The Great Peak (Longs Peak) exemplifies Birger Sandzén's vigorous approach to painting the western landscape. The painting's broad, thick brushwork reveals his admiration of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne, whose work he knew from study in Paris. Sandzén used this style to celebrate the geological grandeur of Kansas, Colorado and Utah. The Great Peak is a larger version of a painting Sandzén had created for a Kansas City patron. In enlarging the composition, the artist more firmly regulated his brush marks, emphasizing both the peak's and the picture's larger presence. Born in Sweden, Sandzén immigrated to the United States in 1894 to teach at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, where he remained the rest of his life.
Gift of Mrs. Massey Holmes in memory of her husband
Image: Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery
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