Inside Sandzen Spring 09

INSIDE SANDZÉN
This feature, highlighting a discovery relating to Sandzén from the archives, will be periodically updated on the website and is planned for each issue of Gallery Notes.

The Letters section of "Inside Sandzén" in the Spring 2009 issue of Gallery Notes, a quarterly newsletter for all members, deals with the question of "Why Bother (with Archives)?" and uses five letters found in the Sandzén Letters (a collections from what now may be termed The End of the Age of Letters) as examples of the value of the Sandzén Archives specifically.

The letter from which the following excerpts are taken was written June 4, 1930 by Gustaf Sandzén in Swedish from Sweden to his younger brother Birger Sandzén in Kansas, obviously in response to Birger's questioning the legacy he will or will not leave behind. In response Gustaf cites participation in "cultural life" as well as "art," with examples of others whose legacies are unclear until after their deaths, including Bach, now featured in Lindsborg and Bethany College during the Messiah Festival at Eastertime. Gustaf is a pastor in Sweden, the middle son of Johan Peter and Clara Sandzén. The Gallery's professional cataloguer/translator provided the English translation.

The argument of the whole Letters section in this issue's "Inside Sandzén" is that it could well be that by 2509 the Sandzén archival collection could be as valuable a legacy as the art itself, and this letter records not only a common psychological concern but also an early emphasis on the importance of contributions to cultural life, which the archival collections support.

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You think that your life's work in retrospect seems "precious small." But that's not so. You have been diligent all your life and have made a great contribution to Swedish-American cultural life. The significance of your artistic achievement cannot yet be determined. You are a pioneer in this field and have to share their lot of being understood, at least comparatively, by few. Later generations will certainly understand you better and appreciate you even more than your contemporaries do. As proof of the direction in which the times are going, I can tell you that Ragnar Tengstrand, M. A., who is studying in Lund and who is right now visiting us, told us that the young art students value highly those paintings you gave to the university. Your reputation as an artist is still growing slowly, but surely. I therefore have no fear of a setback.

Apropos evaluation of one's own life's work, I can tell you that the very powerful J. C. Bring, for many years the manager of the Stockholm Lay Workers' Institution, thought at the end of his life that his whole life-work was-- like a pile of ashes. . . . [Dr. Johan Christofer Bring (1829-1898) was also the Director of the Deaconess School in Stockholm from 1862 to his death, and a collection of his communion sermons (This Do In Remembrance of Me) was printed posthumously in 1904 in Burlington, Iowa. This additional information is thanks to Curator Ron Michael and his computer.]

Wonderful that the Matthew Passion will now be performed in Lindsborg. . . [It] was at first a fiasco. After 100 years, Mendelssohn brought the work forward and it met with general admiration. After another 100 years it is being appreciated even more. Now Bach is "the man of the day" in all countries with culture. . . .

A thousand greetings from the heart!

Your gratefully and warmly devoted brother

Gustaf.