Charlotte Buell Coman American, 1833-1924

Charlotte Buell Coman was an American landscape painter best known for her quiet, atmospheric views of the Catskill Mountains and rural New York. Working in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Coman developed a refined, Tonalist-inflected style shaped by the Barbizon School and characterized by subdued palettes, careful structure, and an emphasis on mood over topographical detail.

Born in New York State, Coman began her artistic training relatively late, studying privately with the landscape painter James David Smillie and later with John Henry Hill. Her mature work reflects a deep engagement with European landscape traditions, particularly Barbizon painting, which emphasized naturalism, tonal unity, and poetic restraint. These influences are evident in her preference for intimate compositions and softened forms.

Coman is closely associated with the Catskills, where she spent extended periods painting forest interiors, hillsides, and quiet clearings. Her landscapes often depict transitional moments—dusk, early morning, or changing seasons—rendered with a limited range of earth tones and subtle shifts of light. Rather than dramatic vistas, she favored contained spaces that invite contemplation, aligning her work with emerging Tonalist sensibilities in American art.

Throughout her career, Coman exhibited widely and achieved significant professional recognition. She showed at major venues including the National Academy of Design, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1905, she was elected an associate member of the National Academy of Design, an important distinction at a time when institutional recognition for women artists remained limited.

Today, Charlotte Buell Coman is recognized as an important figure in American landscape painting of the late 19th century. Her works are held in major museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Brooklyn Museum.