Spanish Peaks, Southern Colorado, Late Afternoon 1887

This painting, 'Spanish Peaks, Southern Colorado, Late Afternoon', was made by Samuel Colman, whose dates are 1832 to 1920. Here, subdued tones evoke the vastness of the American West through a careful arrangement of horizontal planes. Colman masterfully uses atmospheric perspective, reducing detail and muting colors to create a sense of depth that draws the eye toward the monumental Spanish Peaks. This receding view is further structured by color gradations. The reddish-brown foreground transitions to lighter hues in the distant plains and culminates in the misty, pale peaks, effectively using color to mimic spatial recession. The structure destabilizes a clear figure-ground relationship, challenging the viewer to discern what is closest and furthest. Colman seems to suggest how landscape, power and representation can be seen through a semiotic system of signs. Colman’s subtle brushwork invites contemplation on the transient nature of light and atmosphere and how our interpretation of landscape exists in a constant state of interpretation.