Wilbur G Adam timeline
BORN: July 23, 1898 Cincinnati, OH
DIED: March 23, 1973 Cincinnati, OH[1]
MARRIED: Never[2]
TRAINING
Cincinnati School of Art (Art Academy) with Frank Duveneck; James R. Hopkins; Caroline A. Lord; Lewis Henry Meakin; Herman Henry Wessell
ART RELATED EMPLOYMENT
Advertising artist and book illustrator[3]
1949 on Biblical illustrations[4]
TEACHING
RESIDENCES
1900s Mt. Auburn, Ohio[5]
1925 Cincinnati[6]
1926-ca.1940, 1952 Chicago
c.1950s Returned to Cincinnati
TRAVEL
ca.1924 Colorado
1928 Glacier National Park
MEMBERSHIPS/OFFICES
All-Illinois Society of Fine Arts; Association of Chicago Painters & Sculptors; Chicago Galleries Association; Cincinnati Art Club (joined 1919, 1965-1967 President)[7]; Duveneck Society; Tiffany Foundation
HONORS
1921 and 1929 Guest Artist, Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation at Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY[8]
1921 Second Chaloner Prize, National Academy of Design, New York[9]
1925 Augustus S. Peabody Prize, Art Institute of Chicago, American Annual[10]
1930 (Dec) Fourth Purchase prize, Chicago Galleries Association semi-annual
1931 (May), Fourth Purchase prize, Chicago Galleries Association semi-annual
1932 Purchase prize, Chicago Galleries Association annual
1951 Prize award, Chicago Galleries Association annual[11]
JURIES SERVED
1934 Hoosier Salon
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
All-Illinois Society of Fine Art annual 1926
Art Institute of Chicago, American Annual 1924, 1925, 1927
Art Institute, Chicago & Vicinity 1926, 1930,[12] 1931, 1933
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, American Annual 1927
Association of Chicago Painters & Sculptors annual 1935
Chicago Galleries Association, Portraits by Members 1932[13]
Chicago Galleries Association semi-annual 1930-1932, annual 1942, 1951
Cincinnati Art Museum, Annual Exhibition of American Art 1923-1928
Cincinnati Art Museum, Exhibition of the Women's Art Club, 1923
Cincinnati Art Museum, Portraits of Present Day Cincinnatians 1933
Cincinnati Art Museum, Exhibition of Work by Teachers and Former Students, Art Academy 1938
Corcoran Gallery of Art Biennial 1926
Milwaukee Art Museum
Nebraska Art Association annual 1926, 1928
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts annual 1925
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts annual watercolors 1927
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Sesquicentennial 1926
St. Louis Art Museum, American Annual 1926
ONE, TWO OR THREE MAN EXHIBITIONS
1929 Closson Galleries, Dayton, Ohio[14]
1930 Chicago Galleries Association[15]
1930 Civic Arts Society, Chicago[16]
1933 Chicago Galleries Association (Feb.);[17] (Oct)[18]
PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
INTERESTING NOTES
“Mr. Adam reveals himself as a colorist of distinction...The paintings, realistic to a degree, have a vividness that is almost startling.”[19] “Mr Adam was a prime mover in setting up the old communal art studio in the 1920s in the old Studio building on Third Street – the same building in which Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th U.S. President has his offices.”[20]
[1]Kenwood Terrace Nursing Center, 8440 Montgomery Rd.
[2]His niece stated that he fell in love once and suffered from a broken heart and never romanced again.
[3]Obit, Cincinnati Post, 3/23/1973.
[4]Obit, Cincinnati Post, 3/23/1973. The article said “His library of Biblical costumes, implements and other historical data is said to be one of the best in the world.
[5]Obit, Cincinnati Post, 3/23/1973.
[6]“Mr. Adam divides his time between Cincinnati and Chicago, painting portraits in both cities..,” Cincinnati Times Sun, 12/17/1929.
[7]Obit, Cincinnati Post, 3/23/1973.
[8]Obit, Cincinnati Post, 3/23/1973.
[9]Obit, Cincinnati Post, 3/23/1973. The prize was for study in Paris. It is not clear if he studied in Paris. See also “Boston Man Wins $4,500 Art Prize, Cincinnati Students Get Two Lesser Awards,” Arts & Decoration, July 1921, p.204.
[10]The prize was awarded his Little Dancer.
[11]His Over the Bridge was awarded. Eleanor Jewett, “Prize Winning Works of Art Are on View,” Chicago Tribune, 11/21/1951, part 2, p.4.
[12]His Scene from Porgy, was illustrated in The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 1/28/1930, p.15.
[13]His portrait of Mrs. Howard McCormick was illustrated in the Chicago Evening Post, 9/13/1932, Art Section, p.6, and is portrait of Gustave A. Ahrenhold in the 10/18 issue, p.2.
[14]Penelope Perrill, “There is on exhibition at Clossons...,” Dayton News, 3/31/1929 and “Wilbur Adam opens his exhibition...,” Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/3/1929, both in Cleveland Museum artist clipping file.
[15]Tom Vickerman, “The Art of Byron Boyd and Wilbur Adam Shown,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 1/14/1930, p.6. His The Elevated, was illustrated in the 1/21/1930 issue, p.6. Eleanor Jewett, “Boyd and Adam Mingle Sanity with Their Modern Art,” Chicago Tribune, 1/8/1930, p.31, and “No-Jury Exhibit Turns Conservative: Two One Man Shows,”1/19/1930, p.F6.
[16]“Wilbur Adam,” The Chicago Evening Post Magazine of the Art World, 11/18/1930, p.4.
[17]Eleanor Jewett, “Four Painters Open Exhibit, Win Applause,” Chicago Tribune, 2/7/1933, p.19.
[18]“Group of Four,” Chicago Daily News, 1/28/1933, Art and Artists section, p.7. It appears a second exhibit was later in the year: C. J. Bulliet, “Around the Picture Galleries,” Chicago Daily News, 9/23/1933, Art and Artists section, p.9. Eleanor Jewett, “Four Artists Offer Chicago Gallery Show,” Chicago Tribune, 10/5/1933, p.19.
[19]Wilbur Adam opens his exhibition..., Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/3/1929.
[20]Obit, Cincinnati Post, 3/23/1973.