Adrien Demont originally studied law in Douai but then decided to devote himself to painting. His first lessons were in his hometown. Later, he collaborated with Émile Breton. In 1871, he met Jean-Baptiste Corot during his visit to Douai and, shortly after, went to Paris, where he found a position in the workshops of Joseph Blanc.

In 1880, he married the daughter of the painter, Jules Breton, who would herself become a well-known painter under the name Virginie Demont-Breton. Originally, the couple settled in Montgeron but, the following year, they discovered the village of Wissant on the Côte d'Opale. That is where they chose to settle and, in 1891, built a villa in the Egyptian Revival style that they named the "Typhonium".

They soon attracted a circle of students that included Georges Maroniez, Fernand Stiévenart, Henri Duhem and Félix Planquette . They met together frequently until the beginning of World War I. In 1905, Demont was elected a member of "Rosati", a goguette located in Arras. The following year, he was named a Knight in the Legion of Honour.The year before his death, he published a book of memoirs called Souvenances. Promenades à travers ma vie, describing everyday life and the artistic milieu in Northern France.

Museum and Gallery Holdings

Amiens: The Mill; Farm in the Dauphiné Region
Arras: The Flood
Douai: The Brickyard
Dunkirk: The Coast of Finistère
Le Havre: August in the North; Winter in Douai
Lille: The Betrothal
Melbourne: Don Quixote
New York (Metropolitan Mus. of Art): The Old Man's Garden
Paris (MAM): Night; Abel
Paris (Mus. du Petit Palais): Northern Beach; Cluny Square