Label
(from 2014.Old Walks and New)
Birger Sandzén, American (Kansas), 1871-1954
Nils Gustaf’s House, 1938, lithograph
Birger Sandzén considered rhythm to be essential to his art. In 1915, he wrote that, when painting, “first of all emphasize the rhythm.” In this lithograph the complicated contours of the trees and the repeating lines of the forms suggest movement and rhythm. These communicate the blowing of the wind and the animate quality of nature. No longer in existence, the Gustaf home stood on what was then the rural outskirts of Lindsborg, KS, Sandzén’s hometown. Like Sandzén, Gustaf was of Swedish descent, but any further connection between the two men is unknown.