“It is impossible to copy nature because one is compelled to select, rearrange and organize.” –Birger Sandzén
You know who loved snow? Sandzén. In the exhibition catalog, Stan Cuba writes that the artist “later recounted to his daughter in Kansas that he ‘painted one snow picture after the other [in Sweden]. I even stood in snow drifts painting it.'”
Here’s a little inspiration from Sandzén in Colorado, a watercolor painting from 1929 that’s now on view at the FAC.
Based on the artist’s many hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park, “Castle in the Snow” focuses on a rock formation set on a hillside in the late spring snow surrounded by predominantly violet-colored rocks and mountains. Sandzén often painted the same scene with variations, so the exhibition features both this watercolor and an oil painting created with a similar color palette and title.
Student David Yust recalled a conversation with Sandzén about how the artist would paint outdoors in Sweden:
He talked about being out in the snow with a portable easel, painting on site. I was impressed with that and wondered how the tubes of paint stayed useable (in the cold).