The Water Towers of Marfil, Mexico

The multitalented Samuel Colman was a noted American landscape painter; interior designer and artistic partner of Louis Comfort Tiffany; and founder and first president of the American Watercolor Society (1867–71). He played an important role in elevating the watercolor medium in the United States during the late nineteenth century. Colman traveled extensively throughout his life, visiting Europe, Mexico, and the Western United States. This painting was made at, or near, Marfil, a small town on the road to Guanajuato City, in central Mexico, though, the exact location has not yet been identified. The region was known as an active mining center since the time of the Aztecs, and its rich mineral mines made it one of the most influential cities in the Colonial period. At center, Colman represents a turreted-water tower and aqueducts set upon a terraced wall. At right, he employs pale pastel tones to suggest atmospheric perspective in the distant mountains. A few diminutive figures and a cart pulled by oxen lend a sense of scale to the vast composition.