SWEDES: TheWayTheyWere
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    • The Bethany Artist & the Bethany Scientist: Lydia & Emil >
      • Their 1869 Swedish Lutheran Galesburg Colony and Olsson Colony Smoky Valley Arrivals, ~ With a Galesburg account by Mr. Holmquist >
        • Their Värmland Swedes ~ The "First Swedish Agricultural Company" Lindsborg Founders, 1868, ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist >
          • Swedish Pastor Olof Olsson Emigrating to Lindsborg 1869, June 27th Arrival ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist >
            • Bethany Lutheran Church and Lindsborg Founder Pastor Olsson, 1869 - 1876 ~ An account by Dr..Lindquist
      • Their 1869 "Bethany Lutheran Church" ~ Accounts by Dr. Lindquist and Mr. Carlson >
        • ​Their 1860-1962 "Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Synod" ~ Gaining and losing its Swedish identity >
          • The 1860 Formation of the Augustana Synod ~ An Account by Mr. Holmquist
          • Their 1892 "Augustana Women's Missionary Society" ~ An account by Ms. Humphrey
          • The 2000 - 2016 "Augustana Heritage Association"
      • Their 1907 "Bethany Lutheran Home" ~ Accounts by Bethany Home Writers >
        • 1976 Lindsborg’s Bethany Home’s Swedish King's Visit ~ An account by Mr. Carlson's
      • Their 1909 and 1919 Swedish Smoky Valley Community Chronicles ~ Compiled and written by Bethany Lutheran Church Rev. Dr. Alfred Bergin, members and others >
        • 1909 translated to "Pioneer Swedish-American Culture in Central Kansas," 1965 ~ By Mrs. Bergin Billdt
        • 1919 translated to "The Smoky Valley in The After Years," 1969 ~ By Mrs. Bergin Billdt & Mrs. Jaderborg
      • Their 1910 Messiah Lutheran Church conducting services in English ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist >
        • ~ An account on the Messiah Lutheran Church formation from Rev. Dr. Alfred Bergin's 1909 ​"Pioneer Swedish-American Culture of Central Kansas"
      • Their 1916 Sohlberg House ​ ~ 322 North First [College] Street ~After their honeymoon
      • Their 1920 Old Main Apartments of Bethany College ~ Living on campus with the students for 20 years
      • Their 1940 Deere Home to 1943 ​~ 344 North First [College] Street ~ With new occupants after Lydia
      • Their 1936 1873 Swedish Homestead," "Our Peaceful Acres" >
        • Their 1873 Swede House ~ A close twin of Founder Rev. Olof Olsson's stone house >
          • Peaceful Acres Smoky Valley descendant friends and helpers ~ Honoring them and remembering them
      • 1943, after Lydia, Emil's part in the building of the Lindsborg Community Hospital ~ An account by Dr. Lungstrom
    • Their “1882 on . . .” Bethany College Handel’s “Messiah" Performances” >
      • "Messiah" Performers, Venues & Audiences, Press and Broadcasts >
        • Special 20th Century "Messiah" Performances
      • Handel's "Messiah" & Bach's "St. Matthew Passion" ~ Described for viewers unfamiliar with these oratorios
    • Their “1899 on . . .” Bethany College “Swedish Artists’ Midwest Art Exhibition” ​~ An account by the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery
    • Their “1902 on . . .” Bethany College ‘Terrible Swedes,’ Their “1903 on” ‘Rockar Stockar’ ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist
    • Their “1904 on . . .” Bethany College St. Louis World's Fair “Swedish Pavilion”
    • Their "1895 to 1981" Bethany College Anniversary Celebrations ~ 15, 20, 25, 100 years >
      • Their Celebrating 15 Years of Bethany College, 1881-1896. The First Bethany Annual, 1895-96
      • Their Celebrating 20 Years of Bethany College, 1881-1901. The "Forget-Me-Not," 1902 >
        • The King of Sweden's Emissary, 1901
        • Yale University's Bethany Club
      • Their Celebrating 25 Years of Bethany College, 1881-1906, "Souvenir of Lindsborg and Bethany College"
      • Their Celebrating 100 Years of Bethany College, 1881-1981, "The Centennial of Bethany College"
    • Their "1937" Bethany College's Introduction to New Sweden ~ Founded in 1638 >
      • Deere's Introduction to New Sweden
  • Swedish Immigration Story, 1854
    • "The Story of the Old Spoon" by Ingrid Anderson Sohlberg & Daughter Lydia Sohlberg Deere, 1937
    • Who They Left Behind
    • From Sweden with Love Collections >
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Kosta Portraits, 1867 >
        • The Swedish Sohlberg Kosta Glass
        • The Swedish Sohlberg Letters
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Royal Gold Thread Embroidery Sampler (c1890s)
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Post Cards (c1890s)
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Magazines, (c1940s)
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Books, 1819/1886 to 1899
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Albums, ~ Late 19th early 20th centuries
      • The Swedish Deere Coins -- 1801-1929
  • Artist Lydia Sohlberg Deere
    • Lydia's Lindsborg Photography, 1900-1925 >
      • The Hats
      • The Smoky River
      • The Smoky Hills >
        • Coronado Heights -- One Winter's Day
      • In and Around Lindsborg
      • Sohlberg House with Parents >
        • Our Sohlberg Home and Neighbor Alma Luise Olson
      • Sohlberg House with Emil 1916 to 1920 >
        • Lydia's Travels with Deere 1916 - 1930s >
          • Lydia's California Photographs for Painting
          • Lydia's Palm Springs Pictorial Magazine, 1938-1939
          • Lydia's California Pressed Wild Flowers, c1930
      • "LYDIA'S WORLD" Photography Exhibitions in Lindsborg, 2005 - 2011
    • Lydia as Bethany College Lane Hart Hall Dean of Women, 1906 - 1913 >
      • Lydia's Signatured Black Book of Her Handwritten Sewing Instructions >
        • Nina Sohlberg's Child's Sewing "Little Dots" PICTURE BOOK
      • Lydia Sohlberg Deere's 1927 "Lindsborg Swedish Club's" Handwork >
        • The Lindsborg Swedish Club's "Allers Monster-Tidnings" magazine, 1940
    • Lydia's Art, 1919-1938 >
      • Lydia's Art: The Kansas Collection >
        • The Sketches
      • Lydia's Art: The Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico Collection >
        • The Sketches
      • Lydia's Art: The California Collection >
        • The Sketches
        • Lydia's "Palm Springs Magazine " 1938-39
    • Lydia's Art Professor Sven Birger Sandzén, 1871-1954 >
      • Lydia's Assignments for Professor Sandzén >
        • Students of Sandzén 2019 Exhibition
        • Bethany Home ~ Celebrating Artist Birger Sandzén through his students' paintings
    • Lydia's Art Professor Birger Sandzén's "Art Exhibitions" and "Reviews" .. 1893-1940 >
      • Lydia's Art Professor Sandzén's Exhibition at the Babcock Gallery in New York, 1922
      • Lydia's Sandzén's Body of Work Reviewed by N.Y.C, 1984 "American Impressionism," author William H. Gerdts
    • Lydia's and Sandzén's Swedish Artist Friend Charles Edward Hallberg, 1855-1940
    • Lydia's and Sandzén's Swedish Artist Friend Oscar Brousse Jacobson, 1882-1966
    • Lydia’s Sohlberg Family Connection to Sandzén, 1880-1894-1993
  • Scientist Emil O. Deere
    • Deere & Lydia's Bethany -- Lydia's Photography, 1906-1925 >
      • Bethany College "Campus from Above"
      • Bethany College "The Gateway," 1917 and "Bethany Campus Association," 1912
      • Bethany College "College Street," today's "North First Street"
      • Bethany College "Campus Life"
      • Bethany College "Field Trips"
      • Bethany College's "Earliest Buildings" >
        • Bethany College "​Ladies Dormitory" / "Lane Hart Hall" 1883 - 1899 - 1983
        • Bethany College "Old Main" 1887-1968 >
          • Lydia's and Emil's Old Main Apartments, 1920 to 1940
          • Deere's Bethany College Classes in Old Main
        • Bethany College "Messiah Auditorium" / "Ling Auditorium" / "Ling Gymnasium" 1895 - 1946
        • Bethany College "Swedish Pavilion," 1904
        • Bethany College "​Carnegie Library" / "Bethany Library" 1908 - 1980
        • Bethany College "​Bethany Academy" 1882 -- Swensson's Bethany's Beginnings
    • Deere's 1959 Interview on Rev. Dr. Carl A. Swensson (On YouTube) >
      • Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson, 1857-1904 ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist >
        • Swensson's "Bethany Lutheran Church" and the "Augustana Lutheran Synod"
        • Swensson's Bethany's Beginnings: "The Bethany Academy of 1882"
        • Olsson's Influence, the Swenssons,' the Musicians' and Singers,' "Messiah," 1882 on … >
          • Thure Olof Jaderborg ~ One Lindsborg "Messiah" Commitment from 1901-1954
        • Swensson's Swedish Artists of the 1890s
        • Swensson's "Bethany College Museum," 1882 - 1966
      • In Memorium**Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson, 1904 ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist
    • Deere's Rev. Dr. Ernst F. Pihlblad, 1873-1943 ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist >
      • In Memoriam**Dr. Ernst F. Pihlblad, 1943
      • Rev. Dr. Pihlblad on Bethany College, 1904 - 1941
    • Deere's Smithsonian Institution's Souvenir, 1904
    • Deere's 1940 Presidential Address to the Kansas Academy of Science
    • Deere's 1955 Letter to President Eisenhower re Tuttle Creek
    • Deere's Service, 1901-1966 >
      • Deere's Education & Degrees
    • The Deere's Library ~ What remains of 2,000 books -- pending project
  • "The Other Swedes"
    • Honoring Them and Remembering Them ~ The Smoky Valley Writers >
      • A suggestion to individuals and entities in charge of these books ~ ​Digitalize for posterity and perpetuity
      • Rev. Bror Carlsson and Mr. Alf Brorson from Sweden ~ Tracing Värmland's Rev. Olof Olsson's church life in Sweden and in Swedish America with the Augustana Lutheran Synod >
        • ​"He Gave God Glory" "The Story of Olof Olsson, ​" 1841 - 1900 ~ By Rev. Bror Carlsson
      • Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson ~ Author of countless Swedish & English publications, newspapers articles & books for local, national & European readers
      • Bethany Church, Bethany College, Augustana Synod Writers ​~ Remembering Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson and Rev. Dr. Ernst Frederick Pihlblad
      • Rev. Dr. Alfred Bergin ​~ Compiling foundational Swedish Smoky Valley Augustana Lutheran settlements' histories and more
      • Dr. Emory K. Lindquist ~ Chronicling Swedish Augustana Lutheran Lindsborg and Bethany College from their earliest years >
        • ​1953, "Smoky Valley People, A History of Lindsborg, Kansas" ~ The Words of Dr. Lindquist and Contents & Illustrations
        • 1975 "Bethany in Kansas, the history of a college" ~ The Words of Dr. Lindquist >
          • "Bethany in Kansas" PART I ~ Contents & Illustrations
          • "Bethany in Kansas" PART II ~ Contents & Illustrations
        • 1984 "Hagbard Brase, Beloved Music Master" ~ The Words of Dr. Lindquist >
          • "Hagbard Brase" ~ Contents and Illustrations
      • Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg [Selma Lind] ​ ~ Chronicling the Lindsborg of her day, its early histories, its early citizens >
        • 1965 "Lindsborg On Record" ~ Contents & Illustrations
        • 1967 "Living in Lindsborg and Other Possibilities" ~ Contents & Illustrations
        • 1973 "Talk About Lindsborg" ~ Contents & Illustrations
        • 1976 "Why Lindsborg?" ~ Contents & Illustrations >
          • 1975 Why Lindsborg ~ For the King of Sweden
        • ​1990 "Two Reprints" ~ Contents & Illustrations Lists
      • Mr. Thomas N. Holmquist ~ Chronicling Lindsborg's neighbors, the Galesburg Swedes of Salemsborg and Freemount, with a personal connection, 1868
      • Mr. Bill Carlson ~ Chronicling Lindsborg's earliest and later histories, with a personal connection, 1867
      • Ms. Karen A. Humphrey ~ Chronicling highlights of Swedish Augustana Lutheran Lindsborg and Bethany College culture in the earliest years >
        • 2012 "Grace, Faith and the Power of Singing: The Alma Christina Lind Swensson Story" ~The Words of Ms. Humphrey
        • "Grace, Faith and the Power of Singing" ~ Contents & Illustrations
      • Mr. A. John Pearson ~ Chronicling the Bethany College Presidents from 1882 to 1983
      • Mr. Kenneth Sjogren ~ Chronicling the Bethany College Presidents from 1941 to 2016
      • Mr. Chris Abercrombie ~ Remembering him as "The Historian," the SVHA president and his body of work
      • Rev. Eugene K. Nelson and the Bethany Home Writers ~ Chronicling the "only known" Smoky Valley story on Bethany Home since 1907
      • Smoky Valley Historical Association Members ~ Chronicling 1993 " Where Did They Live? " "Early Residences of Lindsborg, Kansas"
    • Honoring Them and Remembering Them \\// >
      • Mrs. Alma Christina Lind Swensson ~ Remembering her as Mrs. Rev. Dr. Swensson, the "First Lady" of Lindsborg, organizer of the "Messiah Chorus" and much more ~ From ​Ms. Humphrey's Book
      • ​Samuel Thorstenberg ~ Remembering him as the "earliest" internationally acclaimed Bethany College "Messiah Chorus" conductor
      • Dr. Hagbard Brase ~ Remembering him as the second "earliest" internationally acclaimed Bethany College "Messiah Chorus" conductor
      • B.G. Gröndal ~ Remembering him and his photography in the earliest years of Lindsborg and Bethany College >
        • B.G. Gröndal ~ Accounts by Mr. Abercrombie and Mrs. Jaderborg with LINK to Mrs. Eddy, B.G.'s granddaughter's book review
      • International "NY Times" Correspondent Miss Alma Luise Olson ~ Remembering her as "First Honored American Woman by Sweden" ~ An account by ​Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg* >
        • ​​Miss Alma Luise Olson ~ Remembering her and the extraordinary life she led at home and abroad ~ An account by Ms. Karen A. Humphrey
      • Artist Birger Sandzén ~ Remembering him for "sharing his art with the world," starting "first" at Lindsborg's Bethany College >
        • Dr. & Dr. Mrs. Charles Greenough III ~ Remembering them for their gift of the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery -- pending
      • William Holwerda, M.D. ~ Remembering him as "Doc Bill," a city father and loving citizen, by Dr. Leon Lungstrom and Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg >
        • "Svensk Hyllningsfest" ​ ~ Remembering Dr. William Holwerda as a founder and "the key" organizer in 1941
        • Dr. William Holwerda ~ Remembering their family doctor and Messiah Lutheran Church tributes to him by Dr. Leon Lungstrom
      • Artist Lester Raymer ~ Remembering him as the renowned virtuoso artist and "behind the scenes" community supporter
      • Dr. Arvin W. Hahn ​​~ Remembering him for saving Bethany College from going under!​ >
        • Dr. Arvin W. Hahn ~ Remembering him handing me my Bethany College Diploma on Sunday, May 26, 1968
      • Dr. ​& Mrs. Elmer Copley ~ Remembering them and their 29 years of dedication to that Bethany College "Messiah" tradition of excellence >
        • 1976 Dr. Elmer Copley ~ Remembering him as the “Messiah” conductor for the Bethany College "Swedish King’s," Carl XVI Gustaf's, performance >
          • 1981 Dr. Elmer Copley ~ Remembering him as the "Messiah" conductor for the Bethany College "Centennial Celebration" performance >
            • 1986 Dr. Elmer Copley ~ Remembering him as the televised "American Easter" conductor of the Bethany College Oratorio Society Holy Easter Week
      • Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg ~ Remembering her as the founder of the 1963 "Lindsborg Swedish Folk Dancers" ~ An account by Mr. Chris Abercrombie
      • Mr. & Mrs. Hilding Jaderborg ~ Remembering them and their “Swedish Crafts Shop” of 65 years and 50 trips to Sweden
      • The Swedish Lindsborg Builders ~ Remembering them for the lovely homes they built
      • Mr. Chris Abercrombie ~ Remembering him for "first" shining an international light on Lindsborg and Bethany College, via YouTube
      • Dr. Greta Swenson and Mr. & Mrs. Mark Esping ~ Remembering them for founding Lindsborg's “first” "Swedish-American Folklife Institute of Central Kansas," 1986 >
        • Remembering their Lindsborg's Folklife Institute's "Swedish-American Heritage Center," 1996
      • Mr. Claude Koehn ~ Remembering him as restorer and preservationist of Smoky Valley stone farmhouses and other stone structures
      • Ms. Rebecca Copley ~ Remembering her as Bethany College's “first” graduate to become an International Concert & Opera Soprano >
        • Ms. Copley's "International Concert and Opera Soprano" ​~ The REVIEWS
      • Mr. Bruce Karstadt ~ Honoring him as a Bethany College graduate for heading up a major national Swedish American institution
      • Dr. Mark Lucas ~ Messiah conductor bringing the Lindsborg “Oberammergau of the Plains" to a "new" world audience
    • 1894-1962 Bethany College Graduates in Augustana Lutheran Synod World Mission Work ~ An account by Dr. Emory K. Lindquist
    • 1901-2014 The ​Bethany College Swedish Knights and Ladies ~ Honored by the Kings of Sweden
    • 1961-2021 ​"McPherson County Old Mill Museum" leaders ~ Moving forward in August 2021 as "The Lindsborg Old Mill and Swedish Heritage Museum"
    • 1971 -2020 "American Scandinavian Association of the Great Plains" leaders ~ Providing cultural history and heritage programs with meaningful links to Sweden and Swedish America
    • 1976 His Majesty the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf's Visit to Lindsborg April 17th >
      • The Lindsborg & Bethany College "Swedes" ~ Honored by the King of Sweden, June 6, 1976
    • 1977​ Swedish Emigrant Institute Staff from Växjö, Småland Visits Lindsborg October 16-18
    • 1978 Swedish Documen- tary Film Crew Visits Lindsborg October 2-9 >
      • "Lindsborg News-Record" Clippings of 1978 Swedish Film Crew Visit
    • 1992 - 2020 ​Honoring Them and Remembering Them ~ Their ​Smoky Valley History Research Writers Website Designers
  • Contacts
    • For 1869 Lindsborg CONTACT Today >
      • "A Time to Remember" 1882 - 1988
    • ​For 1881 Bethany College CONTACT Today >
      • "Bethany Campus Walk” ~ Remembering the buildings and the "Bethany Family" of their era, 1882 - 2015
      • Their "I WAS THERE" Coin ~ Bethany College 21st Year Celebration, 1902
    • For 1957 Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery CONTACT Today >
      • Sandzén: "Ecstasy of Color" ~ PBS Doucmentary ~ Aired 6/11/21
    • Closing Remarks >
      • Traveling through SWEDES ​~ The Table of Contents ~ The "Outline" "Online"
      • SWEDES' Swedish American Legacy Photographs >
        • ​Lydia's Lindsborg Photography​, ​1900 - 1925 >
          • Lydia's Bethany College Photography, ​1906 - 1925
    • Kansas Smoky Valley Swedish People's Memorial, 2009 ~ The virtual one >
      • In real time, the real 1941 memorial, the "Pioneer Cross" ​~ Created by Messrs. Lindholm and Oberg
Artist Lydia Sohlberg Deere
​<>  Their Legacy Art Community  <>
  
‘Here at last is a true interpreter
 of the majesty and stupendous grandeur of the Rocky Mountains.

                                                                                                              -- January 1921, Effie Seachrest of the American Magazine of Art
                                                                                                                                                          -- Lindquist's Birger Sandzén, An Illustrated Biography
​
Lydia's Art Professor Birger Sandzén's "Art Exhibitions" and "Reviews"
documented here from
 1893 - 1940



The years in which Sandzén was Lydia's art professor were from 1919 to 1923.  Before, during and after those years as a lifetime art professor at Bethany College dedicated to his students, Sandzén was, as well, engaged in showing his art work beyond the College and Lindsborg.

Just listing the years and some of the newspapers, magazines, and periodicals discussing
Sandzén's  exhibitions gives one a good idea of where he was exhibiting, and of his determination to share his art and to establish himself as a serious artist within the United States and in Sweden while he was teaching at Bethany College.

The Press Reviewing Sandzén's Work

The following dates and the press reviewing Sandzén's work were compiled from fourth Swedish American Bethany College president Dr. Emory Lindquist's  1993  book, Birger Sandzén, An Illustrated Biography. This information was collected from pages 79 to 90 and is noted as below:
 
In 1913, the Chicago Sunday Record-Hearld;  in 1916, the American-Scandinavian Review;  in 1918, the Santa Fe Daily New Mexican and  the Chicago Herald-Examiner;  in 1920, the Oakland Tribune, the Washington Star, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Art  Philadelphia’s Revue du vrai et du beau arts et letters.
 
In 1922, it was mostly New York: including the American Scandinavian Foundation  Forum; the New York Herald and American Art News, the New York American, the Christian Science Monitor, the New York Times; the Brooklyn Eagle; and the New York Tribune.
 
In 1924, it was mostly Sweden, including Sk
åra Posten, Skanska Dagbladet, Social Demokraten, Stockholms Tidning, Dagens Nyheter, Swedish Art Enclyclopedai, Svensk konstnarslexikon, Ulricehamns Tidning, Borås Tidning, Stockholm Dagens Nyheter and Skaraborgs Läns Tidning.
 
In 1927, the Philadelphia Record and the American Magazine of Art;  in 1931, the Detroit Sunday News; in 1932, the Kansas City Times, and the Kansas City Journal,  and in 1936, the Kansas City Star.
 
In the early 1940s, it was the Philadelphia Inquirer, and in 1947, the Washington Star and the Kansas City Star.


-  SUNSET IN THE MOUNTAINS -
by
Birger Sandz
én
1917

Picture
Courtesy of the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg, Kansas
In Chapter 10 on Exhibitions and the Response of Art Critics, Lindquist begins on page 79 with the following:

     "Although Birger Sandz
én lived and painted in Lindsborg, Kansas, his works were exhibited at several major galleries and museums in the United States and in Europe.  Art critics and other people in a wide area thus had an opportunity to view his paintings and prints, and their response is recorded fully and clearly in many newspapers and periodicals.  Records indicate that Sandzén sent his paintings, water colors, and prints to more than 600 exhibitions, ranging from one or two items shown in a collective exhibition to one-man shows. 

     "In the United States his works were shown in at least thirty (30) States and the District of Columbia; they were also exhibited on several occasions in Sweden [i.e. in G
öteborg in 1893, 1896, and 1923; in Malm
ö in 1920; in Skara in 1924; in Uppsala in 1934; in Lidköping 1937; and in Stockholm in 1897, 1911, 1931, 1937, 1948, and 1957]  and at times in Italy, England and France [i.e, in 1924 and 1926 at the Palace of Fine Arts in Rome; in 1927 at the Uffizi in Florence; and in 1923 at the American Pavilion in Venice; also in Paris at the Bibliotheque National in 1928, the Salon des Tuileries in 1933, and the Salon des Artistes Francais in 1937].

     "Sandzén’s works were presented in well known museums and galleries that sponsored annually and special exhibitions involving longstanding traditions of excellence in art.  His great and continuous interest in bringing art to the people where no such traditions and facilities existed, however, resulted in his works also being shown in a variety of other places -- assembly halls, classrooms, churches, and commercial and public buildings.  Improvised arrangements were made in a multitude of places in Kansas and elsewhere.

     "The first public exhibition of Sandzén's paintings occurred in 1893 when six of his canvases were sent to G
öteborgs Konstforening (Gothenburg Art Society) at the urging of his former teacher Richard Bergh.  Although Sandzén exhibited on a modest scale at Bethany College shortly after his arrival there in 1894, 1899 is a landmark date because in spring of that year, Carl Lotavé, G.N. Malm, and Sandzén organized a formal art exhibition at the college in association with the annual Messiah festival during Holy Week.  The exhibition became an annual event; later known as the Midwest Art Exhibition, it is the oldest continuous art show in Kansas and the surrounding area.  The works of past and contemporary artists were hung on these occasions, but Sandzén's paintings and prints were always featured."

On page 80, Lindquist continues:

     "Sandz
én’s earliest participation in metropolitan exhibitions was sponsored by Swedish American organizations.  In 1905 he was represented by five paintings in the exhibition of the Swedish-American Art Association at Anderson’s Gallery in Chicago, and, in 1910, the Swedish Club of Chicago sponsored the first of a series of exhibitions by Swedish-American artists; the Lindsborg artist generally sent works to these shows.  An important result of Sandzén’s association with these exhibitions was that he became known outside of Kansas.  In 1914 and 1915 his works were hung in shows of the Chicago Artists Guild, in 1917 his work was shown for the first time at the Art Institute of Chicago, and in 1919 his prints were included in the exhibition of the Chicago Society of Etchers.  He exhibited in Chicago intermittently for almost three decades [30 years], including one-man shows in 1918 and 1926, and he has been represented in about fifty [50] exhibitions in the Chicago area.  In addition, Sandzén participated in many exhibitions in Kansas City, Missouri, and the Kansas City Art Institute played an important role in his professional career.  He first took part in an exhibition there in 1915; by 1940 he had been involved in twenty-five [25], including two joint events.  He often lectured in Kansas City on art subjects, and he held a master class in painting under the auspices of the Art Institute in 1921.  Sandzén’s works were shown a number of times in Washington, D. C. beginning with a one man show at the Washington Art Club in 1920.  West Coast exhibitions included several shows in Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Francisco."
 
Lindquist continues on pages 81 and finishes on page 82:

     "The decade of the 1920s was a great era in the growing appreciation of the excellence of
Sandzén’s works.  Laura Bride Powers, in the Oakland Tribune, was enthusiastic about an exhibition in San Francisco.  After referring to it as 'one of the big shows in the winter of 1920,' she wrote, 'It is glorified with color presentations of nature in her noblest aspect -- the great planes of mountains rising from an enchanted valley-floor; strong-limbed tree lines against a brilliant sky that comes to gladden the earth in the fall and spring; sweeps of swirling water; mountain and plain in the purpling garments of lowering day -- all tales of the West, told in strong sweeping strokes that never misfire . . . . How nobly he handles his color, fresh as dew.'  At the same time, the art critic of the Washington Star described the Sandzé
n exhibition at the [Washington] Art Club as being 'out of the ordinary and exceedingly worthy of attention.' 

    “In January 1921 Effie Seachrest reported in the American Magazine of Art about her delightful visit to the
Sandzé
n exhibition in McPherson, Kansas.  In describing one room of his paintings of the Rocky Mountains she wrote: 'His big overpowering, structural  treatment of rocks and mountains bathed in sunlight or flooded with moonshine, his glowing colors dashed on with an impetuosity that reminds one of his master, Zorn, arouse the critic’s wonder and admiration and cause him to cry:

              ‘Here at last is a true interpreter of the majesty and stupendous grandeur of the Rocky Mountains.’ "


Close friend and confidant to Sandzén since 1924, Swedish sculptor Carl Milles (1875-1955) whose early works were completed in a Paris studio where Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) was working, writes in the 1937 Stockholm, Gummesons konsthall's exhibition catalogue, "Introduction," Birger Sandzéns utstallnings:

   "Sandzén himself.  A fine Swedish type, seems to be calm--but is the opposite, a great humorist--human to the greatest degree, loves to be helpful--and is helpful. . . . A brilliant mind with a heart too large for a man.  The collaboration between heart and mind is brilliant, always full of hope for himself and for others, every second of his life revolving about the problem of art . . . . One loves to listen to him since his marvelous view of life always sees light for both art and mankind." **

Thus, this was Lydia's Swedish Bethany College art professor and family friend, and this was the Lindsborg Smoky Valley grand master of art, who from the plains of Kansas "shared his art with the world" then,  "the sharing" of which continues to this day through the art gallery that bears his name, the "Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery." 

For
Lydia's Art Professor Sandzén's Exhibition at the Babcock Gallery in New York, 1922, go HERE.
      ​
OR

To go to the Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery, click on the above painting.


* Courtesy of the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg, Kansas
**Fourth Swedish American Bethany College president Dr.  Emory Lindquist's 1993 book, Birger Sandzen, An Illustrated Biography, page 119.
​*     *     * 
Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
*     *     * 

All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.
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