Landscape (Rockies, Mountains, Coast Lines)

Coleman's travels took him almost everywhere on the globe and his paintings reflect his itineraries. In Canada, his favourite place was the Rockies, where Mount Coleman is named after him, but he also went down along the Scarborough Bluffs (on Lake Ontario) and found inspiration there. His paintings in the United States show subjects in Texas, Indiana and Arkansas, Yosemite and Albuquerque. Elsewhere his range seemed unlimited: New Zealand, Greece, Norway, Bolivia, Uganda, Mexico, South Africa, Argentina. He went up the Thames River and down the Rhine. During a year in 1914-15 he literally circled the globe.

Looking at Coleman's work gives one something of a nostalgic pang for those days when people seemed to have a talent for a broad range of interests --an ability to make things which gave pleasure to themselves and to others. Much can be said still for the worth of the accomplished amateur.

David P. Silcox, Toronto, 1994

Essay published in the catalogue to the exhibition,
A.P. Coleman, Geologist 1852 - 1939: Science, Art and Discovery.
E.J. Pratt Library, Victoria University.
13 June - 13 October, 1994.