In 1872 at the age of 31, Carl Dahlgren came to America from Denmark along with his brother Marius. After initially living in Salt Lake City, the brothers moved to the San Francisco area. Both brothers were exceptional painters, and their works hang near each other in the Oakland Museum of California. Carl is known as "the sunshine painter" for the shaft of light which appears in many of his works.

A reference to Carl Dahlgren's activity in Santa Rosa from the Aug. 6, 1908 Santa Rosa Press Democrat was submitted by Jeff Eliot who writes a blog focused on local Santa Rosa history. He was in Sonoma County to paint botanicals for Luterh Burbank and to paint local Sonoma scenery.

Source: Artists in California 1786 - 1940, Edan Milton Hughes, 3d ed,
Jeff Eliot http://comstockhousehistory.blogspot.com