been in the United States for generations and also children of immigrants to represent the various nationalities of which the city was composed. It was considered to be one of the most ambitious public art projects in Indiana’s history. Originally, twenty-four portraits were to be done; while some are now missing, they were all initially installed in the pediatric ward of the hospital. After painting a portrait of author...