Old Tower at Avignon

c. 1875

Samuel Colman
American, 1832–1920

Old Tower at Avignon depicts a 14th-century fortress in southern France. A noted colorist for his use of saturated hues, Samuel Colman captured the romance of the age-old structure amid sunlight, storm clouds, and reflections on the Rhône River. An accomplished landscapist, Colman began his career depicting New England scenery, as did his contemporaries among the Hudson River School, the dominant style of landscape painting in mid-19th-century America. After first going to Europe to study in 1860, Colman traveled extensively throughout his long career, traversing France, Italy, Spain, North Africa, Mexico, and the American West, among other destinations.

Status: On View, Gallery 175
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Samuel Colman
Title: Old Tower at Avignon
Place: United States (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: c. 1875
Medium: Oil on canvas
Inscriptions: Signed, lower left: "Sam'l. Colman"
Dimensions: 20.3 × 23.7 cm (8 × 9 5/16 in.)
Credit Line: Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
Reference Number: 1933.1187
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/16659/manifest.json

Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, New York, Paintings in Oil and Water–color by Samuel Colman, N.A., Mar. 29, 1893, cat. 39.
Springfield, Illinois State Museum, Nineteenth–Century American Paintings: A Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, Mar. 5–Apr. 24, 1966; Iowa, Davenport Municipal Art Gallery, May 19–June 5, 1966; Muscatine, Iowa, Laura Musser Art Gallery and Museum, July 24–Oct. 2, 1966; Peoria, Illinois, Lakeview Center for the Arts and Sciences, Nov. 30, 1966–Jan. 8, 1967.

Mr. Martin A. Ryerson (1856–1932) and Mrs. Carrie Ryerson (1859–1937), Chicago, by 1932; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.