Born in Muncie, Indiana, Wayman Adams had his first lessons in painting from his father, Nelson Perry Adams, a stock farmer who took up painting late in life. He studied with William Forsythe and J. Otis Adams at the John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis, with William Merritt Chase in Italy in 1910, and with Robert Henri in Spain in 1912. He taught painting in New York, and although he specialised in society portraits, he also painted landscapes. He became known for his bravura painterly work.

While visiting New York in 1920, Miss Ima Hogg sat for her portrait in Adams's studio. His modest bust-length portrait of her was painted in a dark and somber palette, with many tones of black. Wearing a large hat that nearly envelops her head, she peers out at the viewer, her face set in a pensive expression.