In 1904, Carl Hoerman was nineteen years old and sailed to America after having sold charcoal drawings and working in the shipyards of Hamburg. He is thought to have received art training in Munich near his birthplace of Babenhausen, Bavaria. He made his way to Chicago where he studied architecture. He maintained his architecture office in Chicago from 1909 until 1920 when he dedicated himself to his painting. He built a studio and art gallery in the town of Sagatuck in southwestern Michigan.

In 1927, he and his artist wife, Christiana Ackermann, began making trips to the Southwest where they painted desert and mountain scenes and the Grand Canyon. They visited Europe and Africa, and later maintained residences in Riverside and Palm Springs, California. Carl was an active member of the Riverside Art Association.

Source: Edan Hughes, Artists in California, 1786-1940; Peter Hastings Falk Who Was Who in American Art