Woody Auction celebrated the grand opening of their new Douglass auction hall with a major antique and fine art auction on Saturday, February 24th, one that featured four oil paintings by renowned Swedish-born Kansas painter Birger Sandzén (1871-1946), plus outstanding collections of Royal Bayreuth, Daum Nancy, Galle, Tiffany, Pairpoint, art glass and period American furniture.
The four Sandzén paintings sold for a combined $371,000, easily making them the superstar lots of the auction. One of the works, titled Cedars and Rocks, brought $160,000. It was a vivid and colorful oil on canvas landscape rendering of Manitou Springs, Colo., dated 1922. The 36 inch by 48 inch painting was professionally cleaned by WCCFA in Denver in 2015 and came housed in its original wood frame.
The other paintings were Lake in the Rockies, a 26 inch by 22 inch oil on canvas using thick paint with high ridges (the meringue technique), in the original frame, dated 1921 ($75,000); Horses in Wyoming, a 20 inch by 24 inch oil on board, a subject for another painting, circa 1930 ($26,000); and an untitled oil on board (but possibly Glimpse of Mountain Lake), 36 inches by 48 inches, circa 1938 ($90,000).
Birger Sandzén was born in Blidsberg, Sweden, in 1871. He studied art in Stockholm and Paris early on, before coming to Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas in 1894, to teach languages and assist in the art and vocal music departments. He remained at Bethany for the remainder of his career, becoming the principal art instructor in 1899 and retiring in 1946. He painted right up until his death in 1954.
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