American painter, whose landscapes of the early West remain popular.

Colman was a pupil of Asher Durand in New York City and from 1860 to 1862 studied in Spain, Italy, France, and England. In 1871–76 he was again in Europe. With James D. Smillie, he founded the American Water Color Society (1866), becoming its first president. His own watercolour paintings are particularly fine. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Design in 1862. Among his works are “The Ships of the Western Plains” and “The Spanish Peaks, Colorado.”