Born in Glasgow. Painted mostly in oil but also in watercolour. Focused his studies on animal painting. He settled in the Crieff district and founded the School of Animal Painting at Craigmill. Denovan Adam was a highly regarded painter of Highland cattle, and he lived at Craigmill House between 1887 and 1895, where he ran a Country Atelier - a school of animal painting. The school attracted numerous art students at that time, including Edith Holden, who later became famous for her Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. Adam kept live animal models for his students to paint, including Highland cattle, sheep, donkeys, geese and other fowl. Other facilities included a glass-sided studio in the field opposite Craigmill House and tennis courts for recreation. He became very specialized in painting highland cattle. Adam's use of colour and painterly strokes set him aside from his contemporaries.