Study, Tree, Santa Barbara, California
Medium
Drawing
Classification
Drawing
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Samuel Colman
Accession Number
1939-85-11-b
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
Samuel Colman (1832–1920 was a leading American landscape artist whose career spanned the Hudson River School tradition and later explorations of light and atmosphere. Created in 1888, *Study, Tree, Santa Barbara, California* captures a single tree in meticulous detail, reflectingman’s practice of making on-site drawings during his travels through the American West. At this stage in his life, the artist frequently turned to California’s distinctive coastal scenery, using such studies to record the region’s unique vegetation and luminous quality. As a drawing rather than a finished painting, the work offers a glimpse into Colman’s working process—quick yet observant lines that distill the essential character of the subject. The piece entered the Smithsonian American Art Museum through a generous gift from the artist’s widow, underscoring its personal significance within his oeuvre. Today it stands as a quiet testament to late-nineteenth-century artists’ fascination with the natural wonders of the Pacific coast.