Label
from “Michigan Dunes,” August 2018 at the OSH
Carl Hoerman
1885 - 1955
Derelicts of the Dunes
undated | etching
Born in Babenhausen, Bavaria, Germany, Carl Hoerman was a landscape painter who used savings from working in a Hamburg shipyard and sales of charcoal drawings to finance his move to the United States in 1904.
In Chicago, he studied architecture and in 1909, opened his own office where he worked until 1920. After that, he devoted most of his time to painting, and built a studio and art gallery at Saugatuck, Michigan.
In 1927, he and his wife, Christiana, began trips to the West and Southwest where he painted desert, Grand Canyon, and mountain scenes. Later, he became known as a “dunes painter” because of his landscapes of western Michigan.
(adapted from the Archives at askArt.)
Collection: Saugatuck Douglas History Center
Gift of Fred and Sammy Jane Birdsall
2018.20.01Label
From "Collecting the Lakeshore" 2025-2026 at the History Center main floor gallery
[Displayed with Dune Shadows 2022.95.02]
Carl Hoerman
1885-1955
Derelicts at the Dunes and
Dune Shadows
Undated circa 1930-1950 | etching
These two intaglio etching prints evoke the power of line to describe the textures of the Lake Michigan dunescape. The first of these works titled Derelicts at the Dunes depicts trees once consumed by shifting sands revealed once again. The trees are craggy and there is an element of fantasy in the sands swirling from the wind. This etching could be a local or regional scene along the lake Michigan coast. Hoerman's use of sharp thin lines in his work would eventually soften over the course of a print edition. This is due to the pressure the metal etching plate goes under during the process of printing.
Dune Shadows creates an even more surreal scene as the play of shadows and the solids of tree branches, limbs, and roots suggest a landscape turned upside down.
Gift of Fred and Sammy Jane Birdsall
Accession 2018.20.01
Collection of Kit and Art Lane
Accession 2022.95.02