PERMANENT COLLECTION

IRVINE ADAMS

NATIONALITY: Canadian

DATES: 1902-1992

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Pioneers shape a community; a community raises a child. Such is the story of Irvine Clinton Adams, a much revered and loved artist not only in his home town of Summerland, British Columbia, but around the globe. He was considered one of North America's foremost realists and his works were shown in juried exhibitions in Paris, London, and various galleries in the United States and Canada.

Irvine Clinton Adams was born on Sept. 2, 1902 in Swan Lake, Manitoba. He was the youngest child of Silas Hamblin Adams and Ann Jane (Jennie) Docking. His siblings were a half-brother Ernest (from an earlier marriage of Silas), Clarence, Helen, and Fairy. The Adams family arrived in Summerland from Manitoba in March 1904. Silas purchased property in Garnett Valley in 1907 from the Garnett Valley Land Company that he began farming. In 1916, Silas died and Ernest and Clarence continued to farm the property, which they inherited from their father.

After graduating, Irvine and Helen both worked in the packing house. Irvine took a printing course and did posters for local businesses, but it did not prove to be very lucrative. In 1934 Irvine began taking art courses at the H. Faulkner Smith School of Applied and Fine Arts in Vancouver. He shared a small apartment with his sister, Fairy, who was taking a dress design course at the Wescott School of Dress and Design. Fairy began teaching sewing at Coqualeetza Residential School where she met fellow teacher, Doreen Milsom.

Doreen visited the Adams family in the summer. She and Irvine were married in August 1936 and lived in a small cottage on the farm in Garnett Valley. Irvine and Doreen formed the Milsom Candy Co. making handmade chocolates in the Adam’s home. These were marketed locally through the Hudson’s Bay Co. In 1940 Irvine went to Montreal with Pat and Don Agur and Bob MacLachlan with plans to enlist in the war but was rejected due to his age. Irvine then worked in airplane maintenance in Montreal and Halifax, and Doreen joined him in Halifax.

Irvine and Doreen returned to Summerland after the war and lived on Peach Orchard Road. Irvine was an ardent gardener and kept a trout pond, which he was very proud of. Irvine was employed as a labourer by Kenyon Construction and the Agur Logging Company. He worked as a faller, scaler, and lumber grader on the Bald Range and at the mills at Curtain, Thirsk, and Osprey lakes until 1961. When working in the camps, Irvine painted in the evenings from photographs that he had taken.

Over the years, he began submitting his work to art shows. Irvine became better known for his work in London, Paris, and the United States than locally. Some of the places that his work was exhibited included the International Art Show in Kelowna, the Royal Institute Galleries, the National Art Festival in New York, the Spring Salon in Paris, and the Royal Institute Show in London. In May 1971 one of his pictures On the Trail of the Okanagan was presented to Queen Elizabeth II when she visited Penticton B.C. It is held currently in the Royal Collections Trust.

Doreen helped support them by writing jingles and entering contests for different products winning money and even a new car. She was also interested in preserving land from development and was an ardent supporter of the Okanagan Similkameen Parks Board. Over the years they were able to purchase nine lots surrounding their home, which became the nucleus of the Adam’s Bird Sanctuary in Summerland. By 1961 Irvine was doing his art full time as he prepared for his first big local exhibition in November at the West Summerland Library. As he became better known, he became busier and people waited for up to four years to receive work that they commissioned. Irvine Adams died in 1992 and Doreen in 1996.

WORKS BY ARTIST