Charles Codman

Charles Codman
Portrait of Charles Codman
Born
Charles Codman

1800
DiedSeptember 11, 1842 (aged 41–42)
Portland, Maine, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Patron(s)James Deering
Bathing Pool c.1830, now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Charles Codman (1800 – September 11, 1842) was an American painter. A native of Portland, Maine, he was known for his landscape and marine paintings.[1]

Career

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Codman was apprenticed to the ornamental painter John Ritto Penniman, where he began as a decorative painter with no formal training. He is classified as a limner. He eventually produced more mature works of romanticized landscape views. One of his more important commissions was to paint five fireboards (decorative panels placed over hearths during the summertime) in the landscape style for the Portland mansion of shipbuilder James Deering. He also filled commissions for both portraiture and decorative arts.

In 1827 Codman received the first informed criticism of his work by eccentric and influential writer and critic John Neal.[2] As his greatest promoter,[3] and through his connections, Neal was likely most responsible for Codman becoming as established, patronized painter.[2]

Codman died on September 11, 1842, in Portland, Maine. He is buried in Eastern Cemetery.

Today, Codman's work can be found in various museums and institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

References

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  1. ^ "Charles Codman (1800–1842)". White Mountain Art & Artists. Archived from the original on 2 September 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  2. ^ a b Sears, Donald A. (1978). John Neal. Boston, Massachusetts: Twayne Publishers. pp. 116–117. ISBN 978-0-8057-7230-2.
  3. ^ Nicoll, Jessica (2002). ""The Real Pioneer of Art in this City": Charles Codman and the Rise of Landscape Painting in Portland, Maine". Charles Codman: The Landscape of Art and Culture in 19th-Century Maine. Portland, Maine: Portland Museum of Art. ISBN 0916857328.
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