SAMUEL COLMAN

Samuel Colman a significant landscape specialist of the second generation Hudson River School. From Portland, Maine, he studied in New York City, with Asher B. Durland. Colman is noted for landscape views, some of them quite large, of both European and American scenery. While not an exponent of Luminism, Colman often achieved effects of manipulating light, producing either a golden-yellow or a cool, silvery atmosphere. His compositions often center dramatically upon natural or man-made forms, as does, for example, his "Storm King on the Hudson". Colman was one of several Hudson River School artists who painted beautiful and sensitive panoramic views of the West; unlike the contemporarywork of Albert Bierstadt, however, they do not emphasize the grandiose nature of the scenery. One of Colman's finest and largest works of this period is "Ships of the Plains". Colman was also an important figure in the American Watercolor Society.

Taken from the information on the Art Acquisitions Meeting from July 14, 1983 found in the object file for "Off the Main Coast" by Samuel Colman.