The Gallery

A small selection of images representing Tom Adams' large body of work

"Some of his most beautiful paintings are suffused with a poetic feeling in part Pre-Raphaelite, in part macabre."
Julian Symons from a commentary in Tom Adams' Agatha Christie Cover Story

"Tom stands honourably in that line of English illustrators, Rackham, Dulac and the Detmold brothers."
John Fowles
The Vivisector by Patrick White

One of Patrick White's closest friends was his fellow Australian, the painter, Sidney Nolan who was possibly the origin of the novel's central character. My painting reflects this.


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Saville by David Storey

"...a quite literal dream of a jacket"
John Fowles

Nostalgia and Storey's deep insight into the character of Yorkshire, its people and its landscape inspired this cover painting.
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Lou Reed Album cover

It was good to meet Lou Reed and talk about his brilliant music and poetic lyrics. I'm not sure I did them justice but it was great to be involved in his first UK album.


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The Collector (hardback) by John Fowles

My trompe l'oeil painting for The Collector was probably one of the most important milestone paintings of my career. It was responsible for the commissioning of the entire Christie series and also started a delightful collaboration and friendship with John Fowles.

"I have seen dozens more jackets on other editions since and none comes within a mile of the original for beauty, subtle understatement. It is almost as much the book to me now as my own text, inalienable from its memory."
John Fowles

"This beautiful dust jacket by Tom Adams shows a lady's lock of hair, a butterfly and a key."
Bob Goosman from an article 'Collecting John Fowles' published in Firsts magazine
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Teddy Bears' Picnic - painting

A rare chance to indulge my fantasies about the English landscape without reference to a publisher's brief!
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Halloween Party by Agatha Christie

"The element of strangeness Tom Adams says is what he tried to bring to the Christie stories, equivalents of reality rather than a literal rendering of it."
Julian Symons from Tom Adams' Agatha Christie Cover Story


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Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie

I am besotted by old aircraft. My father flew one in the First World War. The Imperial Airways biplane was certainly one of the most marvellous aircraft ever built. The name is a stupid mistake. It should have been Prometheus!


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Portrait of Benjamin Britten - private commission

This is the first of three large paintings in which I attempted to combine a straight portrait with a visualization of biography and creative achievement - a lifescape.
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Portrait of Enid Blyton - private commission

Commissioned by the Enid Blyton Company (1997) this painting, 1780 x 1220 mm, illustrates the rich childhood world of Enid Blyton. I had the great pleasure of working closely with the author's delightful eldest daughter, Gillian Baverstock, the owner.


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Bell's Whisky

"One of the best crafted posters I've ever seen"
Patrick Collister Creative Group Director, Young & Rubicam, commenting on one of a series of trompe l'oeil Bell's Whisky advertisements.

Being a Scot I revelled in the chance to paint this collection of Scottish artifacts, some of which (including the bottle occasionally renewed!) are in my possession.
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Bell's Whisky "Microscope"

In the first Bell's painting I made the display cabinet myself and in this one, the bookshelves.


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Iron Maiden - Greatest Hits album cover

This commission came out of the blue. The deadline was murderous but it was great to do because I love the band. Neil Pymer, co-designer of my website, modelled for Eddy!
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