Painting proceeds fund gallery repairs

Funds recently obtained from the auction of a painting from the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery met and exceeded the gallery’s estimated $700,000 to $900,000 shortfall in renovation costs.

The painting, the first sold from the gallery in almost 20 years, went for $2.8 million, which will be used to cover the costs to preserve the facility and its artwork.

Larry Griffis, gallery director, said he was pleasantly surprised, overwhelmed and speechless at the outcome.
“We knew the painting was valuable,” he said. “However, we didn’t expect there to be buyers so eager to bid against one another to reach that final amount.”

The final decision to sell a painting from the gallery came from the Birger Sandzén Memorial Foundation Board after much discussion.

The gallery had begun a three- to eight-year capital campaign that included renovation costs necessary to preserve the collection. Despite a generous donation that sparked this campaign, however, funds came up short, and it was decided a painting should be auctioned to remedy the situation.

The piece was a still life landscape oil painting by Marsden Hartley. It was purchased by Johan Oscar Thorsen, a piano professor at Bethany College, for no more than $75 when himself and close friend, Sandzén, visited Hartley’s studio in 1919 in Santa Fe. The fact that Hartley sold a painting to an individual buyer was rare.
Before Thorsen’s death in 1968, the painting was left to the gallery.

This piece was selected to be sold for two reasons. Its estimated value was close to that of the renovation shortfall, and it also did not fit into the gallery’s collection management policy, which places highest priority on Sandzén, local and regional works.

The Sotheby auction in New York was chosen for its extensive experience in selling Hartley works.
The final buyer, who asked to remain anonymous, paid $3,218,500 for the painting, following an applied buyer’s fee.
The proceeds of the sale will not go to operating expenses, but toward collection-related expenses and renovations to ensure the long-term care of the works. Renovations fall within the capital campaign, whose phases include a development campaign, conservation and preservation of collections, increased endowment for operations and educational services and programs.

Allocation of funds that exceed these costs will be decided at the annual foundation meeting in May, following renovation completion projected for March. Changes include new air handling and mechanical systems, complete rewiring, lighting, UV window replacements, a security and fire detection and suppression system, asbestos abatement and new exhibition room wall board and coverings.

In addition to the capital campaign, plans are also being made to work on the courtyard, which is made possible by funds from the late Walter W. Jones, a longtime gallery board of directors member from McPherson.
The gallery’s primary source of income for day-to-day operations comes from several avenues: the Greenough Trust left by Margaret and Charles Greenough, funds from a small Sandzén Foundation endowment, grants, memberships and donations.

The gallery is a non-profit organization owned by the Birger Sandzén Memorial Foundation and was established in 1955 by Alfrida Sandzén, Margaret Sandzén Greenough and Charles Pelham Greenough III and opened in 1957.
These individuals were the primary funding resources for the gallery until Margaret’s death in 1993. This was last time the gallery had a similar shortfall, which resulted in the most recent selling of artwork.
Two collections make up the gallery, which include the Birger Sandzén Memorial Foundation Art Collection and the Greenough Trust Art Collection.