Birger Sandzén

Book excerpt: Combining biography - based on excerpts from letters, interviews, and critical art reviews - with a selection of Sandzen's art, this book by Emory Lindquist brings to life Birger Sandzen, who used bold brush strokes and brilliant colors to express the landscapes he admired and generosity, humor, and diligence to express himself. More than just an artist, Sandzen was a gifted teacher, linguist and translator, musician, and devoted husband and father. He kept in touch with art trends and fellow artists; traveled throughout the United States, Mexico, and Europe; wrote short stories and articles on art; and read widely on social, economic, and international developments. Despite gaining a prosperous international reputation as an artist - his works have appeared in more than 600 exhibitions in the United States and Europe - the European-trained artist chose to live in Lindsborg, Kansas, rather than New York, the heart of the American art world. Although Sandzen and what was then called the modern school were somewhat of an anomaly on the prairie, he did not regret living in the Midwest. Sandzen found his artistic freedom along Kansas rivers, in Colorado mountains, and in southwestern deserts. Where others saw lifeless aridity or uninspiring treeless expanses, he would find "huge boulders or fantastic fortresses and castles". Along a Kansas creek he would envision "perpendicular sandstone walls, high and gay colored palaces, minarets and temple ruins loomed up against the sparkling greenish blue sky". In 1894, 23-year-old Birger Sandzen set sail from his native Sweden for a two- or three-year teaching appointment at Bethany College in Lindsborg. Two years stretched into sixty and resulted ina legacy that left a lasting impression not only on Sandzen's students but on everyone who views his illuminating images.