| Charles Coleman | |
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Charles Coleman, etching of transhumant shepherds in the campagna romana, showing sheep, a working dog of Pastore Maremmano-Abruzzese type, horses of Maremmano type and a conical capanna or lestra; from A Series of Subjects peculiar to the Campagna of Rome and Pontine Marshes (1850) |
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| Birth name | Charles Coleman |
| Born | c. 1807 Pontefract, Yorkshire |
| Died | 1874 Rome |
| Spouse | Fortunata Segadori |
| Nationality | English |
| Field | Campagna Romana, Agro Pontino |
| Movement | Campagna Romana school |
| Influenced | Nino Costa |
Charles Coleman (c. 1807 – 1874) was an English landscape and animal painter, born in Pontefract, in Yorkshire, England.
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Coleman first went to Rome in 1831,[1] to study the paintings of Michelangelo and Raphael.[2] He became permanently resident there in 1835,[3] and on 21 June 1836 married Fortunata Segadori (or Segatori) from Subiaco, who, along with Vittoria Caldoni of Albano, was one of the most famous Roman models of the time.[4] Segadori had sat for August Riedel;[5] a portrait of her by Johann Heinrich Richter is in the Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen. The couple had eight children; their son Enrico Coleman (1846–1911), was also a landscape painter, in oils and watercolour, as was the younger and less well-known Francesco Coleman. The Colemans' first address was 25 via Zucchelli.[4] In 1869 the family moved to 16 via Zucchelli, and for the first time Coleman set up a separate studio, at 33 via Margutta, possibly with the intention of providing space for his two painter sons.[3][4]
Four of Charles Coleman's paintings, dated from 1845 to 1847 and all featuring buffaloes, are listed in the catalogue of the collection of Beriah Botfield.[6] From 1848 to 1850 he made etchings of scenes and animals in the Campagna Romana, and these were published in 1850.[7] He was dismissive of academic teaching, believing that observation from nature was the best education for an artist.[8] He exhibited five times at the Royal Academy of London, for the last time in 1869.[4]
Coleman remained largely unknown in his native country but became a major influence on the Italian landscape painter Nino Costa, whom he met in the Campagna in the early 1850s.[9] Coleman was considered the founder of the "Campagna Romana" school of painting in Italy.[8]
Charles Coleman died in Rome in 1874.[10]