[2] Sandzén was born in Blidsberg, Ulricehamn Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden.

[3] After graduating in 1890, Sandzén studied for a short time at the University of Lund before moving to Stockholm.

Instead, he sought out and joined a group of young artists who were studying under Anders Zorn, Richard Bergh and Per Hasselberg.

[7] Later in 1894, Sandzén accepted a teaching post from Carl Aaron Swensson, President of Bethany College.

[6] Sandzén was taken with the Smoky Hill River Valley area of central Kansas, which provided much of the subject matter for his paintings.

According to curator Bill North, he frequently painted landscapes from Graham County, Kansas, where his wife's parents moved in 1906.

[11][12][13] In 1897, Sandzén met Alfrida Leksell, a Bethany College piano student from McPherson, Kansas.

[15] Also, as part of the regional interest two of Sandzen's paintings are held by the Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University.

There are also two oil paintings by Birger Sandzen in the Western Art Museum, Anschutz Collection in Denver, Colorado.