Trinidadian Artist Adrian Camps-Campins honored for capturing nation’s heritage in bold paintings

Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago introduced Adrian Camps-Campins, Trinidadian artist and community historian.

According to the National Archives, born on August 22nd 1943, Adrian Camps-Campins was a well-known Trinidadian artist and community historian who used his talents to create bold, colourful acrylic paintings that captured his love of Trinidad and Tobago’s history, art, and architecture.

Camps-Campins was born in St Ann’s and attended St Mary’s College. He began painting from a young age, inspired by his father’s use of watercolour, as well as Harry Bryden’s watercolour landscapes. By the mid-1960s, Camps-Campins began receiving commissions, and his interest in Trinidad and Tobago’s history could be seen in his work.

During the 1970s, he left his secure job in insurance and began recording the architectural landscape of Trinidad and Tobago through his art. From houses to parks to marketplaces and rum shops, Camp-Campins brought scenes of Trinidad and Tobago’s history to life on paper, as per the update.

He is well-known for his paintings depicting the Lion House, the George Brown House, and “Christmas Meeting of the Trinidad Turf Club, Queen’s Park Savannah – 1912” (1975), which depicts horse racing in the Queens Park Savannah against a backdrop of fifteen notable buildings in Port of Spain. His favourite piece, “The Polo Match”, shows a polo game in the Savannah with the Magnificent Seven in the distance. These postcards—like many of his postcards—folded out to reveal panels of historical information.

Accordingly, one of his most popular paintings was “The Seventh Birthday Party of Clara Rosa De Lima” (1989), which was made into a UNICEF greeting card in 1993. His art has been exhibited worldwide, including in London, Paris and Washington DC. His painting, “The University of Woodford Square”, was selected in 2002 for a special $1.00 postage stamp for the 40th anniversary of Trinidad and Tobago’s Independence. In 2014, Camps-Campins received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of the West Indies.

Photo 1 shows “The University of Woodford Square – 1956” (2002) by Adrian Camps-Campins.

Photo 2 shows “The Polo Match, Queen’s Park Savannah – 1910” (1978). These are both from the Adrian Camps-Campins Greeting Card Collection at the National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago.

Photo 3 shows the late artist Adrian Camps-Campins.