Elinor Proby Adams


Elinor Proby Adams was a British artist who as well as producing oil paintings was also a book illustrator and mural painter.

Biography

Adams was born at Sudbury in Suffolk. Her parents, who had married in 1884, were Clara Elizabeth, née Bradley, and Henry George Adams, a chemist. Her father's work took the family to Bedford, where Elinor was educated in local schools. Adams went on to become a successful student at the Slade School of Art in London. In 1908 she won a prize for figure painting and was subsequently awarded a Slade scholarship and the British Institution scholarship of £ 100. Upon leaving the Slade, Adams lived in Sevenoaks in Kent for many years and then in Surrey. Between 1917 and 1941 she was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy, with the New English Art Club, with the London Portrait Society and at the Goupil Gallery. Between 1908 and 1941 Adams also showed on a regular basis with the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours. She was a member of the Society of Graphic Artists. She mainly produced oil paintings of animals, landscapes and flowers and also portraits but also illustrated a number of books and painted murals. Adams lectured on craft techniques and was an art critic and reviewer for the magazine Home and Abroad. A London street scene by Adams is in the collection of the British Museum.