Detlef Sammann (1857- 1938) Detlef Sammann was known as an interior decorator before he was recognized as a prominent figure in the California Impressionist movement in the early 1900's. Born in 1857, and raised in Schlewig, Germany, Sammann acquired painting experience working as a fresco painter in his youth. He attended the Industrial Art School in Dresden for four years and also gained notoriety as a decorator for the court in that same city. He immigrated to New York in 1881 where he worked as a decorator for a short time and was awarded commissions from the White House under President Benjamin Harrison. In 1900 Sammann moved west to California for health reasons, settling in the town of Pasadena. He would eventually renounce his previous position as an interior decorator as he pursued a painting career. He created most of his works outdoors, painting landscapes and coastal scenes within California. Sammann and some of his contemporaries, Jack Stark, Helena Dunlap and William Wendt all utilized Impressionist elements in their work of that time. Critics often identified Sammann with the French Impressionists Monet and Manet. In 1911 he exhibited with the California Arts Club in a show with other artists form Southern California that was held in the Blanchard Building in Los Angeles. He left Los Angeles in 1912 and moved to Pebble Beach, California into a house and studio that he designed. He returned to Dresden, Germany in 1921 and remained there until his death in 1938.