‘Twilight,’ a 1927 Colorado landscape by Birger Sandzen, achieved $81,000 plus the buyer’s premium in August 2017. Image courtesy of Case Antiques, Inc. Auctions & Appraisals and LiveAuctioneers
NEW YORK – When you see your first Birger Sandzen painting, your brain performs an obvious, unmistakable swivel. First, you think, “That looks like a Van Gogh,” followed by the quick realization, “Van Gogh never left Europe.” Your brain is right. Vincent Van Gogh never left Europe. Birger Sandzen did, however, and he unleashed his considerable talents on the landscapes of middle America, finding color and vivacity in the plains of Kansas and the mountains of Colorado.