Large and beautiful early California Impressionist pastel painting, by well-listed artist, Carl Sammons (1883-1968). This piece is dated 1920 and was done with pastels on artist's paper. It is matted and mounted in a period gold leaf and cream-painted Arts and Crafts frame. The painting is signed and dated by the artist, on the front, lower right: "C. SAMMONS 1920". In addition, there is a framers label on the back of the piece from "Saake ... 375 13th St. ... Oakland, Cal." (see photos).

This piece measures 16" x 24" and the frame measures 23.5" x 28.5".

This pastel is a museum quality example of California Impressionism and one of the finest pastels by Carl Sammons that I have seen. The subject is a Northern California coastal scene, a tidal river or inlet, with smooth, low sand dunes in the foreground. The dunes have low plants with purple and blue flowers growing on them and are rendered in a realistic, impressionist manner. As the river winds its way back into the view, there are wetlands and in the distance, some houses, and blue mountains. Although the location of the scene is not noted, Sammons executed views in many parts of California and I suspect that this may have been done somewhere on the San Francisco Bay ... Marin or Napa County, or possibly in the Monterey Peninsula or Carmel area.

This pastel painting is in excellent condition and ready to display. It does not need restoration or cleaning and the colors are bright and unfaded, as you can see from the photographs, which represent the piece accurately. The frame is not original to the piece, but is period, and shows the work nicely. The frame shows slight age wear in places.

Carl Sammons is a very well-known California artist and is listed in many art references including: Who Was Who In American Art, Davenports Art Reference, AskArt.com, ArtNet.com, Artists in California 1786 - 1940, and almost all books about California painting. His works are in many private collections of California art, and in museum collections including, The De Young Museum (San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts), and The Santa Barbara Historical Museum.