Birger Sandzen (1871-1954)
Willows, McPherson County, Kansas, c. 1920
oil on canvas
24 x 32 inches
29.5 x 37.5 inches (frame)
signed lower right: Birger Sandzen
verso: titled and signed; label, Swedish-American Artists Ninth Art Exhibition 1920

Birger Sandzen pursued his artistic education exclusively in Europe. He graduated from the College of Skara in Sweden in 1890 and continued his studies at the University of Lund. In 1894, Sandzen immigrated to Kansas, where he joined Bethany College as a professor of aesthetics and painting. He held this position until 1945, thereafter serving as professor emeritus. Around 1916, Sandzen began painting in the Colorado Springs area, and from 1923 to 1924, he taught at Broadmoor. He also shared his expertise at institutions such as Denver and Utah State College. Sandzen frequently visited Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico starting in 1918. His involvement with the Taos Society of Artists in 1922 brought him to New York City, where he exhibited alongside prominent painters from New Mexico. Willows, McPherson County, Kansas reminds us why Birger Sandzen is often referred to as the “American Van Gogh”; featuring a vibrant color palette and deep impasto strokes, the artist brought a new eye to landscape painting in the American Midwest.

Willows, McPherson County, Kansas is recorded in the Sandzen card catalogue as #2620 at the Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery in Lindsborg, Kansas.

EXHIBITION
The Swedish Club of Chicago, Swedish-American Artists Ninth Art Exhibition, March-April 1920
National Academy of Design, New York, American Painters of Swedish Descent, May 1920
Stockholm, Sweden, American Painters of Swedish Descent, May-June 1920
 

The painting appears to be in good condition. Under UV examination, there is no evidence of restoration or inpainting.