Collector of young art tells:

It was at the beginning of November, 1984. I dropped in, as I so often did at Galerie Birch on Admiral Street.

That day there was a painting which Børge Birch just had to show me, but it had to be done in the right manner. Thus, I was immediately instructed at the door to close my eyes and Børge locked his arm in mine and led me into the next room, sat me in a chair and said: "Now you are free to open your eyes." In front of me was a picture which really was "a knock out", painted by a young artist by the name of Jan Sivertsen. Børge told me that he together with Eigill Jacobsen, Carl Henning Pedersen and Robert Jacobsen had introduced that young man last month to FIAC in Paris.

I rang to my wife, who was close by, to get her to come over, and she also, straight away, fell for the picture, which Børge delivered to us the next day. He also took care of hanging it on the wall.

Many of Jan Sivertsen's pictures were to follow after that, and, as frequently happens, there arose a friendship with both Børge and the, at that time, quite young Jan Sivertsen, who Børge had "taken under his wings".