Arab Caravansary, Tlemcen, Algeria

Frederick Billings purchased this painting at the National Academy of Design in New York in May 1879, the same occasion on which he acquired Nicoll’s Maine Coast.

Samuel Colman was an artist of many talents and allegiances whose career spanned a number of disparate art trends. He was one of the early members of the Hudson River School, as a student of Asher Durand. He became an Associate of the National Academy in 1855, and a full Member in 1862. He exhibited widely, and made study trips to Europe in 1860 and 1871. In the later years of his career he was also involved in Louis Comfort Tiffany’s early decorating partnership, beginning in about 1878. Colman’s fluency in exotic style was congenial to tastemakers, clients, and collectors in that period.