Enrico Coleman
Encyclopedia
Enrico Coleman was an Italian painter of British nationality. He was the son of the English painter Charles Coleman and brother of the less well-known Italian painter Francesco Coleman
. He was known for his paintings, in oils and in watercolours, of the landscapes of the Campagna Romana and Agro Pontino, and as a collector, grower and painter of orchids. Because of his supposedly Oriental air, he was known to his friends as "Il Birmano", the Burmese.
Enrico Coleman was born in Rome on 21 June 1846. He was the fourth child of the English painter Charles Coleman, who had come to Rome in 1831 and settled there permanently in 1835, and of Fortunata Segadori (or Segatori), a famous model from Subiaco, whom he had married in 1836.
Initially taught by his father, Coleman either did or did not study at the Academy of San Luca in Rome
. Following the mocking reception of Una mandria di bufali nelle paludi pontine, a naturalistic painting of a herd of buffalo
es in the Pontine marshes
, at the International Artist's Club in 1872, he reportedly began to paint genre subjects in the manner of the then fashionable Mariano Fortuny
, although no works showing the influence of the Spanish painter are known. At the instigation of Nino Costa
he soon returned to the depiction of the people, animals and landscapes of the Campagna Romana and the Agro Pontino. An album of watercolours from this youthful period (1871–1875) was recently rediscovered and was shown in Rome in 2004.
Coleman was lover of orchids, which he painted, collected and cultivated. A famous album of 88 orchid paintings, either in watercolour or in gouache
, painted in the 1890s and entitled Orchidea Birmana was sold to an Englishman; it was "rediscovered" in the 1980s and published in facsimile. An 1894 watercolour of orchids is in the Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome. Coleman had a remarkable collection of indigenous orchids, which he cultivated himself in special boxes at his house at 6 via Valenziana. He successfully hybridised Orchis provincialis
var. pauciflora and Orchis mascula var. rosea; the botanist Fabrizio Cortesi
named the hybrid Orchis x colemanii Cortesi in his honour.
In 1875, Coleman was among the founding members of the new Società degli Acquarellisti, the Roman society of watercolourists; he participated in the society's first exhibition in 1876, and continued to exhibit with them until 1907. In 1878 he was elected an honorary member of the Société Royale Belge des Aquarellistes, the Belgian royal society of watercolourists, with which he participated in the Salon de Paris in 1879. From then on he began to exhibit regularly. He sent paintings to the 4th Esposizione Nazionale di Belle Arti, or national fine art show, of Turin in 1880, and to that of Milan in the following year; he showed works in London in 1882 and in Rome in 1883.
In 1885, Coleman was among the founding members of the group In Arte Libertas, of which Nino Costa was the leading force and the other founding members were Vincenzo Cabianca, Onorato Carlandi, Giuseppe Cellini, Alessandro Castelli, Cesare Formilli, Giuseppe Raggio, Mario de Maria and Gaetano Vannicola. Coleman had six paintings in the first exhibition of the group, which took place from 10–28 February 1886, in the studio of an amateur painter named Giorgi, at 72 via S. Nicola da Tolentino. He participated in some measure in all of the subsequent annual exhibitions. From 1895 to 1899 the group exhibited collectively at the Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte della Città di Venezia, which would later become the Biennale di Venezia; Coleman continued to exhibit in every edition until the ninth in 1910.
Shortly after the death of Costa in 1903, In Arte Libertas was transformed into a new society, the "XXV della Campagna Romana". The XXV was born in the trattoria
"Il Pozzo di San Patrizio" on the via Nomentana, on the evening of 24 May 1904. Coleman was elected "capocetta", or president, for life. The other members included Giuseppe and Ettore Ferrari
, Onorato Carlandi, Giulio Aristide Sartorio, members of the earlier group, who were joined by Cesare Pascarella, Arturo Noci, Lorenzo Cecconi, Vittorio Grassi, Carlo Montani, Amedeo and Virgilio Simonetti, and others.
Enrico Coleman never married. Although he kept his British nationality throughout his life, he never visited Britain. The only large he city he saw was Turin. According to Diego Angeli, apart from that one journey, he never went further north than Monte Soratte, nor further south than Terracina
. As well as painting and orchids, he loved shooting and mountain-climbing. He was among the early members of the Club Alpino Italiano
, which he joined in 1881, and of which he was made an honorary member for life in 1906. The club published his panorama of the Gran Sasso d'Italia in 1884, and awarded him a gold medal at the Esposizione Alpina, or mountaineering exhibition, in Bologna in 1888.
He died in Rome of pleurisy in the night of either 14 February 1911 or 4 February 1911, and is buried in the non-Catholic cemetery
of Testaccio
; the date on his gravestone is calculated from the foundation of Rome. Later the same year, he was the only artist to have a whole room dedicated to him at the Esposizione internazionale d'arte in Rome, in which forty-nine of his works, both oils and watercolours, were hung by a group of his friends. In the exhibitions of Castel Sant'Angelo
for the 50th anniversary of the unification of Italy his watercolours of mountain landscapes formed part of the exhibit of the Club Alpino Italiano. On the anniversary of Coleman's death, thirty of his works from the collection of his sister Giorgina were shown at the Studio Jandolo at 52a, via Margutta
, on the initiative of Onorato Carlandi, Diego Angeli, Arturo Lancellotti and Jandolo himself.
Francesco Coleman
Francesco Coleman was an Italian painter. He was the son of the English painter Charles Coleman and brother of the better-known Italian painter Enrico Coleman. He was known as a painter, in oil and in water-colour, of the people and landscapes of the Campagna Romana and Agro Pontino, and of...
. He was known for his paintings, in oils and in watercolours, of the landscapes of the Campagna Romana and Agro Pontino, and as a collector, grower and painter of orchids. Because of his supposedly Oriental air, he was known to his friends as "Il Birmano", the Burmese.
Life
Enrico Coleman was born in Rome on 21 June 1846. He was the fourth child of the English painter Charles Coleman, who had come to Rome in 1831 and settled there permanently in 1835, and of Fortunata Segadori (or Segatori), a famous model from Subiaco, whom he had married in 1836.
Initially taught by his father, Coleman either did or did not study at the Academy of San Luca in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. Following the mocking reception of Una mandria di bufali nelle paludi pontine, a naturalistic painting of a herd of buffalo
Buffalo
-Bovine:* African Buffalo or Cape Buffalo * American Buffalo, North American colloquial name for American Bison * Wisent, or Eurasian Buffalo...
es in the Pontine marshes
Pontine Marshes
thumb|250px|Lake Fogliano, a coastal lagoon in the Pontine Plain.The Pontine Marshes, termed in Latin Pomptinus Ager by Titus Livius, Pomptina Palus and Pomptinae Paludes by Pliny the Elder, today the Agro Pontino in Italian, is an approximately quadrangular area of former marshland in the Lazio...
, at the International Artist's Club in 1872, he reportedly began to paint genre subjects in the manner of the then fashionable Mariano Fortuny
Mariano Fortuny
Mariano Fortuny may refer to:* Mariano Fortuny , Spanish painter* Mariano Fortuny , Spanish fashion designer, son of the painter...
, although no works showing the influence of the Spanish painter are known. At the instigation of Nino Costa
Giovanni Costa
Giovanni Costa , known as Nino, was an Italian landscape painter and revolutionary.-Biography:Costa was born in Rome...
he soon returned to the depiction of the people, animals and landscapes of the Campagna Romana and the Agro Pontino. An album of watercolours from this youthful period (1871–1875) was recently rediscovered and was shown in Rome in 2004.
Coleman was lover of orchids, which he painted, collected and cultivated. A famous album of 88 orchid paintings, either in watercolour or in gouache
Gouache
Gouache[p], also spelled guache, the name of which derives from the Italian guazzo, water paint, splash or bodycolor is a type of paint consisting of pigment suspended in water. A binding agent, usually gum arabic, is also present, just as in watercolor...
, painted in the 1890s and entitled Orchidea Birmana was sold to an Englishman; it was "rediscovered" in the 1980s and published in facsimile. An 1894 watercolour of orchids is in the Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome. Coleman had a remarkable collection of indigenous orchids, which he cultivated himself in special boxes at his house at 6 via Valenziana. He successfully hybridised Orchis provincialis
Orchis provincialis
Orchis provincialis, the Provence Orchis, is a species of orchid in the genus Orchis.-Description: Orchis provincialis is a herbaceous plant high. The 4-5 basal leaves are oblong-lanceolate, with a length of about 8 cm and arranged in a rosette, the color is green with purplish brown spots...
var. pauciflora and Orchis mascula var. rosea; the botanist Fabrizio Cortesi
Fabrizio Cortesi
Fabrizio Cortesi was an Italian botanist. He collected in Italy and Ethiopia.He was the third Conservator of the Orto Botanico dell'Università di Catania, following Peter Romualdo Pirotta and Emilio Chiovenda....
named the hybrid Orchis x colemanii Cortesi in his honour.
In 1875, Coleman was among the founding members of the new Società degli Acquarellisti, the Roman society of watercolourists; he participated in the society's first exhibition in 1876, and continued to exhibit with them until 1907. In 1878 he was elected an honorary member of the Société Royale Belge des Aquarellistes, the Belgian royal society of watercolourists, with which he participated in the Salon de Paris in 1879. From then on he began to exhibit regularly. He sent paintings to the 4th Esposizione Nazionale di Belle Arti, or national fine art show, of Turin in 1880, and to that of Milan in the following year; he showed works in London in 1882 and in Rome in 1883.
In 1885, Coleman was among the founding members of the group In Arte Libertas, of which Nino Costa was the leading force and the other founding members were Vincenzo Cabianca, Onorato Carlandi, Giuseppe Cellini, Alessandro Castelli, Cesare Formilli, Giuseppe Raggio, Mario de Maria and Gaetano Vannicola. Coleman had six paintings in the first exhibition of the group, which took place from 10–28 February 1886, in the studio of an amateur painter named Giorgi, at 72 via S. Nicola da Tolentino. He participated in some measure in all of the subsequent annual exhibitions. From 1895 to 1899 the group exhibited collectively at the Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte della Città di Venezia, which would later become the Biennale di Venezia; Coleman continued to exhibit in every edition until the ninth in 1910.
Shortly after the death of Costa in 1903, In Arte Libertas was transformed into a new society, the "XXV della Campagna Romana". The XXV was born in the trattoria
Trattoria
A trattoria is an Italian-style eating establishment, less formal than a ristorante, but more formal than an osteria. There are generally no printed menus, the service is casual, wine is sold by the decanter rather than the bottle, prices are low, and the emphasis is on a steady clientele rather...
"Il Pozzo di San Patrizio" on the via Nomentana, on the evening of 24 May 1904. Coleman was elected "capocetta", or president, for life. The other members included Giuseppe and Ettore Ferrari
Ettore Ferrari
Ettore Ferrari was an Italian sculptor.-Biography:Born in Rome to an artistic family , Ferrari was one of the members of the artistic rebirth in the secular state born after the Italian Unification...
, Onorato Carlandi, Giulio Aristide Sartorio, members of the earlier group, who were joined by Cesare Pascarella, Arturo Noci, Lorenzo Cecconi, Vittorio Grassi, Carlo Montani, Amedeo and Virgilio Simonetti, and others.
Enrico Coleman never married. Although he kept his British nationality throughout his life, he never visited Britain. The only large he city he saw was Turin. According to Diego Angeli, apart from that one journey, he never went further north than Monte Soratte, nor further south than Terracina
Terracina
Terracina is a town and comune of the province of Latina - , Italy, 76 km SE of Rome by rail .-Ancient times:...
. As well as painting and orchids, he loved shooting and mountain-climbing. He was among the early members of the Club Alpino Italiano
Club Alpino Italiano
The Club Alpino Italiano is the senior Italian alpine club which stages climbing competitions, operates alpine huts, marks and maintains paths, and is active in protecting the Alpine environment...
, which he joined in 1881, and of which he was made an honorary member for life in 1906. The club published his panorama of the Gran Sasso d'Italia in 1884, and awarded him a gold medal at the Esposizione Alpina, or mountaineering exhibition, in Bologna in 1888.
He died in Rome of pleurisy in the night of either 14 February 1911 or 4 February 1911, and is buried in the non-Catholic cemetery
Protestant Cemetery, Rome
The Protestant Cemetery , now officially called the Cimitero acattolico and often referred to as the Cimitero degli Inglesi is a cemetery in Rome, located near Porta San Paolo alongside the Pyramid of Cestius, a small-scale Egyptian-style pyramid built in 30 BC as a tomb and later incorporated...
of Testaccio
Testaccio
Testaccio is the 20th rione of Rome, deriving its name from Monte Testaccio. In antiquity, much of the Tiber River trade took place here, and the remains of broken clay vessels were stacked creating the artificial Testaccio hill, which today is a source of much archeological evidence as to the...
; the date on his gravestone is calculated from the foundation of Rome. Later the same year, he was the only artist to have a whole room dedicated to him at the Esposizione internazionale d'arte in Rome, in which forty-nine of his works, both oils and watercolours, were hung by a group of his friends. In the exhibitions of Castel Sant'Angelo
Castel Sant'Angelo
The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as the Castel Sant'Angelo, is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family...
for the 50th anniversary of the unification of Italy his watercolours of mountain landscapes formed part of the exhibit of the Club Alpino Italiano. On the anniversary of Coleman's death, thirty of his works from the collection of his sister Giorgina were shown at the Studio Jandolo at 52a, via Margutta
Via Margutta
Via Margutta is a narrow street in the centre of Rome, near Piazza del Popolo, accessible from Via del Babbuino in the ancientCampo Marzio neighborhood also known as "the foreigner's quarter". Mount Pincio is nearby...
, on the initiative of Onorato Carlandi, Diego Angeli, Arturo Lancellotti and Jandolo himself.
Published works
- 'Panorama invernale del Gran Sasso d'Italia' (Chromolithograph) in Bollettino del Club Alpino Italiano Torino: Fratelli Doyen 1884. XVII:50 tavola VII
- Gabriele d'AnnunzioGabriele D'AnnunzioGabriele D'Annunzio or d'Annunzio was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, and dramatist...
Isaotta Guttadàuro ed altre poesie: con disegni di Vincenzo Cabianca, Onorato Carlandi, Giuseppe Cellini, Enrico Coleman, Mario de Maria, Cesare Formilli, Alessandro Morani, Alfredo Ricci, G.A. Sartorio Roma: La Tribuna 1886 - Edoardo de Fonseca I castelli romani Firenze: Fratelli Alinari 1904