"Throughout his lengthy career,
Adamson has observed, studied and painted waterfowl migrations and is best
known for his flocks of mallards and pintails although occasionally he
paints bighorn sheep, condors, falcons, and tropical birds. Although not a
hunter himself, the viewpoint of many of his paintings is from the position
of a duck blind, and he is an arch conservationist having donated more than
three million dollars to conservation causes. Viewed by critics in the early
part of the century as ‘mere illustration,’ wildlife art has since gained
status through its evocative realism and the current concern about vanishing
habitats and species.”
- Tom STELLAR
"Adamson is described by
internationally famous wildlife artist David Maass as “unsurpassed when it
comes to portrayals of wildfowl on the wing in their natural surroundings.”
"Wildlife
artist Owen Gromme says Adamson is simply “one of the
finest waterfowl artists in the world.”
Adamson's work has frequently been displayed nationally
and internationally in the prestigious “Birds in Art” and
“Animals in Art” exhibitions, and has been shown at the
Smithsonian Art Museum, the British Museum and the Carnegie
Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, among others. He
was named the first California Waterfowl Association Artist
of the Year and 1979 Ducks Unlimited Artist of the Year.
"Still painting at age 93, Adamson is perhaps
the oldest living wildlife artist today. Throughout his lengthy career,
Adamson has observed, studied and painted the colorful participants in the
massive annual waterfowl migration. Although best known for his landscapes
awash with flocks of mallards and pintails, on occasion Adamson has painted
bighorn sheep, condors and falcons, and the unusual and colorful tropical
birds encountered during his many trips abroad.
"Part
of the appeal of Adamson's paintings, says exhibition curator Tom Steller,
is that, "He paints to the hunter's dream." Although Adamson has never been
a hunter himself, many of his paintings, done from the position of a duck
blind, evoke memories in the outdoors enthusiast, whether they be of an
early-morning close-up view of a flock of mallards or of a stunning
landscape experienced
