Kenneth Adams

Kenneth Miller Adams (1897-1966)

Kenneth Adams was the last member to be added to the Taos Society of Artists before it disbanded in 1927, only a year after his induction. The artist stood as the meeting point between the old generation of Taos painters and the young, emerging modernists.

Originally from Topeka, Kansas, he moved to New York City where he studied at the Art Students' League in New York, where he befriended his instructor, Andrew Dasburg. Adams' connection to Dasburg, and later Walter Ufer, ultimately led to his relocation to Northern New Mexico.

Adams' subject matter included landscapes, portraits, nudes, and florals — most with a decidedly more modern interpretation than his peers in Taos were doing.

During WWII, Adams moved to Albuquerque where he taught at the University of New Mexico and Sandia School. Recognition for his artistic contribution came near the end of his life, when he was elected an academician of the National Academy of Design in 1961. He was also honored with a retrospective of his work at the University of New Mexico in 1964, just two years before his passing.