Several years ago, while collecting ideas for a story on art restoration, I had the rare opportunity of seeing Arnold Friberg's original oil painting of the 2,000 "Stripling Warriors" as it was being cleaned and restored in the Museum of Church History and Art.
The work is one of a dozen Friberg produced in the early to mid-'50s that were used as illustrations in the Book of Mormon.
To study up close and in person Friberg's incredible draftsmanship and multi-figure composition was an experience I will talk about for many years.
Thursday evening, Oct. 26, at 6:30 p.m., all of Salt Lake City may have the same enlightening experience: "An Evening to Honor Arnold Friberg," hosted by Williams Fine Art, 60 E. South Temple, will display 20 original oil paintings and assorted drawings by the distinguished artist. Friberg himself will be on hand to discuss his work.
At the conclusion of Friberg's remarks, the audience may peruse the exhibition as well as purchase signed limited-edition prints.
Friberg was born Dec. 21, 1913, in Winnetka, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. At age 3 he moved with his family to Arizona and by age 7 he was drawing cartoons.
"I drew an original cartoon every day because I wanted to be a cartoonist," he said in a recent interview.
Later, he would show his cartoons to the newspaper staff of the Arizona Republican (now the Arizona Republic). Artists would critique the drawings, stressing production values — something the young Friberg would always remember.
"When I was 13, I was an apprentice to a sign painter," he said. "Right away I was in business. I'd be what you call today an independent contractor."
After graduating from high school, Friberg attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. While in school, he worked part time for printers. It was during this period Friberg became acquainted with the Northwest Paper Company and its ad campaign featuring the Canadian Mounties.
In 1940 he moved to New York City and started working in the publishing world. There, he enrolled in night classes where he studied with Norman Rockwell under Harvey Dunn, one of the country's top illustrators.
After a stint in the military during World War II, Friberg married, moved to San Francisco and opened a studio. His reputation as an excellent illustrator grew as he worked on everything from package design to fashion illustration.
In 1950, Friberg and his wife moved to Utah, where he began teaching commercial art at the University of Utah.
While teaching, he continued to work on his own professional career. It was at this time that he completed the Book of Mormon paintings.
After seeing Friberg's religious works, Cecil B. DeMille commissioned the artist to help plan the visual look of his new production, "The Ten Commandments."
Moving to Hollywood, Friberg worked for DeMille for more than three years. The resulting paintings became the pictorial basis for the movie's scenes, characters and costumes, and also brought Friberg an Academy Award nomination.
Over the years, Friberg has painted myriad themes: intercollegiate football, the "Saloon," railroads and wagon trains, mountain men and miners, American Indians, canoes and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In all these works, Friberg is most proud of his rendering of horses; this is what the artist wants to be remembered for.
Friberg learned to draw horses when he began painting the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the late 1930s for the Northwest Paper Company calendars. To date he has done almost 300 Mounties paintings.
One of Friberg's largest and favorite pieces, painted in 1975, is of George Washington kneeling in prayer beside his horse at Valley Forge. "The Prayer at Valley Forge" has become increasingly cherished and recognized as a 20th century masterpiece of patriotic American art.
His equestrian portraits of H.R.H. Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth II with Centennial, the great-grandson of Man-O-War, are also splendid works.
Friberg believes anyone can learn to draw and paint if they're diligent enough. "But that's not picture making. The gift of picture making is in placement: this goes here, and this goes there. If you don't have the gift of placement, you can't learn it. That's why I don't teach. There are plenty of teachers that can teach you how to draw and paint, how to observe from a model, to get proportions right, but to group things in a picture is a gift."
Vern Swanson, director of the Springville Museum of Art, agrees. "Generally, to be a good narrative painter you have to be a great composer of multi-figured paintings, and Arnold is the greatest narrative painter we've (Utah) ever had."
"An Evening to Honor Arnold Friberg" exhibition runs from Thursday, Oct. 26 through Saturday, Oct. 28. For more information on available seating, call 801-534-0331. The gallery will be open from noon to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
E-mail: gag@desnews.com