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Lot Essay
Charles Caryl Coleman's training as a classical artist, his keen interest in the decorative arts and influence from the Aesthetic Movement, which swept through Europe and the United States in the late Nineteenth century, was the catalyst for the creation of an important series of decorative floral still lifes. Like other artists of the Aesthetic Movement, Coleman studied elements of both Eastern and Western traditions, harmoniously coupling decorative objects and fine arts into unified compositions.
Born in Buffalo, New York, Coleman originally trained with William Holbrook Beard and Andrew Andrews before he served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Coleman traveled to Paris in 1866 with William Morris Hunt and Elihu Vedder and also spent time in Brittany and Rome, before he settled permanently in Capri. "In 1886 Coleman purchased the former guest house of a convent on the island of Capri and converted it into his home and studio. His Villa Narcissus was an architectural palimpsest of Roman, Pompeiian, Moorish and Mediterranean details to which Coleman added mosaic tiles, stained glass, and wrought-iron grille-work of his own design. He was an avid collector of decorative objects: period photographs depict the artist dressed in Arabian costume and his home filled with marble reliefs, ancient glass, ornamental Renaissance panels, terracotta vessels, and Turkish tapestries." (C.H. Vorsanger, In Pursuit of Beauty, New York, 1986, p. 410)
Still Life with Azaleas in a Chinese Pot is a sublime combination of fine and decorative arts elements arranged in an elegant composition. Coleman sets the graceful branches and delicate Azalea blossoms against a subtle Oriental silk textile patterned with floral motifs. The artist employs a soft dry brush technique that uses a minimal amount of oil paint, and deliberately leaves small areas of the canvas exposed which creates a feel for the woven delicacy of the textile. Against this subtle backdrop, the blossoms, branches and vases are richly painted with vibrant color and a strong brush giving the work a pure three-dimensional quality. Coleman created a small number of canvases of this importance, one of which, Apple Blossoms was recently recognized as such when it was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Born in Buffalo, New York, Coleman originally trained with William Holbrook Beard and Andrew Andrews before he served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Coleman traveled to Paris in 1866 with William Morris Hunt and Elihu Vedder and also spent time in Brittany and Rome, before he settled permanently in Capri. "In 1886 Coleman purchased the former guest house of a convent on the island of Capri and converted it into his home and studio. His Villa Narcissus was an architectural palimpsest of Roman, Pompeiian, Moorish and Mediterranean details to which Coleman added mosaic tiles, stained glass, and wrought-iron grille-work of his own design. He was an avid collector of decorative objects: period photographs depict the artist dressed in Arabian costume and his home filled with marble reliefs, ancient glass, ornamental Renaissance panels, terracotta vessels, and Turkish tapestries." (C.H. Vorsanger, In Pursuit of Beauty, New York, 1986, p. 410)
Still Life with Azaleas in a Chinese Pot is a sublime combination of fine and decorative arts elements arranged in an elegant composition. Coleman sets the graceful branches and delicate Azalea blossoms against a subtle Oriental silk textile patterned with floral motifs. The artist employs a soft dry brush technique that uses a minimal amount of oil paint, and deliberately leaves small areas of the canvas exposed which creates a feel for the woven delicacy of the textile. Against this subtle backdrop, the blossoms, branches and vases are richly painted with vibrant color and a strong brush giving the work a pure three-dimensional quality. Coleman created a small number of canvases of this importance, one of which, Apple Blossoms was recently recognized as such when it was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.