Charles Caryl Coleman (American-born Italian painter) 1840 - 1928
Charles Caryl Coleman was an American-born Italian painter. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Coleman studied art under William Holbrook Beard "and an itinerant painter, Andrew Andrews whose real name was Isaacs." Between 1859 to 1862, Coleman studied in Paris under Thomas Couture, returning during the American Civil War to serve with the Union Army during which he was seriously wounded and recovered in New York City. He returned to Europe in 1866 with fellow painters William Morris Hunt and Elihu Vedder. In 1865, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate Academician. After time in Paris and Brittany, he moved to a Roman apartment [1] previously occupied by poet John Keats before finally settling in Capri. He converted the former Santa Teresa convent into Villa Narcissus in 1870. A part of the villa was dedicated to a "palace of art" with antiquities and his own paintings. The villa was later purchased from him by Rose O'Neill, his friend and also an American artist. O'Neill permitted Charles to live out the remainder of his days there, and he remained at the Villa until his death. His work was exhibited in the United States and England. Note [1]: the Roman appartment is likely to be the house at the right side of the Spanish Stairs, now The Keats and Shelley museum.
