Alan Petersen, Curator of Fine Arts for the Museum of Northern Arizona, will present a talk, Gunnar Widforss, Painter of the National Parks, at the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery on Wednesday evening, June 5 at 7:30pm. This event is free, a part of Arts on the Prairie, and supported in part by the Patterson Family Foundation and the Kansas Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
Through the 1920s and early ‘30s, Swedish-born landscape painter Gunnar Widforss (1879-1934) focused his discerning eye and passionate energy on the national parks of the American West. Because of Widforss’ untimely death at age 55 and the rise of modernism, Widforss’ legacy is largely unknown today.
Speaker Alan Petersen will discuss Widforss’ life and work. It is one of great triumph in realistic painting, tinged with the tragedy of an early death and later obscurity. The talk is a chance to learn the compelling story of a Swedish expatriate who fell in love with the landscapes of the American West.
Read more about Widforss and Petersen by clicking on the Visit Lindsborg blog.
In 2020, Petersen published the online Gunnar Widforss Catalogue Raisonné, which lists more than 1,200 works by the Swedish-American painter. For thirty years, Petersen taught art history, drawing, painting, and courses pertaining to the Colorado Plateau at Coconino Community College in Flagstaff before retiring in 2022.
The Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery is located at 401 N. First Street. Gallery hours are 10:00am-5:00pm, Tuesday through Saturday, and 1:00-5:00pm on Sunday. Admission is free, with donations appreciated. For more information about Birger Sandzén, the Gallery, and this talk please call (785) 227-2220.
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