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Birger Sandzen

American (born in Sweden)

1871-1954

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  1. “Smoky River Willows” by Birger Sandzen, Image 1.

    Birger Sandzen

    “Smoky River Willows”

    Etching

    10 x 14 in (25.4 x 35.56 cm)

“Sven Birger Sandzen was born in Blidsberg, Sweden to Clara Elizabeth and Johan Peter Sandzen. His mother had studied drawing and his father, a minister, enjoyed writing poetry and playing the violin. When Birger's parents noticed his artistic inclination, they asked a young minister to give drawing lessons to the nine year old. At the age of ten, he attended the College and Academy of Skara. Here his drawing and painting lessons continued under Olof Erlandsson, a graduate of the Royal Academy at Stockholm. After graduation from Skara College, Sandzen spent a semester at Lund University attending art history lectures and continuing the study of French. Following Lund University he went to the technical high school at Stockholm, where he studied perspective and form drawing. Sandzen joined a group of young artists and they rented a studio at Anders Zorn's suggestion. They received instruction from Anders as well as Richard Bergh, a well-known portrait painter and Per Hasselberg, one of Sweden's best sculptors. A doctor from the Caroline Medical Institute of Stockholm gave anatomy lessons. These young artists formed "The Art School of the Artists' League" which played an important part in the development of modern Swedish art” (1).
“. In 1894, he came to Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, to teach languages and assist in the art department and vocal music department. He remained at Bethany for the remainder of his career, becoming the principal art instructor in 1899 and retiring in 1946” (2)
“At Bethany College, he organized the first exhibition of Swedish-American art held at that Swedish institution. The exhibit included paintings by himself and his colleagues. He was also active in the Swedish-American Society in Chicago” (3).
“He loved to travel and paint in one of his favorite places, Yellowstone National Park. By 1930 he had amassed a personal collection of over 500 western paintings and drawings. Sandzen visited New Mexico for the first time in 1918 and went back frequently to Santa Fe and Taos. The Taos Society of Artists made him an associate member in 1922” (1).
“Throughout his career he exhibited extensively throughout the United States and in Sweden. His works are found in every major Kansas art museum and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe, the Library of Congress, the Chicago Art Institute, the Denver Art Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Museum of Stockholm” (2).
“During his lifetime he completed in excess of 2600 oil paintings and 500 watercolors. He created 207 lithographs, 94 block prints and 27 drypoints, which when the editions are totaled amount to over 33,000 prints. In addition he was a consummate draftsman, filling over 80 sketchbooks” (2).
“Sven Birger Sandzen passed away in 1954” (3).
Reference:
1.
Askart Staff. Birger Sandzen [internet]. [cited 2015 June 29]. Available from: http://www.askart.com/artist_bio/Birger_Sandzen/7446/Birger_Sandzen.aspx
2.
Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery. Biography [internet]. 2013 [cited 2015 June 29]. Available from: http://sandzen.org/biography/
3.
Birger Sandzen Gallery. Birger Sandzen Biography [internet]. 2007 [cited 2015 June 29]. Available from: http://birgersandzengallery.com/birgersandzenbiography.html