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for Charles Caryl Coleman
American, 1840 - 1928
Coleman studied with William Beard in Buffalo before traveling to Paris in 1859 to work several months under Thomas Couture. The following two years were spent in Florence where he became a friend of Elihu Vedder. Coleman fought for a year in the 100th Regiment of the New York Volunteers during the Civil War but was discharged in 1863 after being accidentally shot in the jaw. While convalescing, he spend several years in the New York City area before once again leaving for Europe in 1866, a year after his election as an Academy Associate.
Although he made frequent trips to the United States, Coleman lived for the rest of his life in Italy, first in Rome, and finally on the island of Capri, where he bought his celebrated Villa Narcissus in 1886. In subsequent years, Coleman painted Italian figure works and landscapes, murals (at the World's Columbian Exposition, for example), still lifes, and later, a series of views of Mt. Vesuvius. As late as 1916, he was still being considered for Academician status, as evidenced by a letter from J. Carroll Beckwith in the Academy Archives urging Coleman to engage in the necessary politicking for a successful election. By the end of his life, failed eyesight prevented him from painting.
Lay had spent time with Coleman in Florence in 1860 and was a good friend of his brother, Eugene Caryl, whose portrait he painted in September 1863. Charles C. Coleman's diploma portrait was begun in his studio on 2 March 1866, according to Lay's record book, in which it appears as #102. Originally 25 x 30 inches, it (like 750-P) was cut down to its present at a later date.
Although he made frequent trips to the United States, Coleman lived for the rest of his life in Italy, first in Rome, and finally on the island of Capri, where he bought his celebrated Villa Narcissus in 1886. In subsequent years, Coleman painted Italian figure works and landscapes, murals (at the World's Columbian Exposition, for example), still lifes, and later, a series of views of Mt. Vesuvius. As late as 1916, he was still being considered for Academician status, as evidenced by a letter from J. Carroll Beckwith in the Academy Archives urging Coleman to engage in the necessary politicking for a successful election. By the end of his life, failed eyesight prevented him from painting.
Lay had spent time with Coleman in Florence in 1860 and was a good friend of his brother, Eugene Caryl, whose portrait he painted in September 1863. Charles C. Coleman's diploma portrait was begun in his studio on 2 March 1866, according to Lay's record book, in which it appears as #102. Originally 25 x 30 inches, it (like 750-P) was cut down to its present at a later date.
