Sketch, Maple Tree
June 9, 1915
Classification
Drawing
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Samuel Colman
Accession Number
1939-85-29-b
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
Samuel Colman’s “Sketch, Maple Tree,” created on June 9, 1915, captures a quiet moment of observation from the artist’s later years. Born in 1832, Colman was a respected American painter and draftsman whose career spanned the Hudson River School era and extended into the early twentieth century. By the time he made this drawing, at age eighty-three, he had traveled extensively and exhibited widely, yet he continued to find inspiration in the natural world close at hand. Classified simply as a drawing, the work reflects Colman’s lifelong habit of sketching outdoors to record light, form, and s...