Reporter Gary Demuth can be reached at 822-1405 or by e-mail at gdemuth@salina.com.
By Gary Demuth
Salina Journal
LINDSBORG -- To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery, one new exhibit wasn't going to be enough.
Instead, gallery curator Ron Michael is installing six.
Three have been traveling exhibits of prints by the gallery's namesake, Birger Sandzen, the acclaimed painter, printmaker and Bethany College professor who died in 1954 at the age of 83.
Those exhibits will join the gallery's permanent exhibit of Sandzen's oil paintings and watercolors in the main gallery space.
"For our 50th anniversary, we thought it was a good idea to showcase some of the best work from these exhibits," said Michael, who has been curator at the gallery for 10 years.
The other three exhibits are collections that feature artwork by the late printmakers Herschel C. Logan, who lived in Salina, and John Taylor Arms. The John P. Harris Collection includes prints by Picasso, Renoir and Rembrandt.
The Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery's 50th Anniversary Exhibition opens Sunday with a reception from 1 to 4 p.m. and continues through Oct. 28 at the gallery on the Bethany College campus. Admission is free.
The three traveling collections of Sandzen's prints on display include:
n "Sandzen in the Smoky Valley:" 21 prints by Sandzen, spanning 1916 to 1952, of pioneer homes, landmarks of the Smoky Valley and city of Lindsborg, and landscapes of farms and the Smoky Hill River that flows through the valley.
n "Sandzen in the Mountains:" Lithographs, block prints and one drypoint etching representing Sandzen's travels and summer visits to the mountains of Colorado, Utah and New Mexico.
n "Nailcut Prints by Sandzen:" With this collection of woodcut block prints, Sandzen developed a unique technique called a "nailcut." He took old-fashioned square-tipped nails of various sizes and tapped them into a wood block for the print. The nails left a cut or impression in the block that would not take the ink when the block was printed.
The nailcut prints in this exhibit span the years 1917 to 1928. Several are printed in a sepia or brown ink rather than black ink.
"A lot of prints from these shows already have traveled extensively through the state," Michael said.
Three other exhibits
n "Herschel C. Logan, The Prairie Woodcutter:" For nearly 40 years, Logan lived in Salina and worked for Consolidated Printing and Stationery. Although his career as a woodcut printer spanned only 18 years, Logan's landscapes of the Great Plains are acclaimed for their detail and beauty.
n "Gothic Images: Etchings by John Taylor Arms:" Gothic architecture was Arms' source of inspiration. Born in 1887, Arms' skill as a draftsman, his use of the most skilled printers working with only the best papers, and the quality of each impression made him an internationally-acclaimed artist.
Many of Arms' prints are small, averaging 31Ñ2-inches-by-21Ñ2-inches.
"The detail work is incredible -- you practically have to have a magnifying glass to see all the detail," Michael said.
n Selections from the John P. Harris Collection: This collection of prints was a gift to the gallery in 1964 from Hutchinson journalist John P. Harris, who traveled extensively, Michael said, collecting the prints of many revered American and European artists.
"It's one of the best collections of prints in the world," he said.
After the anniversary exhibition closes Oct. 28, individual exhibits will be available to travel to other galleries throughout the state, Michael said.
But he hopes a large number of visitors choose to come to the Sandzen Gallery during September and October.
"I think this is one of the major jewels of Kansas and has been for 50 years," he said.
n Reporter Gary Demuth can be reached at 822-1405 or by e-mail at gdemuth@salina.com.
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