Landscape with Four Trees, Birger Sandzén

Episode 3. I’m David Cateforis with another art minute from the Spencer Museum of Art. A favorite work of art in the Spencer Museum is an oil painting on canvas titled Landscape with Four Trees. It was painted around1920 by Birger Sandzen, who was born in Sweden in 1871. After studying art in Europe, Sandzen came to Lindsborg, Kansas, for a teaching job at Bethany College. He spent the rest of his life teaching at Bethany and painting in Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico. As you stand close to the picture, the tree trunks look dark, the paint applied in thick daubs. Separate colors -- red, blue and brown -- march down the trunks. If you walk back ten feet and look again, your eye mixes the colors and the tree trunks look real. Behind the trees is a glowing orb in the sky. We are not sure whether this picture portrays a sunrise or a sunset. The artist did not say, and his unusual handling of color leaves the question open. You might expect a picture of Colorado mountains and trees to look calm and peaceful, but Sandzen’s heavy, active brush strokes create tension and add a mood of suspense. With thanks to Frankie Kern for her text, from the Spencer Museum of Art, I’m David Cateforis.

How did the artist trick your eye? Birger Sandzen’s Landscape with Four Trees employs a technique of optical illusion similar to that used by the Impressionists. Instead of mixing paint on a palette, Sandzen placed bold colors next to each other on the canvas, so the color mixing is done by your eyes. Stand close to the painting, you can distinctly see the clashing colors and bold brushstrokes; step back a few paces, the colors automatically mix together to create a harmonious atmosphere.