Peter Adams is a fourth-generation southern Californian. He received his formal training at Art Center College of Design, Otis Art Institute, Instituto de Bellas Artes in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and the Lukits Academy of Fine Arts in Los Angeles where he spent five of his seven years as the personal apprentice to Theodore N. Lukits.
As a world traveling plein air artist, Adams has painted in such exotic locales as India, Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet. In 1981, he received international acclaim as the first American artist to paint unescorted throughout the People’s Republic of China. On another six-month excursion to Asia, in 1987 Adams disguised himself as an Afghan native and slipped into Soviet-occupied Afghanistan, becoming the only American artist to paint among the Moujahideen rebels. His paintings are included in several prominent collections, including the California Club, Carnegie Art Museum, Forbes Magazine Collection, Haggin Museum, Jonathan Club, Pacific Asia Museum, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Stephen’s College, and Trust Company of the West. In 2007 Adams was honored by several prominent institutions, including the Autry National Center with the John J. Geraghty Award and the California Art Club with a Gold Medal from the 96th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition. The historic Pasadena Tournament of Roses also commissioned him as the first artist to create a “Pasadena Rose” to help raise funds for children’s arts programs.
Peter Adams is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America. He is an Emeritus Member of Plein Air Painters of America, a Master Signature Member of Oil Painters of America, Honorary Emeritus of the American Society of Classical Realism, and an Advisory Board Member for the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. He is a Signature Member and President of the California Art Club.
