Samuel Colman was born in Portland, Maine in 1832. He became a prominent figure in the second generation of artists following in the Hudson River School style of landscape. Colman led a life full of travel, and earned spots in exclusive art societies throughout the course of his life. His works are well represented in private and public collections throughout the country.

Samuel Colman Junior was the son of a publisher and fine-art books dealer. When he was a young boy his father moved the family to New York City where he opened a bookstore. Samuel Colman Senior intentionally exposed his son to art from a young age. His shop attracted many important artists, which is most likely how Samuel Colman Jr. ended up meeting Asher B. Durand, his art tutor for a brief period of time. By 1851 Colman had already exhibited at the National Academy of Design, and in 1854 he was elected as an Associate. Colman’s life was filled with travel to many exotic and (then) unconventional locations. In 1860 Colman embarked on his first of many expeditions, on this particular trip he traveled to Switzerland, Italy, France, and the (at the time) less- visited countries of Spain and Morocco. Upon his return, he was elected a full member of the National Academy of Design. In 1864 he was asked to join a prestigious group of Hudson River School painters that included Albert Bierstadt, (former tutor) Asher B. Durand, and John Frederick Kensett, to contribute sketches to a portfolio that was to be presented to writer, William Cullen Bryant. Two years later Colman painted his most famous work, Storm King on the Hudson [Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.]. Colman is credited as a key figure in the establishment of watercolor as a primary medium. Previously watercolor was used for preliminary sketch work for larger scale, “grander” oil paintings, but Colman (among others) helped to elevate the status of this medium. Being proficient in watercolor aided Colman when it came to capturing the effects of light; his later works show a more luminescent quality, which very well may be due to his proficiency in watercolor. He even helped to found the American Society of Watercolor Painters in 1866, and served as their first president until 1870, other members include Mauritz Frederik H. de Haas. In 1870 he made his first trip out west, sketching Utah, Wyoming and parts of the Oregon Trail. Between the years of 1871 and 1874 Colman once again embarked on another overseas journey, this time going to Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, France, Holland and England. Out of this trip came another one of his most well known works, The Moorish Mosque of Sidi Halou, Tlemcan, Algeria [Edna Barnes Solomon Collection, New York Public Library, New York, NY] painted in 1875 upon his return to New York. Due to the increased level of selectivity at the 1877 National Academy of Design Exhibition, a new society was formed, the Society of American Artists, and Colman became a member. The 1877 National Academy of Design’s exhibition selection committee decided to focus on young, foreign trained figure artists (for example, William Merritt Chase), and thus landscape artists were not heavily featured, and the few that were, were young European artists. In 1878 Colman joined the New York Etching Club, and by 1897 he had ceased to exhibit at the National Academy of Design’s annual exhibition. Aside from painting, Colman loved interior design and writing. He was a member in Louis Tiffany’s interior design firm, Associated Artists, where he was dubbed the “expert on color.” By the turn of the century Colman had switched his focus towards writing art theory. In 1912 his first book, Nature’s Harmonic Unity was published. Eight years later, in 1920, his second book, Proportional Form was published just five days prior to his death.