Birger Sandzén

Sven Birger Sandzén (February 5, 1871 – June 22, 1954

Background

Sandzén was born in Blidsberg, Ulricehamn Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. His parents were Johan Petter Sandzén and Clara Carolina Elisabeth Sylvén. His father was a parish priest and his mother an accomplished watercolorist. A protégé of Anders Zorn, Sandzén showed an interest in art from an early age, and at the age of 10 joined Skara Cathedral School (Katedralskolan), to study art under the tutelage of Olof Erlandsson (1845-1916), a graduate of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts.

After graduating in 1890, Sandzén studied for a short time at the University of Lund before moving to Stockholm. It was his intention to enroll at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. However, the waiting list proved too long for him. Instead, he sought out and joined a group of young artists who were studying under Anders Zorn, Richard Bergh and Per Hasselberg. This group would later be known as the Artists' Association (Konstnärsförbundet). One of his fellow students and ultimately a good friend, was Carl Lotave.

At the end of his studies, Zorn and Bergh recommended that Sandzén complete his painting studies in Paris. In 1894, Sandzén left Stockholm to study under Edmond Aman-Jean who introduced Sandzén to pointillism. Aman-Jean was closely associated with Ernest Laurent and Georges Seurat in promoting impressionism. Sandzén's early work displays these influences, along with a tonalist approach.

Career

Later in 1894, Sandzén accepted a teaching post from Carl Aaron Swensson, President of Bethany College. He moved to Lindsborg, Kansas which would be his home for the rest of his life. He remained on the faculty for fifty-two years, teaching various languages as well as art in his first year at Bethany. Sandzén would go on to become the head of art at the college until his retirement in 1946. He recommended that his friend Carl Lotave fill an open position at Bethany and with Lotave and N.G. Malm, they started the first exhibition of Swedish-American art. It became the annual Midwest Art Exhibition.

Personal life In 1897, Sandzén met Alfrida Leksell, a Bethany College piano student from McPherson, Kansas. They married in 1900 and had one child, Margarita Elizabeth Greenough (1909–1993). Margarita spent a year in Paris with Myra Biggerstaff studying fine art. Birgir Sandzén spent 60 of his 83 years of life in the United States, and was a naturalized American citizen. He died in 1954 in Lindsborg, Kansas.

Legacy

In 1940, Sandzén was given recognition for promoting cultural relations between the United States and Sweden. He was awarded both the Order of Vasa as well as the Order of the North Star by the Swedish Government. He also received honorary doctorates from various institutions, including the Midland Lutheran College, the University of Nebraska, and the Kansas State University.

As a tribute to Sandzén's contribution to Bethany College, the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery was dedicated on the college campus in 1957. It houses paintings and archives related to Sandzén and a number of his contemporaries. Also, as part of the regional interest two of Sandzen's paintings are held by the Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University. The paintings Still Water and Fall in the Mountains were two of the first acquisitions by the museum. There are also two oil paintings by Birger Sandzen in the Western Art Museum, Anschutz Collection in Denver, Colorado.

Galleries and public collections Steven Stern Fine Arts (California) William A. Karges Fine Art George Stern Fine Arts (California) David Dee Fine Arts (Utah) Lawrence Beebe Fine Art (California) Roughton Galleries (Texas) Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery Beach Museum of Art Ponca City Municipal Library, Ponca City, Oklahoma (https://www.poncacityok.gov/232/Matzene-Art-Collection) Mark Arts, Wichita, Kansas Denver Museum of Art, Denver, Colorado The Broadmoor Resort, Colorado Springs, Colorado Vanderpoel Art Museum (Chicago, Illinois)