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A Shower of Ashes upon Ottaviano

Charles Caryl Coleman

American Art

Best known for the more highly finished technique of his oils, Charles Caryl Coleman here employed the spontaneous medium of pastel to record the aftermath of the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, not far from the artist’s home on the island of Capri, in Italy. Coleman’s depiction of the event closely resembles period photographs of the climax of the disaster on April 7, when lava fountains and earthquakes decimated the small, nearby town of Ottaviano.
MEDIUM Pastel on gray-blue laid paper, mounted to board
DATES April 14, 1906
DIMENSIONS image: 10 9/16 x 8 7/16 in. (26.8 x 21.4 cm) Mounting board: 18 1/2 x 16 3/8 in. (47 x 41.6 cm) frame: 21 5/8 × 18 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (54.9 × 47.6 × 3.8 cm)  (show scale)
MARKINGS Watermark, lower right quadrant of an O shape inside of a larger O
SIGNATURE Signed, lower left, in blue: "CCC [in monogram] / 10 A.M. / April 14 - 1906"
COLLECTIONS American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 20.656
CREDIT LINE John B. Woodward Memorial Fund
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Charles Caryl Coleman (American, 1840-1928). A Shower of Ashes upon Ottaviano, April 14, 1906. Pastel on gray-blue laid paper, mounted to board, image: 10 9/16 x 8 7/16 in. (26.8 x 21.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, John B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 20.656 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 20.656_PS6.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 20.656_PS6.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2011
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