BIRGER  SANDZEN
(1871-1954)
 

   Briger Sandzen was born in Blidsberg, Sweden and began his formal education in art at the age of ten, at the Skara School, in Skara, Sweden studying oil painting with Oalf Erlandsson. He continued his studies with various teachers and schools and ended up taking classes with Sweden’s greatest painter Anders Zorn.

   In 1894, Sandzen was introduced to Pointillism when he took a painting class taught by Aman-Jean who shared a studio in Paris with Georges Seurat. He continued using this style until around 1910. In the fall of 1894, he was hired by Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas assisting in the Art Department and by 1899 he was appointed principle teacher and head of the Art Department. He held both positions until his retirement in 1946.

   Sandzen first visited the Rocky Mountains in 1908 and began painting the Colorado Springs area around 1916. He made his first trip to New Mexico in 1918 and was a frequent visitor to Santa Fe and Taos and was made an associate member of the Taos Society of Artists in 1922. While respected as an educator, Sandzen was equally respected as a painter, illustrator, engraver and lithographer.