The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Shows Birger Sandzén's Colorado Landscapes

Written by Albert Botwright Sunday, 25 September 2011 22:20

Colorado Springs, CO - The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center is pleased to present "Sandzén in Colorado" on view from October 1st through January 8th 2012. The exhibition features the Colorado landscape paintings of former Broadmoor Art Academy instructor and landscape master, Birger Sandzén. A special members preview will be held on September 30th and will feature a panel of speakers discussing the artist and his art.In the exhibition "Sandzén in Colorado", Sandzén's paintings will be complimented by his sketchbook drawings and photographs in order to provide insight into the artist's process of translating the landscapes he observed into paintings that he believed were pure expression. "There are western motifs out here, especially in a certain light (for example, in gray weather), which are distinguished by their majestic lines as in protruding rocks, rolling prairie and winding ravines,"  "Sandzén wrote in 1915. "On should, when painting such motifs, first of all emphasize the rhythm and then sum up the color impression in a few strokes."

The artist visited Colorado almost every summer from 1908 until 1952. "Sandzén really came into his mature work about the time he was coming to Colorado," said FAC Museum Director Blake Milteer. "What we hope to do is pick out some of the particular motivations and inspirations so that you'll be able to see Sandzén's particular images and motifs develop." Early in his career, Birger Sandzén (1871-1954) painted in a subtle, tonalist style, in his home country of Sweden, before studying in Paris where he was introduced to impressionism, pointillism, and Post-Impressionism. That changed his outlook and his painting style forever. He immigrated to Kansas to teach at Bethany College and began a lifelong love affair with the landscape of America, particularly the American West. "Birger Sandzén is the poet-painter of immense sun-washed spaces, of pine-crowned luminous, gigantic rocks, and of color-shifting desert sands," wrote Parisian art critic Guiseppe Pelletieri. "The spectator is amazed at this captured beauty. This dreamer-painter is truly a master."


Sandzén's style of painting is unusual in its thick and heavy application of impasto in bold and bright color combinations, interpreting the landscape of the western United States. he is known for very colorful renderings of mountain lakes with boulders, cypress and aspen trees and moonrises along waterways. He never claimed to be a follower, but he was known to many as the "American Van Gogh." Birger Sandzén succeeded John Carlson as professor of landscape painting at the Broadmoor Art Academy during the summers of 1923 and 1924. Sandzén referred to Colorado's scenery as "a paradise for painters" and adapted his open brushwork and vibrant hues to create epic paintings of landscapes throughout the state, with emphasis on the Pikes Peak Region and Estes Park. "Colorado Springs ought to be one of the most important art centers of the west," Sandzén told the Colorado Springs Gazette in 1923. "It is centrally located, in a setting that is without rival in the entire west. It has a sketching ground to offer artists that cannot be surpassed in the United States or elsewhere."

The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (FAC) is an arts center located just north of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. Located on the same city block are the American Numismatic Association and part of the campus of Colorado College. The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center was founded in 1936 by Alice Bemis Taylor, Elizabeth Sage Hare, and Julie Penrose, with the intention of creating a center for a museum, art school and performing arts venue for the growing city. The building was designed by New Mexico architect John Gaw Meem who combined Pueblo Revival Style and Art Deco style in many of his designs, but not in this one. In 1940, Meem's design earned a Silver Medal at the Fifth Quadrennial Pan American Congress of Architecture. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The murals on the exterior of the building were produced by Boardman Robinson and Eric Bransby. At the original Grand Opening in April 1936, Martha Graham danced barefoot on stage; art icon Alexander Calder executed the stage design for an operetta; and Frank Lloyd Wright lectured on the new building. Art luminaries Boardman Robinson and Robert Motherwell were early teachers at the art school. The museum's main gallery contains the permanent collection of Spanish Colonial and Native American art pieces of the Southwest, in addition to other permanent works and traveling shows. The Performing Arts department's SaGaJi Theatre produces a regular schedule of dramatic works. The center also contains a lounge and dining facilities as well as hosting the the Bemis School of Art, which offers art education to the local community. After the outstanding success of the visiting Dale Chihuly glass exhibit, the FAC decided to buy several pieces of glass sculpture for the permanent collection, including several chandeliers, paintings, and pedestal pieces. The FAC Main houses one of the largest collections of Native American and Southwest Spanish Colonial art. The expansion of the museum allowed the collection's permanent home on the main level. Notable artists within the FAC permanent collection include: John Singer Sargent, Georgia O'Keeffe, Richard Diebenkorn, Walt Kuhn, Robert Motherwell, Claes Oldenburg, John James Audubon, and Ansel Adams. The 2006 FAC expansion brought the galleries from 88,388 to 132,286 gross square feet (12,290m2). During construction, the Center's exhibits were partially moved to the FAC Modern facility. $28.6 million was raised from private funds to renovate and expand the facility. The addition was designed by award-winning architect and Colorado Springs native David Owen Tryba. As a child, Tryba learned to ride his bike in the FAC parking lot as his mother served the institution as a docent, and as a teenager, Tryba learned to drive in the lot on West Dale Street. Renovations of the existing Taylor Museum facilities were also included in this project, which was concluded in 2007. Visit the centers website at ... http://www.csfineartscenter.org

---

Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~