By the Canal
Year 1929
Artist Birger Sandzén (1871–1954, American, b. Sweden)
Media oil on canvas
Dimensions 20 x 24 inches
Birger Sandzén was born in Blidsberg, Sweden in 1871. He received formal artistic training under Anders Zorn, one of Sweden’s greatest painters and etchers, in 1890. In 1894, Sandzén studied with Edmond François Aman-Jean in Paris, at a shared studio with Georges Seurat. He joined the faculty of Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas later that year, where he assisted in the art and music departments, as well as taught German, French and Swedish. He was appointed principal art teacher and head of the art department in 1899, and held both positions until his retirement in 1946. Sandzén visited the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and painted in the Colorado Springs area around 1916. Sandzén also frequently visited New Mexico and was elected an associate member of the Taos Society of Artists in 1922. He taught at the Broadmoor Art Academy in Colorado Springs during the summers of 1923 and 1924, as well as at the Chappell School of Art in Denver. Sandzén founded the Mid-West Art Exhibition and the Smoky Hill Art Club and was an important member of many other groups. An extremely prolific painter and printmaker, his work was collected and exhibited all over the United States and Sweden. He died at the age of 83 in Lindsborg, Kansas. This painting was owned by Vance Kirkland.
ON VIEW in Promenade Gallery 2
Signature Signed "Birger Sandzén" lower left corner
Credit Line Collection Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art; Bequest of Vance Kirkland
Accession Number 1981.0014
