On the Wild Horse Creek

Born at Blidsberg, Sweden, Sven Birger Sandzén studied with Swedish artist Anders Zorn and with Edmond-François Aman-Jean in Paris. He emigrated to the United States and taught at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, from 1894 to 1946. Sandzén painted in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, as well as western Kansas. He often used Wild Horse Creek near Hill City, with its outcroppings of limestone as motif for his oils, watercolors, and prints. In the early twenties and thirties he exhibited extensively, including two exhibitions at the Babcock Galleries in New York. In 1957 Bethany College opened the Birger Sandzen Memorial Art Gallery featuring his work.

Purchase funded by Helene and Jack Hayward. This piece can be viewed in the PPHM Southwestern Gallery.