Hollyhocks

1871

Growing up as the son of a New York City publisher of fine engraved books, Samuel Colman became familiar with the world of art and artists at a young age. He reportedly studied with Asher B. Durand and began his career as a second generation Hudson River School artist, painting luminous scenes of the Hudson River and Lake George. Before he was forty, Colman was elected a full member of the National Academy of Design, co-founded the American Society of Painters in Watercolor and became a member of the New York Etching Club. Colman lived in Newport in the early 1880s, in a home designed by McKim, Mead and Wright.

Colman's proclivity for watercolor sketches of his travels began with trips to the western United States as well as Spain and France. A fondness for exotic places led the artist to Morocco, Egypt and Algiers, accompanied by his younger friend, Louis Comfort Tiffany. The two developed an interest in decorative design, inspired by Islamic and Asian influences, and in 1879 they formed an interior decoration partnership. Achieving notable success among financially elite families such as the Havemeyers, Colman soon "retired" to Newport, where he designed the interior of his own house, built by McKim, Mead and White on Red Cross Avenue. In his last years he turned to writing, authoring two books on artistic theory.

Oil on canvas

frame: 35 1/4 in x 21 in; canvas: 30 1/2 in x 16 in

Gift of Miss Margaret S. Appleton

1939.002.001