Clinton Adams (December 11, 1918 – May 13, 2002) was an American
art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
ist and
art historian. He was known for his contributions to the field of lithography.
Biography
Adams was born in
Glendale, California. He worked in the
art department
Art department in filmmaking terms means the section of a production's crew concerned with visual artistry. Working under the supervision of the production designer and/or art director, the art department is responsible for arranging the overall ...
of the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...
, (UCLA) but eventually left to serve in the military. He returned to UCLA in 1946. From 1961 to 1976, he was the Dean of the
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo MĂ©xico) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...
.
As a
painter, Adams worked in several mediums, including
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
,
acrylic
Acrylic may refer to:
Chemicals and materials
* Acrylic acid, the simplest acrylic compound
* Acrylate polymer, a group of polymers (plastics) noted for transparency and elasticity
* Acrylic resin, a group of related thermoplastic or thermosett ...
,
watercolor painting
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...
, and
egg tempera
Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...
. He also produced
lithographs, and was the co-author of ''The Tamarind Book of Lithography'' (1971), an important description of the process. Among his other writings is ''American Lithographers'' (1987), a history of the art in the United States from 1900 to 1960.
Adams received the Governor's Award for "Outstanding Contributions to the Arts of New Mexico" in 1985, and in 1992 he became a member of the
National Academy of Design
The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...
. He died of liver cancer
on May 13, 2002, in
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
References
External links
Clinton Adams papers, 1934-2002from the Smithsonian
Archives of American Art
The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...
Oral history interview with Clinton Adams, 1974 Mar. 29from the Archives of American Art
Oral history interview with Clinton Adams, 1995 Aug. 2-3a second interview from the Archives of American Art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Clinton
1918 births
2002 deaths
American art historians
American lithographers
Deaths from liver cancer
Writers from Glendale, California
20th-century American historians
American male non-fiction writers
UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture faculty
University of New Mexico faculty
Deaths from cancer in New Mexico
American military personnel of World War II
20th-century American male writers
Historians from California
20th-century lithographers