CARL SAMMONS BIOGRAPHY
"Carl Sammons (1883-1968), Early California Impressionist" by Douglas S. McElwain, February 27, 2005
Carl Sammons (or possibly Carl J. Sammons), a long-time resident of California, was a prolific Plein-Air artist best known for his representational landscapes and coastal scenes. Although Sammons painted pastels early in his career (and is sometimes referred to as a pastelist) by the mid-1920s he was also painting oils, and these comprise the majority of his work.
Sammons was born in Kearney, Nebraska to John Sammons and Elizabeth (a.k.a. Lizzie) Danford on May 9, 1883. Although many sources list his birth date as May 9, 1886 at the time of the 1885 Nebraska State Census Sammons and his family was living in the Riverdale Township, Buffalo County, Nebraska. Sometime after that, while Sammons was still in his youth, he and his family moved to Sioux City, Iowa. Sammons began his art studies in Sioux City while working as a gold letter sign painter. During this time he studied under the leading local artists including an unnamed German painter. Sammons worked for the Sioux City sign painting companies Arthur Loft in 1909 and 1910 and C W Ashley in 1911 and 1913. While it is not known precisely when he moved to California it was between the years 1913 and 1917 (by which time he was living in Oakland).
Shortly thereafter Sammons began studying at the California School of Fine Arts (at the time affiliated with the University of California and now known as the San Francisco Art Institute). On February 3, 1923 he married Queen Esther Stewart. Queen, a native Californian, was born on May 14, 1893 to J. Calvin Stewart a Fort Bragg physician and Frances J. Cooper. She was a resident of Petrolia at the time of their marriage (one of Sammons favorite spots to paint). Besides having a love of California in common both Sammons' and Stewart's parents had been born in the Midwest. This was a first marriage for both of them and they were married by the minister of the First Lutheran Church, Oakland. There is some indication that in the first years of their marriage Queen was known as Bessie.
Settling in Oakland, they traveled extensively throughout California, making painting trips to Humboldt County, the Monterey Peninsula, Palm Springs, the Russian River, Santa Barbara and the Sierra Nevada mountains. Although they lived in Oakland most of the time they loved both Petrolia (and had a summer home there in the 1940s and 1950s) and Santa Barbara (they lived there in 1943 where Sammons had a studio). During the early days of his painting career Sammons also worked as a landscape gardener most likely to supplement his income.
Sammons oil and pastel paintings include scenes from Big Sur, Cayucos, Contra Costa County (Mount Diablo and the Orinda hills), Humboldt County (Cape Mendocino, Davis Creek, the Etter Ranch, Ferndale, the Mattole River watershed and Petrolia), Laguna Beach, the Monterey Peninsula (17 Mile Drive, the Carmel coast, the Lone Cypress, Monterey, Pacific Grove and Point Lobos), Mount Shasta, Palm Springs (the Anza Borrego Desert, La Quinta Canyon, Mount San Gorgonio, the Palm Springs Desert, San Gregoria and San Jacinto), the Russian River (redwoods and the Russian River), the Sacramento River, Santa Barbara (the Andre Clark Bird Refuge, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Montecito, the Santa Barbara coast and the Santa Barbara Mission), San Diego (Laguna Mountains), San Francisco (the Cliff House and Sausalito), San Jose (Monterey Road) and the Sierra Nevada mountains (Garnet Lake, Grant Lake, June Lake, King's Canyon, Lake Diaz in Lone Pine, Lake Ellery, Lake George, Lake Mary, Lake Sabrina, Lake Tahoe, the Mammoth Lakes region, the Merced River, the Minarets, Mount Ritter, Relief Peak, Rush Creek, Silver Lake, the Sonora Pass, Tee Jay Lake, Twin Lakes, Virginia Lake and Yosemite).
He also painted outside of California in Alaska (Mount McKinley), Arizona (the Tucson desert, the Tucson Mission and the Virgin River Canyon), Canada (the Bow River and Lake Louise in Alberta), Oregon (Crater Lake and Diamond Lake) and Wyoming (the Grand Tetons, Jackson Hole and Mount Moran - Jackson Lake).
Besides oil and pastel Sammons worked in two other mediums; he painted in watercolor (redwoods) twice during his infrequent illnesses and in gouache (a river canyon).
"His many works included landscapes, seascapes, high mountains, lakes, coastal ranges, the desert and its flora, rolling California hills, thundering breakers, scenes in all seasons, an occasional bouquet of flowers and even birds." He primarily sold his works to individuals and public institutions through private exhibitions and personal contacts. However, he did sell some of his paintings through galleries such as Saake's in Oakland. Sammons also worked occasionally on commission and was known to visit the location where the painting was to be displayed in order to choose the palette he used for the painting. He did this to ensure the finished painting would be complementary with its surroundings.
Sammons would generally sell his paintings on temporary matting and let the buyer frame the piece. His paintings were signed as Carl Sammons, C. Sammons, or Sammons. Further, he would usually sign his paintings at the bottom (on either the right or left side) however on several occasions he was known to sign only the matting on which he had mounted the painting.
Sammons died in Oakland on February 4, 1968 after a long illness. Services were held on February 6, 1968 at the Telegraph Avenue Chapel of the Grant Miller Mortuaries, Oakland. He was cremated at the Chapel of the Chimes, Fremont. Sammons was survived by his wife (she lived to be 103 and passed away March 19, 1997 in Moraga); a sister, Mrs. Mary Dye, Petaluma; his brother, Ross Sammons, Long Beach; nieces and nephews.
In some ways Sammons was a contradiction. He was very private man yet he was also a warm and friendly person who waved at passers-by while outdoors painting and sketching. He enjoyed the children who would occasionally watch him paint, sometimes sending them on errands to fetch something for him (e.g., a piece of redwood bark so he could get the color right in his paintings). He also seems to have been easy going and heavily influenced by his mid-west upbringing. Artists counted among his friends included Bearden (whether it was Edward (1919-1980) or Romare (1914-1988) is not clear), Edward Borein (1873-1945), Deidrich Gremke (1860-1939), Paul Grimm (1892-1974), Lorenzo Latimer (1857-1941), William Otte (1871-1957), DeWitt Parshall (1864-1956) and Thaddeus Welch (1844-1919).
Sammons also knew Albert Thomas DeRome (1885-1959) and his "autograph" appears on the back of several of DeRome's works. "It was DeRome's habit to seek the advice of acquaintances when they visited his home. His visitors would then sign the backs of the paintings." Gilford Harrison Soules of Berkeley was Sammons' patron. Outside the artist community Sammons was a friend of Donald Rheem (1901-1983), developer of Rheem Valley (Moraga) in Contra Costa County.
Sammons' work was exhibited in 1926 with the California Artists at the California Industries Exposition, San Diego; in 1928, 1929 and 1930 at the Art League of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara; in 1928, 1929, 1930 and 1931 at La Casa De Manana Gallery, Berkeley; and in 1940 at the Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco. Sammons' painting "Sacramento River Landscape" was exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. for the United States 1976 Bicentennial celebration. The Nevada Museum of Art, Reno in 1993, the Grace Hudson Museum, Ukiah in 1997, the Hearst Art Gallery, Saint Mary's College, Moraga in 1997 and the Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard in 1998 exhibited the Ronald E. Walker Collection, which contained his work; "Point Lobos", "Lupines on the Anza Borrego Desert" and "Yuccas, Palm Springs Desert".
In 1994 a private collector loaned the M. H. de Young Museum, San Francisco Sammons' painting "Golden Hills of California" which was subsequently displayed in the museum's galleries until 1999. Sammons' work was displayed at the Irvine Valley College Art Gallery, Irvine in 2000 as part of the California Deserts exhibit. The Courthouse Gallery of the Arts, Exeter in 2004 exhibited "California Perspectives", the collection of Bob Stone, which contained a Sammons nocturnal painting.
One of his paintings, a seascape titled "Ocean and Clouds", is held by the Santa Barbara Historical Society/Museum, Santa Barbara. Sammons' paintings "Big Sur" and "King's Canyon" are held by the M. H. de Young Museum, San Francisco. One painting is held by the John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek.
Sammons work is listed in the Inventory of American Paintings, Smithsonian Institution. Slides of thirty-nine of his paintings are contained in the Nan and Roy Farrington Jones Archive of Early California & Western Art at the California State Museum Resource Center, West Sacramento. In 2000 his painting "Silver Lake" was displayed on an episode of the Home & Garden Television program "Appraise It!"
Originally Sammons' paintings were sold to people with homes around the world, however today Sammons isn't as well known as many other Early California Impressionists. Even as a relatively unknown artist though, his paintings have been auctioned at Bonhams & Butterfields, San Francisco; Christie's, Los Angeles; John Moran Auctioneers, Pasadena; Sothebys.com (a business venture between eBay, San Jose and Sotheby's, New York); Phillips, London as well as other auction houses in the United States. His paintings have been sold in art galleries in Arizona, California, Colorado, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Washington.
Sammons lack of notoriety may be due to several reasons. First, even though he called several other well known California artists his friends, he is known to have only participated in one California art club (a good venue for artists to promote their work) and that was the Art League of Santa Barbara (also known as the Santa Barbara Art League, the Santa Barbara Artists League, the Santa Barbara Art Club and the Santa Barbara Art Association). Other members of the Art League of Santa Barbara included Edward Borein, Carl Oscar Borg, Colin Campbel Cooper, John Gamble, Fernand Lungren, Thomas Moran, William Otte, DeWitt Parshall and Douglas Parshall. Also, unlike a number of his peers, Sammons does not appear to have participated in any of the social clubs (i.e., the Bohemian Club, etc.) which, again, helped other artists promote their work. Instead, he seems to have preferred just spending his time painting.
Second, Sammons didn't participate in many public or juried exhibits, instead preferring to sell his paintings through private exhibits or personal contacts. By not participating in juried exhibits he shut himself out of the possibility of winning any awards which is another way artists gain notoriety. He was also known to give his paintings to his friends and in barter to pay his bills (i.e., dentist, barber, etc.).
Third, Sammons used a limited palette for many of his paintings. Most of his more renowned colleagues used palettes that were more complex and incorporated subtler shades of color. However, it's important to note that Sammons' best paintings do use complex palettes and subtle shades of color.
Fourth, Sammons doesn't appear to have painted many large works preferring instead smaller canvases. Sammons may have been economically motivated to paint on smaller canvases as he was known at times to purchase a 24 x 30 in. canvas board, paint the backside green, and then divide the board into four, 12 x 15 in. sections for his paintings.
Fifth, Sammons didn't actively market his paintings. Many of his paintings were either untitled or had titles which were only descriptive of the scene they represented. In addition, most times he would let the purchaser frame the painting which may have conveyed the impression that the work was only partially complete. Lastly, Sammons focused primarily on landscapes and, even though his technique improved over his career, his style was very consistent throughout his life.
Sammons was "inspired by the compelling aesthetic beauty of canvases by a somewhat older generation of early California artists such as Granville Redmond (1871-1957), John Gamble (1863-1957) and Percy Gray (1869-1952), Carl Sammons was also attuned with artists of his generation such as Edgar Payne (1883-1947), Albert DeRome (1885-1959) and Paul Grimm (1892-1974). It is worth noting that Sammons was actively painting California imagery in the same locales and during the years overlapping all six of these artists."
During Sammons career California changed considerably yet his focus remained on landscapes. California's population grew from about three and a half million in 1920 to slightly over nineteen million by the time of his death in 1968. Industry and development became increasingly important to the state's economy and many places which, in 1917, were remote or scenic became easily accessible or developed by 1968. As development increased the desire to protect scenic areas, preserve open space and curb growth grew within the state. During the same timeframe the United States went through considerable changes including an isolationist period, a severe depression, a world war, its emergence as one of the world's two superpowers and social unrest. However, there is no indication that any of these factors influenced his work. Only that he loved the scenery he painted.
Sammons style is a combination of Impressionism, Post Impressionism and American Realist traditions that fits squarely into the California Eucalyptus School of painting. However, just as it is important to describe the style and technique Sammons used, it is equally important to describe what his style does not include. Sammons' paintings are not symbolic, abstract or expressionist though they do embody a spirituality of the land.
"His early canvases are generally more tonal renditions in the pastel palette of impressionism and characterized by medium width broken brushwork applied in a layered, craftsman-like manner. Eventually, by the late 1930's, he began using a narrower, more representational style of broken brushwork, while employing a higher key of color values to represent nature's palette." Sammons paintings "are recognizable for their strong color and well defined composition." While his oils use a vivid palette; his pastels are most often restrained in color.
Carl Sammons combination of Impressionistic and Post Impressionistic techniques creates a very sophisticated canvas. As such, his best works are comparable to many of the better known Early California Impressionists such as Paul Grimm (1892-1974), Anna Hills (1882-1930), Edgar Payne (1883-1947), and Elmer Wachtel (1864-1929). However, Sammons' desire to paint the landscape he loved took precedent over promoting his work and has caused his paintings to be overlooked by many modern scholars and collectors. As time passes, and more people become familiar with his work, Sammons' paintings will come to be known as an important contribution to the Early California Impressionist tradition.
View artwork by Carl Sammons
