ADAMS, Charles James

1859 - 1931

Charles James Adams was born at Gravesend, Kent on 28 February 1859, second child of Charles Adams, a journeyman pastrycook, and his wife Sarah née Crispe, who married at Gravesend in 1853. In 1861, young Charles was a 2-year-old, living at 19 Christchurch Infant Street, Milton, Gravesend with his parents, 28-year-old Charles and 27-year-old Sarah, and sibling Mary 6. Charles was educated at Gravesend Middle Class Commercial School and studied at Leicester School of Art under Wilmot Pilsbury (1840-1908), winning the Mulready Gold Medal for life drawing from the Society of Arts, London. A landscape painter and early in his career painted in watercolours and engraved several lithographs, but the bulk of his work was in oil. Charles lived and worked in London, in Leicester where he was an art teacher, and in Surrey and painted animals, history and genre subjects. He married at St John the Evangelist, Nottingham on 30 March 1897, Lucy Coy, and in 1911 a 52-year-old painter artist, living at 'Glenfield', Alfred Road, Farnham, Surrey with his 49-year-old wife Lucy, who was born in Lincolnshire with their two children, Frank 12 and Winifred Gertrude 11, both born at Horsham, Surrey. Adams exhibited at the Ipswich Fine Art Club from Glenfield, Waverley Estate, Farnham in 1927, two watercolours 'The Outskirts of the Wood' and 'On the Fringe of the Moor' priced at 7 guineas, he also exhibited the Royal Academy in all 37 works also showing at the Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham , Dudley Gallery, Walker Art Gallery, Manchester City Art Gallery, Nottingham Museum and Art Gallery, Royal Society of British Artists, Royal Hibernian Academy, Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. Charles James Adams died at Eldon House, Bourne, Frensham, Surrey on 8 November 1931, aged 72. Examples of his works can be found in Brighton Art Gallery and Leicestershire Art Gallery.

Royal Academy Exhibits
from Donington Street, Highfields, Leicester
1882 1043 Road Through the Orchard - watercolour
from 19 West Street, Leicester
1884 1146 A Midland Pastoral - watercolour
1886 1330 In the Midlands - watercolour
from 24 East Street, Leicester
1892 1109 Sheep and Lambs - watercolour
         1309 A Sheepfold, near Dartford, Kent - watercolour
1893 953 Nomads - watercolour
         1168 Early Spring - watercolour
from 32 High Street, Upper Sydenham
1895 928 'How jocaud did they drive their team afield' - watercolour
1896 217 Bringing the body of Richard III
         1071 A Cloudy day - watercolour
1897 1176 Evening after Rain - watercolour
from 54 Station Road, Horsham, Sussex
1898 1022 A Sunny Morning - watercolour
         1070 'Claphands and a bargain bestown with golden moss' - watercolour
1899 1127 'Its a fair bid, take it or leave it' - watercolour
1900 1238 'When Greek meets Greek' - watercolour
         1271 Sunshine and Shadow - watercolour
         1350 A Cloudy Day - watercolour
from Hazel Bank, Billingshurst, Sussex
1901 924 Starting for the Fair at Daybreak - watercolour
         1031 Summer Time - watercolour
         1141 Chequered Sunlight - watercolour
from Crescent Lodge, Easebourn Road, Midhurst
1903 450 'There's a bargain to be made'
         850 Under the Beech Trees - watercolour
         1060 Spring - watercolour
from Claremont, Tilford Road, Farnham, Surrey
1907 963 Waiting to be Roughshod
from Glenfield, Waverley Estate, Farnham, Surrey
1908 1118 Home Again - watercolour
         1166 A Sunny Morning - watercolour
1910 864 The Welcome - watercolour
1911 900 Tired Out - watercolour
1913 1079 Noontide Rest - watercolour
1915 1003 Summertime - watercolour
         1260 Timber Waggon and Team - watercolour
1919 721 Thirsty - watercolour




Works by This Artist