Original Watercolor View of San Gabriel Valley, CA

San Gabriel Valley, California. Samuel Colman (1832-1920). Original watercolor. Signed and inscribed lower right 'San Gabriel Valley, S.C.' 5 1/2 x 15 inches sheet. Samuel Colman, one of the leading members of the second generation Hudson River School painters, is well known for his romantic depictions of the American and European landscape. Born in Portland, Maine Colman and his family eventually moved to New York City where his father opened a bookshop on Broadway. Many Hudson River School artists frequented the shop which opened a world of opportunities for the artistically inclined Colman. In 1850, the young artist studied under Asher B. Durand. Also that year, he exhibited his first work at the National Academy of Design. For the next decade the Hudson River school influenced Colman’s landscape paintings. It was not until his travels in France and Spain in 1860-1861 that his style began to take its own unique shape.
Colman’s voyages continued throughout the 1870s and 80s taking him to British Columbia, the Gulf of Mexico, Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, Egypt, Morocco, Japan and the western United States. To depict the scenes around him the artist experimented with oil paint, watercolor and print-making. Colman found himself back in New York City in 1875 where he became a significant member of the already booming artworld. In 1866 he founded the American Watercolor Society serving as its first president from 1867-1871. Colman did not neglect the art of printmaking - he was an early member of the New York Etching Club where he published works of scenes from abroad. Like many of his contemporaries he was a member of the National Academy of Design and helped establish the Society of American Artists.