Douglas Adams: British Sporting Artist

February 22, 2023

Douglas Adams: British Sporting Artist

Douglas Adams (1853-1920) was a London based landscape painter. He exhibited in the Royal Academy between 1880 and 1894, showed at the Society of British Artists, the Grosvenor Gallery, and the New Gallery and shared a Primrose Hill studio with other artists. 

Adams specialized as a landscape and wildfowl painter and often painted sporting scenes. Many of his paintings celebrated the field sports of hunting, shooting, and fishing, set against stunning Highland landscapes and painted in the Victorian tradition. 

Due to the success of his paintings, Adams worked with the well-known publisher Thomas McLean to create limited edition prints of his more popular painted scenes. These prints were issued in large photogravure format, in triptychs, or as lithographs.

"Trout Fishing" by Douglas Adams, Signed Artist Proof, 1893

This is a signed Douglas Adams lithograph "Trout Fishing," published in 1893. Produced in a numbered edition of 200, this lithograph is pencil signed at bottom by the artist. The print depicts a Scottish highlands trout fishing scene. Two fishermen are in the foreground along a small river. Behind them, a stone bridge and the rugged Scottish highlands open up to an expansive sky. The contrast of scale between human and nature captured by Adams communicated the sense of awe many 19th-century travelers felt in this land. Artists romanticized the highlands as one of the last “unspoiled” corners of the British Isles. 

Rough Shooting First Edition Print by Douglas Adams

Similar in style is "Rough Shooting" by Douglas Adams. The first edition photogravure was published by Thomas McLean and depicts an Irish rough shooting scene. A group of hunters are huddled together in the foreground of the print, with one standing hunter aimed to shoot a bird. An epic, vast and misty landscape extends before them. 

You can see all our Douglas Adams prints available for purchase, several of which are currently on sale. Consider adding this great, late Victorian artist to your art collection today.






Also in Blog

The First Frigate of the United States Navy
The First Frigate of the United States Navy

March 27, 2023

On March 27, 1794, the United States Congress authorized construction of the original six frigates of the United States Navy. On May 10, 1797, the U.S.S. United States, a wooden hulled, three-masted frigate, was the first of the six ships to be launched. Several years later, during the War of 1812, this same ship crucial in establishing early American naval dominance. Read more on our blog!

View full article →

1858 Mitchell’s Map of the United States - A Snapshot in History
1858 Mitchell’s Map of the United States - A Snapshot in History

March 17, 2023

Mitchell became one of the most prominent American map publishers of the mid-19th century and his visual record of the early Unites States gives us an incredible lens into the rapid growth of our country during this time. This engraved and hand-colored 1858 map of the United States is a wonderful example of Westward expansion and the worldwide powerhouse that America was becoming. 

View full article →

Yellowstone: The World's First National Park
Yellowstone: The World's First National Park

February 28, 2023

In honor of the 151st anniversary of Yellowstone becoming the United States first National Park, we take a deeper dive into the history of Yellowstone and how it captivated not only U.S. travelers, but travelers from around the world. Learn more about how artists and surveyors such a Thomas Moran helped capture Yellowstone in all its glory and play a major role in the signing of the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act.

View full article →